How Chiropractic Management Can Help Your Balance Problems
Controlling and keeping body position while staying still or mobile is the essential function of good balance. Good balance helps a person to walk without faltering, arise from a sitting position without slipping, and to climb stairs without slipping.
Balance difficulties are regularly described by 9 percent of adults, aged 65 and older. Good balance is essential in helping an older person to stay independent, and to carry out daily chores and activities. A large majority older individuals, however, undergo dizziness, “wooziness,” and problems with balance.
The feeling by some people that they, themselves, or their environment is spinning is commonly referred to as “vertigo.” About 40 percent of individuals in the U.S. will have an incidence of dizziness that is serious enough to go to a doctor. And, among older adults, falls are the leading cause of extreme injury and deaths.
Balance and Inner Ear Challenges
There are many types of balance disorders. Three familiar types are benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, labyrinthitis, and Meniere’s disease. Of these three, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is the most common. Its symptoms encompass a brief, intense experience of vertigo with a change in head position, when rolling over to the left or right in bed or when getting out of bed, or when looking up for something on a high shelf. This affliction is more likely to occur in people 60 and older, however it can also occur in younger people.
The basis for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo are diverse. Inner ear infection, head injury, or simply aging can produce the affliction. Frequently times a simple Epleys procedure can fix the affliction, although it can be linked to other disease processes. Your Santa Barbara Chiropractor has many years of experience in this procedure.
Labyrinthitis is an infection or inflammation of the inner ear that creates dizziness and loss of balance. It affects adults of any age and the cause is currently undiscovered.
Ménière’s disease is a balance disorder that causes vertigo, irregular hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing or roaring in the ears), and a “full feeling” in the ear.
Although older individuals are more likely to experience balance disorders, age is not the only reason these problems take place. Depending on the cause of the balance disorder, treatment will vary. A chiropractor is well-educated in diagnosing and treating many of the causes. On occasion, even simple exercises for vestibular rehab can be the answer to balance challenges. Call a health care professional, such as your Santa Barbara Chiropractor, if you have encountered, or are currently experiencing, dizziness, vertigo, or other challenges with balance.
Not all balance disorders are created by complications in the inner ear. A small number may include other parts of the body like the brain or heart. Other influences, in addition to aging and ear infection, may include head injury, certain medicines, problems with blood circulation, upper respiratory infections, viral infections, stress, fatigue, smoking, alcohol use, stroke, high or low blood pressure, and heart disease.
Balance disorders produced by high blood pressure can normally be managed by less sodium intake,sustaining a healthy weight, and exercise. To help in making the symptoms of dizziness less intense, frequently eating low-salt or salt-free foods, and staying away from caffeine and alcohol, will help.
Balance disorders are significant. It is the number one cause of falls and fall-related injuries in older people. It is extremely important to have a possible balance disorder accessed and treated as soon as possible.
If you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, you should discuss the symptom(s) with your chiropractor:
• Do you have the feeling of being “unsteady?”
• Does the room seem to spin around you?
• Is there ever a time when you feel as if you are moving when you know you are standing still?
• Do you lose your balance and/or fall?
• Do you feel as if you are falling?
• Does your vision ever become “blurred?”
• Do you ever feel disoriented, or lose a sense of time, place or identify?
Don’t wait until it’s too late! Call your chiropractor today.
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