© 2024 WEMU
Serving Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, MI
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Best Advice For Walking In Slippery Conditions: Walk Like A Penguin!

safetyposters365.com

As the temperature dips back below the freezing mark, slippery driving becomes more of a concern.  But walking can also be a challenge once you get out of your vehicle.

Luke Voss is a physical therapist at MedSport at the University of Michigan.  He says this is a busy time of year rehabilitating people who have fallen on the ice and are injured.  His advice for staying upright while walking on slippery pavement?

Walk like a penguin!

"Walking with their feet slightly turned out to increase their base of support, basically thinking like they're walking like a penguin.  Feet turned out making kind of short, choppy steps that ways there's more time when both feet are on the ground and then not only on one foot," says Voss.

Luke Voss is a Doctor of Physical Therapy at Michigan Medicine's Med Sport Department

Voss say as we age our sense of balance declines making older people and those with visual issues more likely to fall.

Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

— Lisa Barry is a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU. Contact her at 734.487.3363, on twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her lbarryma@emich.edu

Lisa Barry was a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU.
Related Content