I'm sure your doctor and therapist have informed you of this already. If not ask them for permission to improve your balance. Yeah for Australia.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/simple-everyday-activities-can-strengthen-balance
If you love tennis, golf, running, dancing, or any number of other
sports or activities, working on balance buffs your abilities. Not an
athlete? Just walking across the room or down the block requires good
balance. So does rising from a chair, going up and down stairs, toting
packages, and even turning to look behind you.
And good balance helps prevent potentially disabling falls.
There is a lot you can do to preserve and improve your balance, and
it doesn’t take special fitness classes or exercises. Incorporating
balance and strength activities into your daily routine could be enough
to lower your risk of falling.
Researchers in Australia tested a program called Lifestyle Integrated
Functional Exercise (LiFE) on a group of 317 people, ages 70 and older,
who had fallen in the previous year. Participants were randomly
assigned to one of three groups: the LiFE program, a structured exercise
and strengthening program, or a control “sham” program of gentle
exercises.
Those in the LiFE program incorporated balance and strength movements
throughout their day — for example, squatting instead of bending over
to close a drawer, or walking sideways while carrying groceries from the
car to the house. At the end of one year, the LiFE group had
experienced 31% fewer falls than the two other groups – a total of 172
falls, compared with 193 in the structured exercise group and 224 in the
control group. People were also more likely to stick with the LiFE
program than with the other two programs. To incorporate balance
exercises into your daily routine, try standing on one leg while talking
on the phone or sitting down in a chair without using your hands.
For more on ways to improve your balance, buy Better Balance from Harvard Medical School.
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