Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 24: Interview with a Physical Therapist

In the field of prosthetics, balance is crucial to rehabilitation after a person undergoes an amputation. Melanie Welch, a licensed physical therapist at Dayton Artificial Limb, was interviewed about the significance of balance therapy.


The first step of balance therapy is finding out why an individual has poor balance. Balance is dependent on multiple factors including posture, strength, range of motion, sensory abilities, an individual’s reaction abilities, and vestibular effects. The physical therapist tests the person’s “ability to balance sitting, standing, and experiencing external forces,” says Welch. In these tests, a therapist looks for balance reactions in an individual’s ankles and hips, specifically. In her patients, poor balance often results from stiffness or weakness.

After determining the issue causing instability, the next step is to address the issue. Strength and mobility exercises are some of the most common tools for improving an individual’s balance. In some cases, a patient is instructed on the use of assistive devices which help them maintain a stable base of support. A stable base of support is an important factor in stability; a wide, shoulder-width stance is more stable than standing with the feet together. Balance is affected by many things, and being able to influence those factors using techniques such as balance therapy, allows a person to walk with good stability.

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 23:Change Up Your Routine

 Our bodies really benefit from different types of activities. You should regularly include endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility exercises in your routine.

Endurance activities increase your breathing and heart rate. These help improve your overall health and fitness, making daily activities like climbing stairs or mowing the lawn much easier. Try going for a swim or taking a long walk in one of Dayton’s Metroparks.

Strength exercises increase muscle strength. Even small improvements can make a big difference in your ability to perform everyday tasks like carrying shopping bags or hauling your suitcase around the airport. You can use weights or resistance bands for these exercises.

Balance practice can help prevent falls (but you already knew that!). Some lower body strength exercises also help improve your balance. Tai chi is one example of a balance exercise, and check out our recurring feature called “Balance Tune-Up” for more.

Flexibility exercises, or stretches, can help your body stay flexible. Stretching gives you freedom of movement so you can do things like bending down to tie your shoes or looking over your shoulder as you back out of the driveway. Yoga is a great example.  Be creative!

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 22: More than Fun and Games!

Physical activity, exercise, and making healthy food choices are the cornerstones for healthy aging. But emerging research also indicates that engaging in social and productive activities you enjoy may also help maintain your well-being.

A number of early studies found that people who are involved in hobbies and other social and leisure pursuits may be at lower risk for (and less likely to develop) some health problems, including dementia. They might even live longer.  Older adults who reported participating in social activities or meaningful, productive activities lived longer than people who did not. Researchers are exploring if participation in these kinds of activities can be the direct cause of positive health outcomes.

According to researchers, older adults who participate in what they believe are meaningful activities, like volunteering in their communities, say they feel healthier and happier. For example, older adult volunteers from an urban community worked approximately 15 hours a week in their neighborhood public elementary schools, in a special program designed to improve children’s school success. The older volunteers increased their cognitive, social, and physical activity levels. Over the long term the participants may have decreased their risk for disability, dependency, and dementia in later life.

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 21: What to Discuss with Your Doctor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asking your doctor questions about your health, and particularly balance, can be a difficult task. Reasons for this could range from nervousness to uncertainty in questions you should ask. Balance is a serious issue that has a drastic effect on the quality of life. Because of this, we have a list of potential topics that can affect balance that you and your physician can discuss at your next appointment.

1. Your history of falling and all medications you take

2. Gait and balance difficulties

3. Vision

4. Lower body strength

5. Cardiovascular conditions

6. Review your use of walking aids, such as canes and walkers

After you address any concerns you might have about balance, your doctor can help review and examine the topics that are listed to determine your everyday stability and risk of falling. Asking about these topics is important if you are experiencing trouble with balance because your doctor may make recommendations for preventing future falls

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 19: Arthritis in the Winter



Müller, E. "Salzburg Skiing for the Elderly Study.

" Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports (2011).

 Reducing the Effects of Arthritis in Winter (December)


The old wives’ tale states that aching joints tell of a change in the weather. While little scientific evidence exists to support this, there are many things you can do to reduce the effects of arthritis this winter. Make sure to consult a doctor first!

1. Swim/soak in warm water— Swimming is great low-impact exercise too, just don’t venture into cold weather immediately after.

2. Exercise indoors—Don’t let your activities fall by the wayside as temperatures drop. Invest in a treadmill for your home or walk the local mall.

3. Make sure you’re getting enough Vitamin D—ask your doctor if you need a supplement in winter, when you’re less likely to get your recommended dose from the sun.

4. Try a glucosaminechondroitin supplement—this pricey herbal supplement hasn’t been proven, but many arthritis patients swear by it, and it has lower risky side effects than other medications.

5. Add 2,000-3,000mg of fish oil daily—The omega-3 fatty acids they contain reduce inflammation.

Team Dance: 50/50 Dance This Saturday!

