Someone’s grandma, elderly dad, uncle or aunt –perhaps your own- keeps falling and landing in the hospital. The anxiety that accompanies these incidents, having to think about the possibility of assisted living, not to mention the hospitalization costs, are all factors constantly in the background every time a ‘slip’ happens.
When these accidents occur, the assumption taken by most of us tends to be along the lines of: “well it’s their age, they lose balance, what you gonna do?”.
Thanks to a new medical therapy aptly called Balance Therapy, we can all happily let go of this wrong assumption and become the hero of an elderly relative or friend who may be suffering from imbalance problems and doesn’t know about this revolutionary new medical procedure.
“What most people aren’t aware of is that fear of falling and loss of balance is treatable,” says doctor Alex Kaliakin, D.C. director of Clinicare in Santa Monica, a comprehensive, multi-discipline medical group and Medicare provider.
But what is Balance Therapy you ask?
It is a recently developed medical treatment meant to help seniors with imbalance and fear of falling. First used by ear, nose, and throat doctors, a computer-assisted system called Fall Trak diagnoses dizziness and then a medical professional prescribes a treatment and recovery plan. The modern approach to this age-old problem offers seniors a new and much welcomed alternative to having to rely on a cane or walker.
Only recently has the computer equipment needed for these tests & diagnosis become affordable enough for smaller clinics to be able to offer it as part of their daily practice. Considering the incredible expenses of almost any hospital visit nowadays, this type of pro-active therapy seems a much better investment and definitely one involving less strain for you and less pain for your loved one.
As you know, although we all have suffered falls and continue to have them specially in our active lives, for seniors, it’s a different story. Consider:
“Recent statistics show that if a person over the age of 75 falls, they have a 50% chance of dying within 12 months. Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths for Americans over the age of 65. They account for over 70% of accidental deaths for people over the age of 75 and are the leading cause of doctor visits, hospital admissions, and Emergency Room visits.”
If you live in the Westside you’re in luck since Clinicare is in Santa Monica and is run by Dr. Kaliakin along with his friendly and professional staff.
Once several tests are conducted involving the patient’s ability to maintain balance, a ‘vestibular therapy’ rehabilitation plan is presented to the client based on their assessment report sheet. Rehabilitation includes specially designed exercises meant to compensate for imbalances within the vestibular system which is the sensory system that provides the dominant input about our movement and orientation in space.
For info, you can call Clinicare at 310.829.2225 or you visit their site on the net at www.clinicaresantamonica.com
