Imagine you are standing up, leaning slightly backwards and you want to return to normal upright posture – what would your feet be doing? If you imagined your toes and perhaps also the balls of your feet slightly lifting off the floor as they pull your body forward to normal standing, you’re right.
Now imagine leaning back the same way again but this time with weak ankles and insufficient strength to pull you up straight. How will you return to normal standing and avoid falling over backwards?
Now your imaginary body’s first-line balance system is unreliable, and the back-up system must be activated instead – but what is it? Spoiler alert – you instinctively already knew, didn’t you? You would immediately find something to hold onto to pull yourself forward instead. That’s because using our hands is our automatic back-up balance reaction and we will grab almost anything if a fall is about to happen. People with poor balance often use a stick or walking frame for the same reason, or sometimes hold onto furniture for stability, even if think it’s just because they “lack confidence”. So how much should we worry about being able to lean back safely and can we avoid it? Good question.
Even when just standing quietly, humans aren’t completely still, instead we constantly sway around our centre of gravity at the ankles, in a tiny figure-of-8 . Many of our leg muscles, especially those around the ankles, switch briefly on and off very quickly in little pulses. Naturally everyone moves differently but to stand normally, it’s crucial to have your ankle muscles working well.
So the answer to the question as to whether it’s important to have strong ankle muscles – yes it definitely is, along with ankle flexibility! Physiotherapists often help people with stiff, weak or swollen ankles to restore their ankle function and overall balance.
If you or someone you know complains of feeling as if they might fall backwards, it’s a sign that they might need help to correct the problem. Physiotherapists can do an assessment and help find a solution, so please give us a call or email even to have a chat about it.