You may have noticed that some balance exercises are easier if you have a chair or railing to lightly hold on to. Why is it that sometimes even just a fingertip touching a railing is enough to keep you steady?
Five subjects with vestibular balance deficits and five control subjects participated in a study called “Precision Contact of the Fingertip Reduces Postural Sway of Individuals with Bilateral Vestibular Loss.” To ensure that vision wasn’t a factor, all balance testing took place in a dark room. Participants stood with one foot in front of the other on a balance plate that recorded their sway. For some trials, participants were permitted to lightly touch a bar, and for other trials they could apply as much force to the bar as they needed.
The results showed the powerful benefit of a light touch in keeping the body stable, even in the dark. In fact, the vestibular loss subjects went from “teetering out of control” without touch to being more stable than the control subjects could in the dark without touch. Both groups had significantly less sway when they were able to use just one fingertip to stabilize themselves. So there’s just one more reason to always use a handrail!
James, Lackner R. "Precision Contact of the Fingertip Reduces Postural Sway of Individuals with Bilateral Vestibular Loss." Exp Brain Res (1999). www.smpp.northwestern.edu/savedLiterature/LacknerDizioJekaHorakEtcEBR99(91260459).pdf
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