Regain your balance and confidence and get back to enjoying your life.
Does the room spin when you sit up in bed or rollover in bed? Do you feel lightheaded or woozy when standing up from a chair? Are you afraid you might fall with normal everyday activities like walking, stairs, or maneuvering around your house? Have you fallen more than once in the past year?
What is Balance?
For people to remain in balance, multiple systems of the human body have to work together. If one of the these systems doesn’t function well, balance issues can happen, with the possibility of a fall. Systems that are involved include vestibular system or inner ear, hip/bone and core/muscle weakness, loss of vibratory sense in the lower legs, loss of proprioceptive sense in the hips, knees, and ankles, the nervous system, and vision. More often than not, multiple systems are involved in creating your symptoms that may sound like this: “I’m afraid I might fall,” “I feel off balance or lightheaded when I stand up,” “I have fallen recently,” “I don’t feel as steady when I walk as I used to”.
As people age, the number of falls and the severity of injury resulting from falls increases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries in people age 65 and older and one-third of falls occur in this age population. As a child, when you fell, you used to pick yourself back up easily and went about your day without a thought of lasting injury. Now as an older adult, it is likely you have more of a fear of falling that could lead to serious injury, long-term limitations, lack of confidence, and loss of independence.
The most common reasons for falls in older adults include a combination of changes that are often a part of the normal aging process but with 2 or more of the following issues you have a greater risk of falling:
- Vision loss—not seeing clearly enough to avoid falling
- Hip and leg weakness—making it harder to walk and lift your feet while stepping
- Posture and balance issues—making it harder to stand up straight
- Painful feet, back, or legs
- Longer reaction time—taking you longer to react to something in your way
- Increased drug use and drug interactions—may cause dizziness, affect balance
- Chronic health problems—developing arthritis or weakness/loss of mobility issues following vascular events, e.g., clots, strokes, or heart attacks.
- Fear of falling – being overly cautious can have its drawbacks
The importance of being proactive today, by seeing a physical therapist, to improve your balance is a matter of life or death. Being mindful of how you move about during your day and performing 1 or 2 balance exercises daily can go a long way to improving your quality of life.
What is vertigo?
Vertigo symptoms are often described as the following: “the room is spinning”, “I feel like I’m always on a boat”, “I have nausea”, or “The TV images are on an angle”.
Understanding your vertigo symptoms coupled with your PT evaluation will determine why you have vertigo. Vertigo can be caused by an issue in the inner ear (your vestibular system), a virus, from your brain, or miscommunication between your eyes and your inner ear.
What happens when you come in to The Manual Touch?
Your therapist will use a Whole Body Approach to evaluate you and determine the root causes of your condition. Then, you’ll be prescribed a unique treatment plan using traditional and non-traditional manual therapy and exercises. You’ll learn how to move appropriately throughout your day and night, so as not to aggravate your condition. Our ultimate goal is to help you reclaim function, life, movement, and enjoyment of the activities you love.
Common Balance and Vestibular conditions we treat:
- Gait difficulty
- Fear of falling
- Feeling off balance
- Lightheadedness upon standing
- Vertigo
- Feeling like your on a boat
- Recent falls
- Weakness
Download our free guide:
Better Balance & Fall Prevention
