The topic of fall prevention is near and dear to our heart here at Oakville’s Palermo Physio and Wellness Centre.

We have blogged about how Physiotherapy helps with fall prevention. You can find those posts here, here and here!

Our Oakville clinic currently offers a Wednesday morning seniors exercise class. This class is a small ratio of participants to instructor. The instructor is also a Physiotherapist. It is a great bridge to feel more capable in the community or beginning a supervised program.

Our Chiropodist (foot specialist) also has a role to play in helping with falls prevention.

Falls are the number one reason Canadian older adults end up in the hospital. This is a huge amount of resources going towards falls. Falls may cause contusions (large bruises), fractures (broken bones) and head injuries, other serious injuries. Falls in older adults can also lead to issues like Pneumonia, which can be a life threatening issue especially in older adults.

Our Physiotherapists help older adults stay stronger longer through an active approach and supervised exercises. Taking care of your feet as you age can also improve you chances of staying on your feet. A Chiropodist ensures that that patients are wearing appropriate footwear and that they the skin and tissues of the feet are healthy.

If you don’t use it, you lose it. This is the case for strength and balance as we age. Foot issues such as diabetic foot ulcers can keep us off our feet. The longer this occurs for the more we need to make up for this with things like Physiotherapy. Regular check-ups with your Chiropodist can help prevent this disuse from occurring by preventing more serious issue.