Balance and Gait Disorder

Do you think your footing is not steady and strong as it used to be? Feeling unsteady while walking that makes you grab the nearest furniture or the wall to maintain balance? Are you facing severe pain in your back, legs, or hips, which has altered the way you used to walk? If your answer is yes to most of these questions, then it indicates that you might be suffering from a balance or gait disorder condition.

Though gait and balance disorders can stem from an array of reasons, they can cause a lot of discomfort, and have a great impact on your mental and physical health. However, you can breathe a sigh of relief, as our physiotherapists can help cut down the symptoms from aggravating further. Plus, our expert team of medical professionals can help cure this medical condition. To find out more about our balance and gait disorder treatment in Edmonton, contact Excelsior Physiotherapy to schedule an appointment now.

What Causes Balance and Gait Disorder?

Any underlying medical condition, neurological disorder, or musculoskeletal disorder can lead to balance and gait disorders. Most often, balance disorders are connected to the vestibular system, which causes the accumulation of fluid and damage to sensory nerves. Such issues often your inner ear as well as several nerve receptors present in the joints of your body. This vestibular system is also referred to as proprioception, which maintains balance and helps your body hold a specific position.

Difference Between Balance and Gait Disorder

Both balance and gait disorders are almost identical but can be identified through their tiny differences. Balance disorder condition occurs when your brain wrongly assumes that you are moving when in actual sense, you are standing. Gait disorder, on the other hand, brings about a huge difference in your stability, joint mobility, and sensing your position of joints, which can cause an imbalance. 

This sudden change in body balance will influence your movement while running or walking. When coupled with a gait disorder, simple activities like standing upright might not be possible. Balance and gait dysfunction can rob you of positional awareness and the way you walk or run. Studies have revealed that about 20% of elderly people develop gait and balance disorders, making them fall when walking. Listed below are some of the vestibular conditions that might induce balance disorders. They are:

1. A Sudden Injury or Ailment
Even when your nervous system and brain are coordinating perfectly, a sudden ailment, illness or injury might hinder your balance, making it extremely difficult for you to stand in an upright position. With our effective balance and gait disorder treatment in North Edmonton region, you can completely recover from imbalance, which might have affected your mobility.

2. BPPV or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

The BPPV or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo condition develops when there is an excess build-up of calcium debris in your inner ear. When this accumulated calcium debris breaks down in your inner ear cavity, it causes imbalance issues, making it difficult to move around without falling.

3. Neurological Condition

If you have any underlying medical condition like a stroke, brain injury, or Parkinson’s disease, which might tamper with your neurological system, it can affect your overall balance. If you are facing imbalance when trying to sit upright, stand, or walk, then schedule an appointment with Excelsior Physiotherapy in Edmonton to create a customized balance and gait disorder treatment plan to get quick relief and return to your normal life.

How Excelsior Physiotherapy Can Provide Relief for Balance and Gait Disorder?

While discussing the right kind of balance and gait disorder treatment in Sherwood Park region, physiotherapy ranks first as the perfect treatment option. We at Excelsior Physiotherapy have a dedicated team of physiotherapists in Edmonton who will hold an elaborate physical evaluation for examining your gait, balance, symptoms, medical history, and stance. Based on our analysis results, we develop a personalized balance and gait treatment program to meet your body’s specific requirements. Your balance and gait disorder therapy in Edmonton will include the following aspects.

Rehabilitation of Vestibular System: Our physiotherapy treatment in Edmonton focuses on strengthening your vestibular system while enhancing your muscles, nerves, and vision. These rehabilitation activities aim at helping you achieve a perfect balance while walking and standing. For patients with BPPV, our physiotherapists in North Edmonton will suggest specific workouts to correct the movement of calcium debris in the inner ear to cure vertigo.
Stretches: Our physiotherapy experts at Excelsior Physiotherapy will prescribe routine stretches that will work on your range of motion and enhance flexibility. With these stretches, achieving better control over your movements, reaction time, and incidences of lowering a fall, or getting injured are possible. Plus, these stretching exercises will prevent your muscles from becoming stiff and tight to help in quick movement with optimum balance.
Strength Enhancing Workouts: Our comprehensive evaluation at Excelsior Physiotherapy in Edmonton will help our physiotherapists identify the problem area, which needs quick attention. The strengthening workouts are a part of the balance and gait disorder treatment in Sherwood Park to enhance muscle strength to help your move around easily to cut down the risk of an injury.
Gait Retraining Workouts: At Excelsior Physiotherapy, our physiotherapists teach you a set of workouts that retrains your gait to correct the abnormalities using the right techniques.

If you are having a tough time performing simple activities due to a gait or balance disorder, contact Excelsior Physiotherapy today. Our team of physiotherapists will guide you throughout the balance and gait disorder treatment program to help you have an excellent balancing ability and maintain a steady stance within a short period.