Balance

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Balance
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Balance is

• The ability to maintain equilibrium and
  orientation in a gravitational environment.
• The behavior that we call balance results from an
  interaction of many systems and subsystems. In
  dynamical systems terms, balance is a collective
  variable, a measure of the way a system or
  organism reduces a huge number of potential
  postural responses to a finite set of
  possibilities.

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Standing Bio-Mechanics

• To understand and assess balance, it is important
  to become familiar with some basic bio-mechanical
  terminology.
• First, like any other object, the body has a
  centre of gravity (CG) or center of mass (COM),
  which acts vertically downwards (towards the
  centre of the earth). In order for an object to
  remain stable this line from the CG to the ground
  must fall within the base of support. For the
  body, this base of support is composed of the two
  feet and the area between them.

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Balance Continued

• Postural reflexes are continually used to
  maintain stability. The three main sensory
  systems contribute inputs to these reflexes
•     visual
•     vestibular
•     somatosensory

• Somatosensory
• System

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Gait
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Gait

• The phases of normal gait.

• Pain, Paralysis and Tissue Damage cause abnormal
  Gait.
• Abnormal Gait
• Ataxic unsteady
• Antalgic limp
• Apraxic loss of ability

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• What is Gait Analysis? Gait analysis is the
  study of walking. More specifically it is
  detailed observation of the movements of the arms
  and legs and the actions of the muscles when
  someone walks.
• Normal gait requires the correct functioning of
  the musculoskeletal system and nervous system.
• The basic divisions of the gait cycle are stance
  and swing.
• Stance is when the foot is on the ground.
• Swing begins when the foots is lifted from the
  floor until the heel is placed down.