There was a time when a person got older, they got less and less mobile. Their joints hurt and their legs ached and all kinds of maladies began to pop up out of nowhere. The aches and pains could be offset by medication or exercise, but nobody really liked the idea of solving the problems chemically or having to go to a gym to perform the recommended exercises.
Thank goodness times have changed and the advent of new technology and its use intervening the aches and pains of aging has come at last. What is interesting is there is a technology many think is new but which is actually quite old. That technology is called Whole Body Vibration and it was first used on patients with Epilepsy and Alzheimer’s Disease back in the early 1900’s by the same man who created Kellogg’s cereals. John Kellogg experimented with vibration with great success. He noticed patients with Epilepsy and Alzheimer’s Disease became more docile and relaxed when they rode on railroad trains. He connected the dots and decided it was the vibration of the train while it was moving that seemed to calm the patients.
Fast forward sixty years and Russian scientists decided to use Whole Body Vibration on Cosmonauts returning from outer space with atrophied muscles and diminished Bone Mineral Density. Sure enough, the vibration training brought back the cosmonaut’s muscles and bone density and a new science was born. No one could figure out why Russian athletes were so much better than everyone else’s athletes in the 1970’s and 80’s and it was due to the effects of Whole Body Vibration on the athletes. It made Russian athletes jump higher, run faster, and react quicker than their competitors. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Whole Body Vibration began getting attention all over the world. Now, it is used in every country and has been studied and researched by hundreds of government health organizations, medical schools, doctors, therapists and pretty much everyone else in the health care world.
The research shows for seniors, Whole Body Vibration helps with balance, joint pain, high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, fibromyalgia, and whole host of other ailments common to most folks over the age of 60. It seems funny that a technology that is over 100 years old is the best way to avoid medicines and strenuous exercise routines in the 21st Century. And all you have to do is stand on the vibration platform for ten minutes and your body will think it has been at the gym working out for an hour. Research has proven Whole Body Vibration also helps with depression and weight control by stimulating the brain to produce Serotonin and Dopamine, two hormones that help you feel better and more focused, as well as to reduce the production of the hormone Cortisol which is the hormone that makes your body hold and store fat.
In one research study titled “Vibration Therapy Improves Walk, Balance in Elderly” the researchers discovered some pretty amazing results from using Whole Body Vibration. The study showed the following improvements:
“After just 3 weeks or 9 sessions, a great improvement in get-up-and-go.”
“After 6 weeks of therapy, patients in the vibrating group showed:
- 143% improvement in physical function.
- 41% improvement in pain reduction.
- 60% increase in vitality.
- 23% improvement in general health.
- 57% improvement in quality of walking.
- 77% improvement in equilibrium.
- 39% decrease in time required to get up and go.”
The fact is Whole Body Vibration has been proven to help people in many more ways but it is little known in the United States. Despite its popularity in Europe, Asia, and many other places, seniors in America haven’t heard about it for the most part. But that is changing as more and more seniors come to realize the healthy, non-chemical, and easily utilized value of Whole Body Vibration.