If you’re attending physical therapy sessions at Florence Rehabilitation Center, your physical therapist may decide to conduct balance testing with you. What is balance testing? Balance testing is incredibly helpful in determining postural imbalances, inner ear conditions, control issues, or aging-related imbalance concerns. By testing your balance, your physical therapist will be able to better identify areas that can be strengthened and focused on through your customized treatment plan. Sometimes daily activities like walking, climbing stairs, or reaching down for items can be affected by underlying balance issues which can pose fall risks or danger in performing your job. Therefore, in some cases, physicians or employers may request balance tests, especially if you’re showing signs of a potential balance disorder, or are having dizziness, vertigo, lightheadedness, or unexplained unsteadiness. Despite what you may be thinking, balance tests are not scary and do not need to be feared! In fact, balance tests are a helpful tool in guiding physical therapy treatment plans so that you can live your best life every day!
Balance Problems – Diagnosis & Treatment
There are various balance assessment tests that our qualified team conducts at Florence Rehabilitation Center.
1. BERG Balance Scale: This focuses mainly on stationary balance tasks and evaluates your ability to maintain your balance in various positions like standing with your eyes closed, standing heel-to-toe, or moving from sitting to standing.
2. Dynamic Gait Index (DGI): With this balance test, your physical therapist will observe how balanced you are as you walk and perform movement tasks like turning your head while walking or carrying items.
3. Tinetti Balance Assessment: This is a more task and mobility-related balance test with checks on your balance and stability while stationary and while moving. Your physical therapist will assess how balanced you are while sitting, standing up from a seated position, walking, turning, and other movements.
4. Function in Sitting Test: Just as it sounds, these balance tests are all conducted as you sit and are designed to assess how you perform tasks while you’re sitting. You will be observed in various activities such as reaching, bending down for an item, transferring objects from side to side, or hand to hand, and so forth.
5. Timed Up and Go (TUG): TUG tests measure the time you take to arise from a chair, walk a certain distance, turn around, and return to your original seated position. This helps your physical therapist determine your functional mobility and dynamic balance.
Our physical therapy team at Florence Rehabilitation Center utilizes the results of your balance tests to guide treatment plans, which may include balance training, strength exercises, gait training, or recommendations for assistive devices. We also use your tests to monitor your progress and evaluate the efficacy of various therapies.
Dizziness & Balance Clinic Near Me
At Florence Rehabilitation Center, we conduct balance testing for physician’s referrals, geriatric rehabilitation, and for individuals engaging in physical therapy on an as needed basis. If you believe you may have a postural or balance problem, you don’t have to wait for a doctor’s referral! Simply call our office at Florence Rehabilitation Center and request a balance test. With over 25 years of experience in balance testing, our qualified physical therapy balance specialists are here to help restore and enhance your balance and mobility!