50/50 dance this Saturday! Bring your Cds, a snack to share, and your dancing shoes for a night of casual social fun!

The Franciscan Center: Balance!

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 15: Tai Chi

Do you need a new and exciting exercise? Tai Chi is a type of exercise that has immense health benefits especially for balance stability because it works on vital core muscles. Tai Chi is described as a self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching. It is made up of organic, nature-like poses and movements.


Most forms of Tai Chi are very calm and are easy for all ages. It requires no extra equipment and can be done alone or in a group. It’s a low impact form of exercise but consult your doctor before trying it if you have joint, spine or heart problems or severe osteoporosis.

In addition to improving balance and reducing falls, Tai Chi can improve sleep, relieve chronic pain, reduce anxiety and overall offer well-being.

To get started, check The Franciscan Center schedule to see when they offer classes. Start with a basic beginning instructor to learn the movements safely and correctly. To gain all the advantages of Tai Chi, think about practicing it daily at a regularly scheduled time.

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 13: Try Swimming This Summer!

Exercising three times a week is a widely recognized method for improving health, but the type of exercise performed can greatly affect what aspects of your health are improved. Recently researchers have compared different aerobic activities such as jogging and swimming to determine what types of exercise can help improve balance and hand eye coordination and to what extent.


It has been found by H. -C. Hsu and his lab that swimming three times a day can significantly improve balance and reaction time due to improved hand eye coordination. The study was carried out with two groups of people all between the ages of 60 and 75. Both groups exercised regularly three times a week, but while one group swam for their exercise, the other performed activities such as jogging and rock climbing. The evaluators were blind to the type of exercise each participant had been performing.

This finding is extremely accommodating to the members of the population that are frail or have joint problems because swimming, unlike most other physical activities, does not put any significant pressure on the joints and bones of the human body. The best way to start exercising by swimming would be to practice until you can swim for ten minutes at a time, and then swim 500 yards, or thirty minutes, three times a week for an extended period of time alternating non-exercising and exercising days.

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 12: The Astronaut Who Works to Prevent Falls!

Dr. Sienko's prototype- a vibrotactile feedback device for improving balance!


Kathleen Sienko is a researcher at the University of Michigan who specializes in technology to stabilize both elderly people and post-flight astronauts. Her current project uses a cell phone to provide vibrational cues to a person when he or she begins to lose balance.

What inspired you to choose this field? I am passionate about space exploration, and after working on a balance-related study that employed individuals with vestibular deficits as analogs for astronauts returning from long-duration spaceflight, I came to appreciate the daily challenges associated with inner ear disease and was inspired to pursue research that would have a positive impact on the quality of life for persons with balance deficits.

What are the benefits of your research? My research focuses on the design and assessment of devices for improving balance and the development of low-cost, easy-to-use technologies to benefit global health.

What about your field would most surprise people? The amount of travel. During the past year, work has taken me to Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Morgantown, Geneva, Copenhagen, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Kumasi, Reykjavik, Bangkok and New Delhi.

Gonzales, Cecile. "Astronauts and the Elderly Share Balance Issues." ScienceLives 26 Aug 2010. www.livescience.com/11167-astronauts-elderly-share-balance-issues.html

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 11: Wii Bowling!

Physical therapists use many different types of interventions to treat elderly adults with an increased risk of falling. Typically, they will do so by creating a regimen that uses various exercises. However, a recent case study tested a new and exciting way to improve balance.

It investigated the effect a Nintendo Wii bowling simulation had on the balance of a resident at a nursing home. The resident was an 89 year old woman with a history of falling and was recently diagnosed with an unknown balance disorder. The subject performed six, one hour bowling sessions over a two week period.

After two weeks, the intervention helped to decrease the subject’s risk of falling and her balance. Even though this approach to improving balance seems very unusual, the use of new technology not geared towards balance, such as the Nintendo Wii, might be the future for improving people’s balance and decreasing their risk of falling.

"Tips to Avoid Falls When in the Hospital." Partners.org. Partners Healthcare.2011. www.partners.org/cird/FallsPrevention/pdfs/AVOIDING_FALLS.pdf

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 10: Fall Prevention in Hospitals

In the past, the hospitalized elderly had more to worry about than simply getting healthy; they also had to worry about how to avoid falling while in the hospital. Until recently, hospitals focused on drugs and restraints when it came to fall prevention. Medication was often given with the intent to decrease agitation, restlessness, and the risk for falls, but that same medication actually increased falls by altering judgment, balance, and gait. Likewise, physical restraints such as side rails on hospital beds have been shown to cause or worsen agitation, combativeness, and confusion, leading to more falls.

Recently, hospitals have shifted their fall prevention focus and incorporated the following strategies into patient care: integrate physical and occupational therapy and nursing into fall assessments, enlist the pharmacy to label medications associated with increased risk of falls, question family members about patients’ typical daily routines, and increase hourly rounds to address patients’ personal needs.

