Senior Balance Exercises And Wearing Eye Glasses

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com/
Senior balance exercises are important to practice every day for folks over the age of sixty years old. As we age, our sensory systems age right along with our joints, muscles and the rest of our bodies. Please see http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now For those individuals beyond the age of sixty, you will notice a decline in vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Two of those sensory organs are essential components of our balance system:
-Sense Of Sight
-Sense Of Touch
Our balance system relies heavily on the sense of touch between our feet and the ground to maximize steadiness on various walking surfaces. In our later years, medical conditions like Diabetes, Sciatica and Peripheral Neuropathy reduce the sense of touch in our feet. The subsequent numbness can lead to feeling off-balanced, leading to a greater risk and incidence of falling. Additionally, our balance system takes in all the visual input around us to inform the brain on how the environment is set up and how to react to it. Our eye sight lets our balance system know if we are walking on carpet, grass, a hiking trail or tile flooring. Our visual system must delineate how high a step or curb is using depth perception to notify the brain how much muscle force will be needed to step up onto that curb or stair. Unfortunately, as we age, our visual acuity, including depth perception, diminishes in accuracy. Furthermore, because of the visual changes that occur over time, many older adults are forced to wear glasses. Eye glasses that include bifocal lens create quite a problem with balance and falling.

Senior Balance Exercises For The Visually Impaired

Senior balance exercises should include balance techniques that can be applied for folks who wear glasses. One balance tip while wearing glasses is to not look through the bifocal aspect of the lens when looking down at your feet. During stability exercises, you can look below the lens of your glasses to get better depth perception on where your feet are in space. Additionally, be sure not to look through your bifocal area of the eye glasses when you are going up or down steps. In the clinic, I have heard far too many stories of people falling on the stairs because looking through their glasses made them misjudge a step. The best option, if it is appropriate for your situation, is to remove your reading glasses before walking up or down the stairs. Also, by practicing stability routines every day that emphasize the balance technique of concentrating on using the sense of touch between your feet and the floor to ground you, you will improve your steadiness and reduce the risk of falling. Now, you can practice a senior balance exercise program developed by a knowledgeable Physical Therapist in the comfort of your own home with the Exercise For Balance DVD.

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

For those who wear glasses, begin the best balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD. The DVD is conveniently designed to use at home or in a group setting. The Balance DVD will clearly explain to you the best balance and strength exercises needed to enhance senior fitness and to perform basic activities like walking, standing, stair climbing or to advance to high level activities like dancing and hiking. In the Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to improve balance, balance techniques and balance routines from a balance trainer --licensed Physical Therapist--- who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 20 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button

Don't let your glasses trip you up. Start balance exercises today with the Exercise For Balance DVD to improve balance and prevent falls.