Postural Balance Review Articles

 Postural balance is the ability to keep the body in equilibrium and to regain balance after the shift of body segments1). This fundamental motor skill is learned at an early age and represents an essential basic for daily routine tasks and athletic activities2). Disturbances in postural balance are stated with a prevalence of 10 up to 29% for children and adolescents. Eliminating these disturbances is an important task of pediatric physical therapy6). Apart from that, posture weakness is identified by visible changes in body posture, for example a hyperlordosis, an increased anterior pelvic tilt, or a forward head posture7). Posture weakness is described with a prevalence of 22 to 65% in adolescence8,9,10). It is the result of a disturbed neuromuscular balance11) and held responsible for the occurrence of disorders in adult age/While postural balance and its disturbances correspond to a neurological point of view of body posture, which analyzes the quality of neuromuscular control processes13, 14), weakness in posture has so far been an orthopedic topic in particular. Both ‘macroscopically’ visible posture weaknesses and ‘microscopically’ measurable body sway14) are the result of a control process of the central nervous system, which purposefully activates the postural musculatureTherefore, the question arises whether visible posture weakness interrelates with a disturbance of postural balance. This is of therapeutic interest because therapeutic treatment of posture weakness can be implemented using various approaches, for example changing muscular balances by means of strength and stretch exercises, improving proprioception, or a combination of both