Elderly patients can also play a role in increasing their own safety. They can discuss their risk for falls with their doctor to devise a fall prevention plan such as asking for help when getting out of bed, walking, or toileting, avoiding sudden movements, wearing properly fitting shoes, checking for clear paths when walking, utilizing the call button on hospital beds, and using assistive devices such as canes and walkers.

Together hospitals and elderly patients can reduce the risk of falls and make hospitals safer for the elderly so they can focus on what is most important, getting healthy.

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 7: Precision Contact!

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

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 7: Non-slip Products

At just $2.99 a pair,

these replacement tips
are a great way to
reduce fall risk

The incidence of falls in the home can be greatly reduced with the use of nonslip products. Thankfully, slip-resistant solutions are being created. These products include non-slip mats to be used under rugs and bathroom. New additions often do more than just decrease the likelihood of losing your footing.

There are brightly colored mats with treads for the stairs that better indicate where one step ends and the next begins. The easiest, most inexpensive solution we found are small rubber feet you can be attach to the end of canes and walkers to increase grip.

One of the latest products is a coating that can be used on bath tubs and hard floors to make them less slippery. They are easy to apply and essentially invisible once dry. Overall, the market for non -slip products has greatly expanded and a little research, along with a few modifications to your home, can decrease your risk of falling.

- Julia Schaeffer

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 6: Biomechanics

The Engineering Wellness and Safety Lab (EWSL) is a biomechanics lab. But what does “biomechanics” mean? To understand biomechanics, it is useful to break the word into two parts: “bio” means anything that is living, and “mechanics” is the study of motion and its causes. From the combination of these two, we discover that biomechanics is the study of how different forms of life move. This type of movement can be anything from how a person walks, to how a fish swims, or even how an insect flies. However, in the Engineering Wellness and Safety Lab, the focus is solely on the movement of humans. Biomechanics can be used in all areas of life to improve athletic performance, predict falls in elderly adults, assist in the injury recovery process, learn more about the human body, and much more. Some recent biomechanical studies that we have conducted are the study of how groceries bags affect balance, creating standards for balance testing, and a flight simulator study. Biomechanics reveals much about how the human body works. - Chris Denzinger

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 5: Q & A on Balance

This interview comes from the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging.

Q: How common are falls and balance problems in older persons?

A: Each year, falls occur in over a third of persons over age 65. The risk increases in frequency and severity after age 75.

Q: What are major causes of falls?

A: The most common causes of falls include environmental hazards (such as slippery floors and loose rugs), weak muscles, unstable balance, dizziness, vision problems, and side effects from medications.

Q: How can I tell if I am at risk for falling?

A: The most important predictors of fall risk include: muscle weakness (difficulty rising from a chair), unsteady balance (needing to walk slowly or with a wide base of support), a fall in the past year, and taking some blood pressure medications and antidepressants.

Q: How can I decrease my chances of falling?

A: Your doctor can evaluate your strength, balance, gait and entire medication list. Together, you may decide to adjust medications, start physical therapy or use a cane or walker to make walking safer.

Q: How can I improve my balance?

A: There are a number of exercises and assistive devices that can improve stability. Ask your doctor what would be best for you. -Erin Sutton

Team University of Dayton Engineering & Safety Lab No. 4: What to Discuss with Your Doctor!

Asking your doctor questions about your health, and particularly balance, can be a difficult task. Reasons for this could range from nervousness to uncertainty in questions you should ask. Balance is a serious issue that has a drastic effect on the quality of life. Because of this, we have a list of potential topics that can affect balance that you and your physician can discuss at your next appointment.

1. Your history of falling and all medication that you take

2. Gait and balance difficulties

3. Vision

4. Lower body strength

5. Cardiovascular conditions

6. Review your use of walking aids, such as canes and walkers

After you address any concerns you might have about balance, your doctor can help review and examine the topics that are listed to determine your everyday stability and risk of falling. Asking about these topics is important if you are experiencing trouble with balance because your doctor may make recommendations to treat future falls.

Deborah Kinor

Team:University of Dayton Engineering Wellness & Safety Lab No 3: Quick and Easy Balance Exercise!

This month’s exercise is perfect for building up leg strength.

Safety: Have a sturdy chair or person nearby to hold on to if you feel unsteady. Talk with your doctor if you are unsure about doing a particular exercise.

Stand on one foot behind a sturdy chair, holding on for balance.

Hold position for up to 10 seconds.

Repeat 10-15 times for each leg

Repeat 10-15 more times with each leg.

Advanced: Try holding on with one finger or let go of the chair.

Team Fitness Gurus: Balance and Strengthening Class!

Juggling is a fantastic way to challenge your mind and balance!

Team Fitness Gurus: Customized Balance Workshop

In partnership with

Sinclair Community College

for Lifelong Learning