This is George. He has been a patient of ours since 2011. George has always been a regular at our weekly exercise sessions and has always been very diligent at doing his exercises between the sessions at home. He also happens to be quite the handyman and is very creative when it comes to exercises if he doesn’t have quite the same equipment he needs at home to carry them out.
George has had quite the year. He had a fall in late 2017 where he suffered a concussion and developed a bleed on the brain. He was frequently dizzy following this and one of the challenges he had to overcome afterwards was regaining his balance and ideally
preventing any further falls (and potential injuries).
George also had shoulder surgery (rotator cuff repair) this year. He has made a speedy recovery, partly due to his compliance with his prescribed exercises. If anything, sometimes we need to remind him not to overdo it! 6 months on, he is managing very well in regards to his shoulder and is starting to get back into working in his shed, one of his favourite hobbies.
As physios, we are always encouraging our patients to do some form of exercise suited to them on a regular basis due to its various benefits. As we grow older and natural age related changes occur, our physical and therefore functional capacity gradually declines. It’s important we at least maintain, if not aim improve this capacity so that we can keep mobile and ideally improve our quality of life.
We strongly agree with the theory that if you don’t move it you lose it. Despite the challenges George has faced both medically and physically, he has managed to get his physical capacity back to the same level, if not better. It goes to show it’s never too late to get back into exercising in a way that’s appropriate to your injuries and goals.