By: Jillian Atkinson DPT
I’ve often worked with patients who think balance problems are simply a normal part of getting older. However, your body uses three main systems to help you stay balanced. If one or more of these systems isn’t working well, your risk of falling can increase.
- Vision: Your eyes help your balance by providing information about your surroundings and where your body is in relation to the people and objects around you. Visual changes, such as poor eyesight, can make it tougher to stay balanced.
- Somatosensory: This is a fancy word for your body’s ability to feel touch, pain, pressure, and where the body is placed in space. People with neuropathy (numbness in the feet) may have a harder time with balance because they can’t feel the ground beneath them.
- Vestibular: The vestibular system is located in the inner ear. It helps detect motion, movement, and gravity. If you have noticed losing your balance when turning your head, the vestibular (inner ear) system could be weak.
When one or more of these systems isn’t working well, the other systems have to work harder to keep you balanced. For example, if you have poor vision and numbness in the feet (neuropathy), the brain has to rely more on the vestibular system (inner ear) to keep you balanced. It may seem impossible to fix some of these problems, such as numbness in the feet or poor vision. However, physical therapy can help by strengthening the other systems. Your physical therapist will help you practice activities that challenge your balance. These activities help your body react more quickly if you start to lose your balance, making it easier to recover before you fall. Sometimes falls can also happen from weakness in certain muscles—your physical therapist can also work with you to strengthen those muscles. If you notice your balance getting worse, you’ve had a fall, or you’ve had a few close calls, reach out to one of our clinics for an evaluation!