Boost Your Balance & Prevent Dangerous Falls!

Falls Prevention Awareness Month truly matters. After all, the risk it addresses is all too real: according to the CDC, one in four adults over 65 will fall, making it a leading cause of serious injury. In this post, Kentlands Foot & Ankle Center explores common risk factors and shares how you can improve your balance, too!

The 10-Second Balance Test

How can you tell if you’re at risk of falling? All you need is 10 seconds and a chair!

1. Stand on a flat, non-slip surface near a counter or sturdy chair you can grab if needed.
2. Lift one foot off the ground. Keep your elevated foot from touching your standing leg!
3. Cross your arms over your chest.
4. Try to hold this position for 10 seconds without touching down or grabbing for support.

Could you do it? If you felt unsteady or had to put your foot down, it’s not just a sign of “getting older.” It’s a signal that your body’s balance system needs attention.

How Do Your Feet Affect Your Balance?

Your feet are complex structures designed to keep you stable and upright. When problems arise, they can compromise your entire body’s balance in several ways:

• A Faulty Foundation: Foot deformities like bunions or hammertoes, or alignment issues like flat feet, can change the way your foot meets the ground.
  •  This creates an unstable base, forcing your ankles, knees, and hips to work overtime to compensate, which can easily throw you off balance.
• Scrambled Signals: Your feet are packed with nerves that send constant information to your brain about your position in space (a sense called proprioception).
  •  Conditions like diabetic neuropathy or even just the stiffness from arthritis can interfere with these signals. When the brain doesn’t get a clear message from the feet, your stability suffers.
• Pain and Compensation: When you have a painful spot on your foot, you naturally change the way you walk to avoid putting pressure on it.
  • This altered gait—a limp or a shuffle—is an unnatural movement pattern that can significantly compromise your balance and increase your risk of a fall.

The Podiatrist’s Role: Rebuilding Your Foundation

As foot and ankle specialists, our goal is to address these foundational issues to improve your stability. A key tool in our arsenal for fall prevention is the custom orthotic.

Unlike a flimsy store-bought insole, a custom orthotic is a prescription medical device created from a precise mold of your feet. It works to improve balance by:

• Correcting Misalignment: An orthotic provides targeted support to correct issues like flat feet or overpronation, creating a stable, properly aligned foundation for your entire body.
• Redistributing Pressure: By evening out the pressure across your foot, orthotics can significantly reduce pain from conditions like arthritis or bunions, allowing you to walk with a more natural, stable gait.
• Improving Sensory Feedback: For some patients, orthotics can improve the sensory signals being sent from the feet to the brain, providing a clearer sense of position and stability.

It’s important to note that regular exercise and stretching can make a difference, too!

Get In Touch and Stay Stable!

If you or a loved one is concerned about their balance or has experienced a fall, don’t wait. Schedule a comprehensive fall risk assessment with our team today!

Get in touch for a comprehensive foot examination with Kentlands Foot & Ankle Center podiatrist Dr. Jon M. Sherman. To make your appointment, please call our office at 301-825-9697. You can also contact us online.

Custom Orthotics, Biomechanics, and You: Step into Better Health with 3D Scanning

Our feet are the foundation of our bodies, and proper biomechanics – the way our muscles, bones, and joints work together – are essential for pain-free movement and overall well-being.

Custom orthotics can play a vital role in optimizing your biomechanics, and advancements in 3D scanning technology are revolutionizing the way these supportive devices are created. In this post, Kentlands Foot & Ankle Center explains how new tech is providing orthotics that are better than ever for all kinds of issues, so read on to learn more!

Understanding Biomechanics

When your feet don’t function optimally, it can throw off your entire body’s alignment. This can lead to a variety of issues, including:

• Foot Pain: Plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, bunions, and metatarsalgia.
• Knee Pain: Misalignment leading to patellofemoral pain syndrome or IT band syndrome.
• Hip and Back Pain: Caused by altered gait and posture.
• Balance Problems: Increased risk of falls, especially in older adults.
• Sports Injuries: Stress fractures, shin splints, and Achilles tendonitis.

Custom Orthotics: Tailored Support for Your Unique Needs

Unlike over-the-counter inserts, custom orthotics are specifically designed to address your individual foot structure and biomechanical imbalances. They provide targeted support and cushioning, helping to:

• Improve Weight Distribution: Evenly distribute pressure across your feet, reducing stress on specific areas.
• Enhance Balance and Stability: Provide a stable base of support, improving balance and reducing the risk of falls.
• Correct Gait Abnormalities: Guide your feet into a more natural and efficient gait pattern.
• Prevent and Aid Recovery from Sports Injuries: Offer shock absorption and support to reduce strain on joints and soft tissues.

The 3D Advantage: Precision and Personalization

Traditional methods of creating orthotics, like plaster casting, can be messy and imprecise. 3D scanners, on the other hand, can capture a highly accurate digital model of your feet in seconds, providing a detailed blueprint for crafting truly customized orthotics.

• Superior Accuracy: 3D scans capture the intricate contours of your feet with unparalleled precision.
• Dynamic Assessment: Some advanced scanners can even analyze your gait while you walk or run, providing a dynamic assessment of your foot function.
• Faster Turnaround: Digital models can be instantly sent to the lab, speeding up the fabrication process.

The result? A pair of custom orthotics that fit your feet like a glove, providing optimal support and comfort in one.

Interested in learning more? We’re always happy to help! Schedule a comprehensive foot examination with Kentlands Foot & Ankle Center podiatrist Dr. Jon M. Sherman. To make your appointment, please call our office at 301-825-9697.

Regular Exercise Can Prevent Falling: 5 Ways to Make It Easier

If you’re alive on this planet, you know that doctors always recommend regular exercise for optimal health. Exercise improves heart function, keeps unwanted pounds off, wards off disease, and even calms symptoms of depression and anxiety. But if you’re a senior citizen, there’s another benefit of exercise you may not have thought of:

Regular exercise can help prevent dangerous falls.

If you’re someone who exercises already – great. You’re better off than the 30-40% of people over 65 and 50% of people aged 80 and up who take a fall every year. If you don’t exercise, starting an exercise program may seem daunting. But, it doesn’t have to be.

Here are five ways to get motivated to strengthen the muscles that help you sit, stand, and walk confidently without dangerous hesitations or wobbles:

1. First things first – fix your foot or ankle pain: Exercise may be difficult, painful, or downright impossible if it causes pain. Let our board-certified podiatrist, Jon M. Sherman, treat your toe arthritis, nerve pain, or plantar fasciitis with state-of-the-art treatments and therapies, including custom orthotic inserts and targeted laser therapy. Dr. Sherman can also perform a fall prevention risk assessment.
2. Do something you like: Walking is easy and requires no special equipment except a great pair of shoes. If walking isn’t appealing, there’s swimming, tai chi, and yoga.
3. Start slowly: You risk injuring yourself if you exercise long and hard from the get-go.
4. Exercise with a friend: An exercise partner can be very helpful to keep you motivated.
5. Take advantage of Montgomery County resources: Call your local senior center or YMCA to inquire about balance and exercise classes. Many facilities offer transportation to and from, making it easier to keep exercising.

Commit to exercise this Falls Prevention Awareness Month! For a foot exam or personalized fall prevention assessment, contact Kentlands Foot & Ankle Center in Gaithersburg at 301-330-5666 or request an appointment with Dr. Sherman online.