The Balance Mat Introduction

Balance Mat product Page 

An introduction to the Balance mat

HealthyStep’s Balance Mat uses an innovative ‘clock-like’ arrangement and is designed to challenge and improve balance. It achieves this through regular use by stimulating the nerves and the parts of the brain involved in coordinating lower limb and trunk control. By doing so, its regular use is creating a more stable posture, particularly during daily movements.

A complex network of neurological receptors passes information and instruction along nerve pathways from and to muscles, ligaments, fascia, and joints as well as the brain. Together, this integrated system is
known as the sensorimotor system. The most famous part of this system is called proprioception, which uses extensive proprioceptor receptors that report on body posture and motion. This system works with the more well-known balance structures, such as the touch sensors of the skin, the eyes and the inner ear.

However, the body has far more receptors positioned deeper within the tissues that inform us about joint position, movement, speed of motion, muscle contraction power, and tendon, ligament and fascial tensions. This information works on a conscious, subconscious, and unconscious level, thus allowing us to prepare and respond to the consequences of movement to avoid injury and prevent falls.

The Problem

Maintaining a stable bipedal posture is challenging especially in an animal like humans that do not have a tail but possessing a large head and long arms. Humans are rather top heavy with the head, trunk and arms held up a long way from the ground. Other bipeds like dinosaurs of the past or birds and kangaroos of the present, have combination of variable features such as large tails, small arms, folded-back wings, and small heads. This allows the hips to act like the pivot of a seesaw, with nearly equal weight in front and behind the hips, making them relatively balanced.

 

In fact this instability is used to our advantage. Human walking involves deliberately losing balance to fall forward over one leg while advancing the other leg quickly enough to a position ahead where we can safely load onto it. This requires strong hip muscles to lift body weight upwards, followed by powerful calf muscles slowing the rate of fall forward until the opposite foot hits the ground. This rise and fall requires very careful muscle control to maintain balance, but costs very little in muscle energy. This is all well and good as long as muscles remain strong and an excellent sense of balance is maintained

Human walking is efficient, but it requires a complex nervous system and a large brain to process the information required to maintain balance. Adult-style walking takes around 6 to 7 years of locomotion to master, and around 11 to 12 years to hone to perfection. This explains why toddlers fall a lot especially when they have just started walking, whereas teenagers rarely fall.

Some children struggle to gain their locomotive balance and coordination more than others. Notable conditions that can delay or suppress balance are dyspraxia, autism, cerebral palsy, and Down’s syndrome. Habitual toe walkers, children with flexible flat feet, those born with club feet, and children who walk in-toed or out-toed unrelated to other conditions, can also struggle with their balance. 

However, the most common group of people who develop balance problems are older adults. Changes can be noted even as we move into our 40’s but they become more noticeable and problematic as we continue to age. Loss of balance can result from reducing strength in pelvic, lower limb, and foot muscles, as well as arising from deterioration in the function of neural structures. Very commonly, both processes play a part in loss of balance in the elderly. This is why falls are so common in those over 65-years-old. In fact a fall is the most common reason for this age group to require a hospital visit. Those who have fallen once are far more likely to do it again. These falls can lead to injuries such as cuts, bruises, fractures, concussion, but they can even cause death.

A Solution

The good news is that by regularly challenging the sensorimotor system combined with general muscular strengthening, fall risks can be reduced. This form of treatment is part of an approach known as ‘falls prevention’.

The HealthyStep Balance Mat can play a part in both training children for improved locomotive abilities as they grow and in assisting adults in maintaining and improving their balance and coordination to prevent falls. This balance training if performed regularly, can play an important part in falls prevention.

Using the Balance Mat for balance assessment and training before any falls have occurred can prevent problems from developing.

After falls, the Balance Mat can be used as part of rehabilitation to prevent further falls and instability incidents.

Who are the main users?

• Any client group that has a ‘falls risk’ as part of the signs and symptoms of their pathology. Primarily, this will be the elderly, but balance tends to start to deteriorate from age 40. This opens up benefits from using the Balance Mat to the middle-aged population in preparation for ageing.

• Children with balance issues (e.g. Children with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, dyspraxia, autistic conditions, toe walkers, in-toe and out-toe walkers, club feet, and flexible flat feet).

Positioning your Balance Mat

Place the HealthyStep Balance Mat on a carpeted surface. Carpeted floors secure the mat to prevent it from slipping. Having a softer surface below the mat makes it slightly harder to maintain balance upon. This actually improves the effect of the Balance Mat. The thicker the carpet pile, the harder the exercise is to perform, and the better results are likely to be.

Warning

If your balance is very poor or you have a history of falls, a minimal pile carpet or non-slip hard floor might be best to start on, until you notice considerable improvement.

We also strongly recommend that the mat is placed near a wall or within a door frame, that can act as a support if you become unstable. Having someone nearby while you perform these exercises is advisable and if you use a balance aid such as a stick or walking frame, you should use the aid while performing your exercises until you no longer use the aid for daily activities.

If you have not used the mat for two weeks or more, or you have now stopped using your balance aid, you may find that you need to regress to a lower exercise level than you had previously achieved before you can improve once again.

If you have a history of regular falls or peripheral neuropathy (i.e. loss of sensation in your feet), please seek medical advice before using the Balance Mat. This is because you may need to take some extra precautions to help keep you stable while using the mat to make sure you do not fall.

 

The approach to improving your balance

When using your HealthyStep Balance Mat, you should keep your bodyweight on the static support limb that stays at HOME and does not move during an exercise. If you are moving the left foot, your body weight should remain towards the right leg with its foot on HOME. If performing right foot exercises, maintain your body weight towards the left leg standing on HOME. 

Although performing the Balance Mat exercises barefoot is recommended, it is possible to perform the balance exercises wearing shoes. However, benefits are likely to take a little longer before they become apparent if shoes are used.

If wearing footwear is necessary for other medical reasons, we would advise you to wear them while using the Balance Mat.

Work through each exercise. As soon as you find an exercise that causes you any difficulty in your balance (even if it is only a slight wobble), work on this exercise until it is very easy to perform. Only when you can complete an exercise several times without any instability issues, should move on to the next exercise, and so on.

NOTE:

Your moving foot needs to be placed upon the colour indicated. However, it does not matter if your step covers any other colours within the numbered segments at the same time. For example, if part of your foot lands
on the green while performing a red exercise, do not be concerned. Just try and place the forefoot (ball of the foot) on the correct colour within the segment corresponding to the number indicated. Improvements in your balance will still occur, even if targeting is not perfect.

Be aware! Each level becomes progressively more difficult to perform, starting with green as the easiest to the most difficult at blue. 

Finally, there is a section that can be used for maintenance after the listed exercises have been completed. Performing one or two of these exercises several times a week can help maintain balance. These maintenance exercises can also act as an alert to balance deterioration by performing them once a month or so in those who are not aware of a problem.

 

How to use the Balance Mat

HOME. The Starting Position

The start position is standing with your two feet over the black footprints within the inner ring of green. Place the left foot on the left footprint and the right foot on the right footprint facing towards 12 0’clock. This is both the start position and finishing position for all the exercises, which we call HOME.

Remember to keep your body weight on the static leg that stays at home when you move the other foot to a certain coloured number.

If you are now ready, go first to the Level 1 Green Exercises.