If you have had an injury to your lower body and are now recovering, you need to remember to train your balance system to help stabilize you again. Watch our video for some simple balance exercises to get you back on track to doing the things you enjoy.
Hi, this is Dana Ranahan from Body Works Sports Physiotherapy in North Vancouver. Today I want to demonstrate a simple balance exercise that you can work on at home. This is really important after injury.
I’m just now recovering from an ankle injury on my left side, so I’ve been hobbling and limping a bit. One of the things that gets lost is the ability of the joint sensors to help you sense where you are in space. We call this proprioception.
Balance
So if we look at balance, I’m just starting to work on some weight bearing on my foot. I want to start working on making sure I maintain my pelvis level, my shoulder level and my eyes and ears level.
As I take weight onto one leg and try to maintain balance, you can see that it’s a bit tricky for me to do. My first thing is trying to maintain that.
Increase challenge
To challenge it, I take my vision out of the picture by closing my eyes. You can see this makes it a little harder, and I start to wobble more.
If you want to make it even more challenging, you can grab a couch cushion or a piece of foam at home and do the same thing on this. Try to keep your pelvis level and maintain a good line as you come onto one foot.
This is a bit challenging for me. I start to wobble a little bit.
Duration
As long as you feel safe, not going to fall over, work on balancing for 30 to 45 seconds trying to maintain stability. As that gets easier, start to challenge the system. Ultimately this helps to refine the sensors in the joint.
This is what sends our muscle signals to contract and protect the joints, making it less likely to injure them again.
So if you have any other questions or need any more assistance, feel free to get in touch.