By Taryn Plumb | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
JANUARY 16, 2014
MARBLEHEAD — Slowly, a little shakily, the 82-year-old in the blue chambray shirt shifted his weight from one foot to another, stood tentatively on one leg, and practiced slowly sitting down, then standing back up again.
Six months ago, he said, he was restricted to a wheelchair because of a spinal issue; now he’s able to get around with a cane. Although he’s happy with his progress, he still has a ways to go.
“I need to improve my balance so I can get rid of my cane,” said Bill Genett of Marblehead, who’s hoping to do just that by participating in a new class offered at his town’s Council on Aging. One goal is to “just be able to walk a half-mile or a mile without a cane.”
The medical community agrees that as people age, their balance can suffer. So prevention is key, especially on the icy days of winter. To this end — and in the spirit of launching a healthy new year — the Marblehead Council on Aging has started two weekly classes related to restoring and enhancing balance.
Balance I is for those with limited mobility, and Balance II for those with more active lifestyles. The instructor is Susan Finigan of North Shore Physical Therapy.
“Good balance is the key to safety at home,” said Council on Aging activities coordinator Janice Salisbury Beal. “You want to know that the environment is safe, that [people are] able to maneuver on their own.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three adults age 65 and older fall each year. In 2010, emergency rooms treated 2.3 million nonfatal fall injuries, according to the agency. That same year, the direct medical cost for falls was $30 billion.
“There’s a huge increase in falls,” said Finigan, a certified personal trainer and physical therapist assistant. She noted that her therapy organization works extensively on balance with its patients. “We’re trying to prevent falls.”
The number-one reason they happen? Weakness, she said.
Falls, particularly among the elderly, often result in sprains, and fractures of the hip, spine, pelvis, leg, forearm, upper arm, and hand, according to the CDC. In more serious scenarios, they can lead to hip and knee replacements, traumatic brain injuries, and even death.
In 2010, 21,700 older adults died in the United States as the result of injuries from falls, a number that has “risen sharply” over the past decade. Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries among older adults, according to the CDC.
Even if they’re not injured, those fearing another fall may limit their activities, thus leading to further reduction in mobility and physical fitness.
This is something Gloria Lovekin knows from experience. Lovekin, 87, who was in the first Balance I class, moved to Marblehead a few years ago to be with her family. Once very active — she’s taught exercise classes herself — she recently fell, fractured her hip, and had a hip replacement.
She now uses a cane and she acknowledged, “I haven’t been exercising.”
But, as Finigan noted, “If you don’t practice balance,” she said, “you lose it.”
The Marblehead Council on Aging launched its ongoing program with personal screenings (aimed at determining each person’s stance, and their ability to get up and down without assistance) and a questionnaire (with such queries as “Do you feel safe in your home?” or “Do you have rugs or stairs?”), Salisbury Beal said. Based on mobility, people were placed in the beginner or advanced class, which are held back-to-back beginning at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays in the Marblehead Community Center gym.
During a recent Balance I class, 10 participants stood behind chairs arranged in a circle. Canes were delicately balanced on the seats of some.
“You are not to take a risk of falling,” Finigan stressed. “This is a progressive class. You will get better.”
She crouched by Lovekin’s feet to address an errant shoelace. “I’m going to tie your shoes for you,” she said, “because that’s not a good thing.”
She started the group with “hovering” exercises — standing behind chairs without holding onto them, but having them within reach. They then moved onto heel lifts, perpendicular kicks to the right and left, marching in place with knees high and low, forward and back rocking, lateral knee bends, shifting weight from one leg to another, and one-legged stands.
Then there was the “dreaded sit-slowly butt,” Finigan called — essentially taking a seat in slow motion (known as “eccentric sitting”).
“Control the descent: down — down — down — down — down,” Finigan instructed. “Stick your bottom out. If you’re a plopper, you’re not using your muscles at all.”
After a half-hour of low-impact exercises, the class was given “homework:” Practice the slow sits five times throughout the day, Finigan said, and also spend five minutes a day walking slowly back and forth at the kitchen counter.
The second class was noticeably more mobile — it began with the slow sit, then moved on to crouching, rocking, lifting with one arm, standing on one leg as long as possible, shuffling back and forth, and walking along the lines on the gym floor like a balance beam.
“Slow down, take your time, look, assess the area,” Finigan said of preventing falls, noting hazards seniors often encounter, such as rough sidewalks, tree roots, missing a stair step, dim lighting, and similar colors of stairs and rugs.
Shirley Himmelfarb, 84, a short-haired brunette dressed in a black cardigan and slacks and white sneakers, is one of those fit and active octogenarians we all aspire to be: She plays doubles tennis twice a week and takes frequent walks.
The Marblehead resident was taking in the class because a sore knee “makes my balance questionable,” she said.
So besides keeping moving, what’s her secret?
She shrugged. “Good genes, I guess.”
JULIETTE LYNCH FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
Original story link.
© 2014 BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC
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