Hey everybody, I'm Dr. Jo. Today we're going to work on some balance exercises, and the
key to balance is strong ankles. So the exercises we're going to be doing today are focusing
on our ankles. So let's get started. So usually what I tell my patients when we are working
on balance exercises is start with progressions. So if you have weak ankles, if you've had
a surgery, or an injury, you don't want to end up hurting anymore or falling while you
are working on your balance exercises. So I always tell people to start off holding
onto something with two hands. You want to hold on with two hands, you want to make sure
you're good, you're balanced, and you're using proper technique. Once you get that down,
then you can hold on with one hand, and then you can drop down to a finger, and then eventually
not hold onto anything at all. So I'm going to show you not holding onto anything at all
because I don't have any injuries to my ankles. They might be a little weak, but I don't need
to hold onto anything anymore. So the first one we are going to do is basically just putting
your feet as close together as you can. Now this looks pretty easy, but if you've got
something going on with your ankles, if they're weak, this is going to be a little hard. We
call this the Romberg stance. You are just going to stand there, and if this is actually
easy for you, then you can close your eyes. That's the next step. You want to be able
to stand here for 20-30 seconds. If that's easy, then when you are standing here, you
can start turning your head from side to side. Getting some movement in there, making your
eyes change focus while trying to keep the balance. You can go side to side, and you
can go up and down. If that's easy, then you can do that with your eyes closed. So you're
going to close your eyes. Go side to side. You can probably see I am moving a little
bit more. You might be feeling like you are moving a lot, so that's when you can hold
on, and then up and down. Alright, the next progression to that is putting one foot in
front of the other. We call this Tandem stance. So you are just going to stand here, try and
balance. If this is easy, then you can go through the same progression as the other
ones. Move your head side to side, you can move it up and down, you can close your eyes.
And you can close your eyes and move your head. As you can see, it's not easy for me,
so you want to start off holding on, and then holding on with one hand. Work your way up.
Now remember, if you put your left foot in the front, switch halfway through so you work
both sides. Same thing, eyes closed, head moving, little bit of loss of balance, but
I'm able to catch myself, that's the key. Remember, hold on to start. Then work your
way to not holding on at all. After you get all that down, then you can try standing on
one foot, and go through the same process again. Standing on one foot seems easy, then
you can close your eyes, you can keep your eyes open and move your head, or you can do
a combination of both. Remember, hold on to start off with, we don't want you to injure
your ankle even more. If you're wiggling around, and you're not able to hold yourself, you
might end up rolling your ankle. So start off holding on, and progress your way up as
you are able to get stronger. Now if all that is easy, you worked your way up, and you want
to try something a little bit harder, you can get an unlevel surface. I usually just
say start off with something like a pillow. I like to cover up my pillows if I have my
shoes on, so I don't get anything on my pillows. And you can start the whole process over again.
So first, you would just be standing with your feet together in that Romberg stance.
You can do your head movements, you can do your eyes open or eyes closed, and you can
do eyes closed with head movements. You can also turn it at a little bit of an angle,
and do your Tandem stance with all those same progressions again. Building your way up,
holding on if you need to. Then the last one is standing on one foot. Then going through
all those again. So if you can stand on a pillow on one foot with your eyes closed and
turning your head from side to side, and not fall over, you're doing pretty good! Alright,
so there you have it, some balance exercises, progressing your way up. Don't try them all
at once, and make sure you're graduating from each one to the other. Again, that is working
on your ankle strengthening too. So if you want to check out some other ankle strengthening
exercises, go to askdoctorjo.com And remember have fun, be safe, and I hope you feel better
soon!