Improve Your Balance With Physiotherapy

In order to maintain balance, we need to be able to keep our center of gravity over our base of support.  As children, we learn how to increase our balance when we learn how to stand and then walk without support. Within this learning, we are training multiple systems, including our sensory systems as well as our musculoskeletal systems.


Factors such as age, weakness, disorders such as vertigo, certain infections, poor eyesight, or head trauma, can negatively affect our balance. Whatever the reason for feeling unstable, it is not too late to improve your balance. Your brain and body can be retrained with physiotherapy techniques to help you regain your control.

Why is Balance Important?


A lack of balance increases a person’s risk of falling and getting injured. These falls can lead to minor or major injuries that can impact a person’s ability to live independently. Injuries caused by falls can cause long term challenges and limit one’s ability to participate in their favourite activities.


Seniors are most at-risk, but all age groups can be affected to a point of reduction in quality of life. Having a physiotherapy professional address and assess a problem with balance can also help to identify or rule out if there may be a more serious condition that needs to be medically explored.

The Relationship Between Your Core Muscles & Balance


Core strength and endurance can impact balance as the musculature and neuromuscular aspects of your core responses can help you stay upright. Balance involves complex communication between the body and its environment, and core muscles that can respond quickly to external stimuli can help prevent falls.


Balance exercises often target your core muscles, because these muscles are involved in maintaining an upright posture as well as responding to perturbations, or disruptions in balance. For example, core muscles are involved in helping you ‘catch yourself’ before a fall.



Your deep core muscles are attached to your spine to help support these joints in an upright posture, and your superficial core muscles are the muscles that you use to move your body. Exercises to improve balance can work on both your deep and superficial core muscles.

How Physiotherapy Can Help


Physiotherapy can improve balance by identifying the cause of the unsteadiness while addressing any associated risks and providing treatments or recommendations for improvements. Your physiotherapist will develop a personalized plan of care and discuss how to avoid the risk of falling while doing your daily tasks and activities.


A custom plan with balance exercises to improve your stability and strength is often coupled with other forms of treatment or plans to optimize your outcomes. Due to the risk of injury associated with disequilibrium, it is important to do balance exercises under the supervision of a professional to prevent injury.

Book an Appointment


Issues with balance and stability can impact a person’s daily routine and quality of life. Before unsteadiness leads to serious injuries, contact Trent Health in Motion to book a consultation and discuss how physiotherapy can improve your quality of life. Call us at 705-741-4758 or book online. 

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