Have you ever considered how many systems in our body need to coordinate and interact for us to balance? We need leg strength, flexibility, adequate range of motion, and good reflexes. Unfortunately, all of these do tend to decline as we age.
Our balance starts to decline when we are somewhere between 40 to 50 years of age. The National Institute of Health reports that “one in three people over 65 will experience a fall each year”. Scary, huh?
Those of you who are under 40 years old, don’t disregard this blog. Even though the majority of those who fall are over 65 years old, many younger people also exhibit poor or inadequate balance. Without intervention, it is only going to get worse!
I wrote a blog about balance in 2019 and we talk about balance in most of our classes whether Tai Chi, Qigong, Tai Chi Ruler, etc. But do we ever consider what balance (or postural stability) actually is?
Balance, according to The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi, “is the ability to maintain and control the position and motion of the center of mass of the body relative to the base of support.” Standing and/or walking is relatively unstable for humans because 2/3 of our body mass is located 2/3 of your body’s height above the ground! You may want to read that again!
Specifically,
We perceive balance in the vestibular system. Unfortunately the cells in it die off as we get older which affects our ability to correct our position should we be even slightly off balance.
As we age, our depth perception and sensitivity to contrast results in poor night vision and distortion.
Blood pressure can fall suddenly when we change positions (orthostatic hypotension) as we age, resulting in lightheadedness and possibly fainting.
Our reflexes and coordination slow down as we age.
As we age our muscle mass and strength decreases as does our reaction time.
The medications and supplements we take can also interfere with our balance and increase our risk of falling.
Tai Chi improves our postural orientation and postural equilibrium. It also creates a more stable stance by strengthening ankles and improving their flexibility. Tai Chi teaches us how to distribute your weight correctly when moving, which also reduces postural sway. An important benefit of Tai Chi is improvement in our body awareness. Unfortunately, people of all ages have very little body awareness today.
According to Dr. Peter Wayne (Harvard Medical School) Tai Chi reduces falls in Seniors by up to 45%, although some studies show higher percentages (one example below). It also improves balance in those with neurological problems. Tai Chi is particularly effective for people with Parkinson’s disease according to a recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine.
In a 2018 randomized clinical trial of 670 adults, 70 years or older, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, Tai Chi intervention reduced falls by 58% when compared with a stretching exercise, and 31% when compared with multimodal exercise.
Tai Chi not only reduces falls, it decreases (or removes) your fear of falling! You feel more firm (or balanced) on your feet, and more aware of your internal body and the external world (proprioception).
But that doesn’t mean that only “elderly or old” people fall and have poor balance! Many younger people today have balance issues for a variety of reasons. This can be due to vestibular, multi-sensory loss (vision, hearing, etc.), compensation due to previous or current injuries, mobility limitations, medications, and even chronic poor posture.
A 2014-2015, nonrandomized, controlled study was undertaken on college students (age 18-34) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison to determine if Tai Chi could provide benefits for young adults. Tai Chi produced relaxed attention and improved balance, as well the ability to process information more consistently.
A study on Impacts of Tai Chi on Balance in Healthy Young Adults was published in the April 2018 International Medical Journal. The findings indicated that balance and movement strength was significantly increased with Tai Chi intervention.
Results of a small study was published in the June 2022 issue of Internet Journal of Applied Health Sciences and Practice to investigate the effect of Tai Chi on the “balance in younger, active community-based adults with no history of lower extremity injury or balance problems”. The study indicated that Tai Chi increased anterior and posterior lateral dynamic balance in this population.
Bottom line: Poor balance affects a large percentage of the population and is not strictly a problem of “old age”. Tai Chi has been found to be an effective, low cost intervention which is appropriate for all ages and physical conditions!
Subscribe to receive my weekly blogs in your email.