Hip Stability and Fall Prevention

Fall risk increases significantly as the elderly age. As the human body ages, there is a significant decline in strength, especially in the lower extremities. In addition to the decline in strength, there is a gradual progression of postural changes and loss of flexibility. One area that drastically becomes compromised is the lumbopelvic hip region. The principles of motor control state that to have optimal locomotion, the human body must first achieve a balance between proximal stability and distal mobility. The principle of reciprocal inhibition stresses that when muscle groups become adaptively shortened, opposing muscle groups are also inhibited. In no other region of the human body does this principle have more practical application than the hip. The clinician that designs a fall prevention program that addresses the fundamentals of motor control and identifies patients who are either deficient in mobility or stability of the hips will achieve greater outcomes in reducing falls than their colleagues.