Falls & Balance Physiotherapy at Home
Steadier on your feet, more confident at home: falls prevention physiotherapy across Hampshire.
Why Balance Training Works
A fall, or the fear of one, can quickly shrink someone's world. Our physiotherapists specialise in falls physiotherapy and balance rehabilitation at home. Most falls happen at home, so the skills we teach are the ones you will use every day.
Good balance depends on leg strength, joint sense, vision and the inner ear. When any of these weaken, you can become unsteady. But you can improve your balance at any age. Strength and balance exercise is one of the most effective ways to reduce falls. It works best when you practise it in your own home.
What We Work On to Reduce Falls
Falls usually have several causes, so the plan tackles several things at once.
Benefits of Home-Based Falls Prevention
- A home hazard check: rugs, lighting, furniture heights and grab rails
- Practice on your own stairs, steps and thresholds
- Confidence rebuilt for the routes you actually walk
- Family and carers shown how to help safely
What Your Physiotherapy Includes
- A full strength, gait and balance assessment
- Progressive strength and balance exercises
- Practice getting up from the floor safely
- Advice on walking aids and footwear
- Liaison with your GP about dizziness or medication where relevant
A Typical Strength and Balance Programme
Strength and balance exercise is one of the most effective ways to reduce falls. But it only works when it gets harder over time and you keep it up. This is how a typical programme goes. We agree with you how often we visit.
Understanding Your Falls
A full hour to understand your falls or near misses. We test your strength, balance and walking, look at your home and footwear, and agree goals. You finish with your first exercises, chosen to be safe to do alone.
Building the Foundations
Leg strength, standing balance and a safe practice routine set up around your worktop or a sturdy chair. We start practising getting down to and up from the floor, and make the simple changes around the house.
Turning Up the Challenge
The exercises get harder as you get stronger: holding on less, feet closer together, turning, stepping, then steps and kerbs outdoors. Balance only improves when it is really tested, so we make it harder at every visit.
Making It Part of Your Week
The gains from strength and balance exercise fade if you stop. So we finish by building the routine into your week. That might mean fewer reviews, a local class if it suits you, or a family member who knows how to help.
Falls Have Reasons, Usually Several
Falls are rarely bad luck. Leg strength, balance reactions, eyesight, blood pressure, medication side-effects, footwear and the home itself all play a part. Most falls involve two or three at once. That is good news: several causes means several things we can fix.
Our assessment checks all of it: strength, balance, walking, dizziness, footwear, lighting, rugs and rails. We turn it into one practical plan, and talk to your GP if medication or blood pressure need a look.
The Fear of Falling Causes Falls
After a fall, or even a near-miss, many people quietly shrink their world: no more stairs, no more walks. It feels safer. But doing less makes legs weaker and balance worse, so the next fall becomes more likely. Fear does the opposite of what it promises.
We rebuild the other way. We use strength and balance work that is really challenging but closely supervised, on the routes and surfaces you actually use. We keep going until your confidence catches up with what you can do.
Getting Up From the Floor Is a Skill
Much of the harm from a fall can come from the time spent on the floor afterwards. We practise how to get up, or how to stay warm and comfortable and get help when you cannot. This turns the worst case into something you can manage, and takes away much of the dread that feeds the fear.
We teach and rehearse it safely, and advise on alarms and phone placement so help is always within reach.
Coming Home After a Fall
A fall that ends in hospital, with or without a fracture, often leaves people weaker and less confident after days spent mostly in bed. New medication, a new walking aid and a home that suddenly feels harder to manage all add up. The first weeks home are when help matters most.
We can usually visit soon after you leave hospital. We pick up the hospital's falls advice and check that bed, chair and toilet heights work. We make sure the walking aid fits and is used well, and start strength and balance work straight away, at a level that feels safe.
Medication, Eyesight and Blood Pressure
Some causes of falls are not about exercise. Some medicines can cause drowsiness or light-headedness, especially when several are taken together. Some people's blood pressure drops when they stand up. And changes in eyesight, or varifocal glasses on steps and kerbs, can make edges harder to judge.
Raise these with your GP or pharmacist, who can review medication and check your blood pressure lying and standing. See your optician for a regular eye test. We point out anything we notice during visits and, with your permission, write to your GP so it does not get lost.
After a Fall: When to Get Medical Help
Some situations need medical attention first, not physiotherapy. If in doubt, call 111, or 999 in an emergency.
A head injury, especially on blood thinners
Anyone who hits their head while taking blood-thinning medication should get urgent medical advice, even if they feel fine. Call 999 for drowsiness, vomiting, confusion or a worsening headache.
Can't get up, or a long time on the floor
If someone cannot get up, call for help rather than forcing it. After a long time on the floor, get medical advice even if they seem fine, because a long lie can cause problems that are not obvious at first.
Blacking out or sudden dizziness
A fall with a blackout, sudden new dizziness, palpitations or chest pain needs a doctor to check it. See your GP the same day. Call 999 if symptoms are severe or come with weakness or slurred speech.
Falls Prevention FAQs
It can really be reduced. Strength and balance training is one of the best-proven treatments for older adults. The right programme, done regularly, is one of the most effective ways to cut falls at any age.
Many people start to feel steadier within six to eight weeks of regular practice. Balance tests often show change before that. The full benefit builds over months, so we make the programme one you can keep up, not one that wears you out.
Only if it really helps. A walking aid is a tool, and often a short-term one. The right aid, used well, makes you safer. We give you honest advice, fit it properly, and work towards you needing less help where that is realistic.
Yes. Every first visit includes a practical look at lighting, rugs, stairs, rails, the bathroom and footwear. Small changes are often as useful as the exercises.
No. People who have fallen more than once have the most to gain. A thorough assessment usually finds specific causes we can fix. We involve family so the plan works between visits too.
Yes. A fall can be a sign of something treatable, such as a medication side-effect, a drop in blood pressure on standing or a change in eyesight. With your permission we share what we find with your GP too.
The exercises we leave you are chosen to be safe for you alone, usually with a worktop or sturdy chair to hold. Harder ones are practised with us first and only handed over when you are ready.
No referral is needed: you or a family member can call us to book. Each visit is a full hour of home physiotherapy with the same physiotherapist every time, and costs £90.
Ready To Take The Next Step?
With South Coast Home Physiotherapy, you get ongoing help to keep moving and stay independent in daily life. Every session is planned around you and aims to:
- Relieve everyday aches and stiffness
- Improve strength and balance
- Reduce the risk of falls
- Make everyday movements easier
Do you need a one-off assessment, or regular physiotherapy to keep you feeling your best? Our friendly, experienced team is here to help.
Or simply fill out the contact form.
New to us? See what to expect from your first visit.
