If you have long standing neuropathy and you can’t feel your feet there is a high likelihood that you will have poor balance.
Statistics show that falls are the leading cause of death from injury among people aged 65 and older. Optimal Balance is essential to prevent a devastating fall.
We use Computerized Assessment of Postural Stability (CAPS™) testing performed in our office for assessing balance and how well your brain perceives your body position in space.
When a person has neuropathy almost always their perception of where their body is positioned in space is disturbed.
An individual’s peripheral nerves and areas of their brain work together to react to information received from the ground that they are standing on. The brain uses this information to create a somotopic or body map that allows us to have good balance and function as we move through our environment. Damage or dysfunction to nerves and these important areas of the brain can cause a person to have an altered sense of where they are in space. These deficits can be devastating to a senior’s ability to walk and can cause a sense of disequilibrium.
The CAPS balance and posture stability test uses an extremely sensitive force platform and specially designed software that can measure the otherwise imperceptible and undetectable changes in a person’s balance or what is known as their center of pressure and limits of stability. A person’s center of pressure is closely related to a person’s center of gravity and a person’s limit of stability is how far they can move off of this center without falling. The CAPS will generate a report that quantifies a person’s balance and stability. This will provide an objective score that can be compared to normative data for the patient’s age, height, gender or prior CAPS baseline. This test is essential in determining the severity of a person’s neuropathy, their risk of falling and can be used to monitor progress through care. For more information go to: https://www.vestibtech.com/TBI.html
