BALANCE TRAINING PROGRAM          

Physical Therapy Plus offers a comprehensive balance evaluation and treatment program that is administered by specially trained therapists.

Balance difficulties can arise from any number of medical problems including joint disorders (arthritis), post-surgical recovery from joint replacements, inner ear disorders, periods of bed rest and inactivity, neurological problems, muscle weakness, diabetes, and osteoporosis.  These difficulties often lead to reduced physical activity due to a fear of falling and a resulting decline in overall physical function.

Balance is a complex process that depends on the interaction of three major components:

• Receiving accurate information from sensory systems (vision, touch, and the inner ear)

• The brain’s ability to process this sensory information

• The response of our muscles and joints to coordinate movements effectively

Fortunately, there are effective ways that are scientifically validated to help treat balance difficulties.  At Physical Therapy Plus, our therapists perform a thorough evaluation of your condition prior to beginning a therapy program.  Evaluations include:

• Medical History- including review of any reports available from your physician or audiologist
• Strength Testing
• Flexibility Testing
• Coordination Testing
• Standardized Walking Tests

In addition to the above tests, our patients are evaluated on our NeuroCom Balance Master equipment.(www.onbalance.com).  This computerized device allows us to test our balance patients under a variety of conditions that help us to identify particular weaknesses in a person’s balance recovery strategy.  We can also perform functional impairment testing on the NeuroCom Balance Master and compare the results to normative data.

A customized training program, based upon evaluation results, is implemented for each individual.  Sessions are generally one hour long and two to three times per week depending on the severity of the condition.  Most programs last between four and eight weeks.  Each patient is given a customized home exercise program to perform each day to reinforce the training that is completed in the clinic.

At Physical Therapy Plus our treatments focus on the specific functional impairments that are unique to each patient.  We do not simply offer a generalized treatment based on the medical pathology alone.  Many patients with the same pathology exhibit different functional impairments with varying degrees of severity.  Treatment of functional impairments has been scientifically proven to achieve results more quickly and more effectively than generalized treatment.

For further information on balance please visit the NeuroCom International, Inc. website at www.onbalance.com .