What is a balance disorder?
A balance disorder is a condition that makes you feel unsteady or dizzy. If you are standing, sitting, or lying down, you might feel as if you are moving, spinning, or floating. If you are walking, you might suddenly feel as if you are tipping over.
Everyone has a dizzy spell now and then, but the term "dizziness" can mean different things to different people. For one person, dizziness might mean a fleeting feeling of faintness, while for another it could be an intense sensation of spinning (vertigo) that lasts a long time.
If you have a balance disorder, you may stagger when you try to walk, or teeter or fall when you try to stand up. You might experience other symptoms such as:
- Dizziness or vertigo (a spinning sensation)
- Falling or feeling as if you are going to fall
- Lightheadedness, faintness, or a floating sensation
- Blurred vision
- Confusion or disorientation.
Other symptoms might include nausea and vomiting, changes in heart rate and blood pressure, and fear, anxiety, or panic.
Symptoms may come and go over short time periods or last for a long time, and can lead to fatigue and depression.What causes balance disorders?
There are many causes of balance problems, such as medications, ear infections, a head injury, or anything else that affects the inner ear or brain. Low blood pressure can lead to dizziness when you stand up too quickly. Problems that affect the skeletal or visual systems, such as arthritis or eye muscle imbalance, can also cause balance disorders. Your risk of having balance problems increases as you get older.
Unfortunately, many balance disorders start suddenly and with no obvious cause.
Treatment for Balance Disorders
There are more than a dozen causes of dizziness and many reasons why you might have difficulty with your balance. Treatment of balance & dizziness disorders can be very complex. Nevertheless, we have helped numerous residents in the community cope with or recover from conditions that cause balance disorders.
The first thing your doctor will do if you have a balance problem is determine if another health condition or a medication is to blame. If so, your doctor will treat the condition, suggest a different medication, or in many cases, refer you to one of our balance disorder experts here at Physical Therapy Care.
How Our Physical Therapists Can Help
Physical therapist directed treatment can assist patients with balance disorders in a number of ways. As experts in the evaluation and treatment of movement, muscle, joint, and nervous system disorders, our physical therapists can prescribe and implement a variety of treatments including:
- Coordination Exercises
- Proprioception Exercises
- Strengthening Exercises
- Stretching and Range of Motion Exercises
- Posture Exercises
- Retraining of the Inner Ear
- Visual Tracking Training
Positional Vertigo - A Common Cause of Dizziness & Balance Disorders
If you have BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo), our vestibular therapy experts can perform a series of simple movements, such as the Epley maneuver, which can help dislodge the otoconia (calcium crystals) from the semicircular canal of the ear. In many cases, one session works; other people need the procedure several times to relieve their dizziness.
We Can Help You Cope With Your Condition
The physical therapists at Physical Therapy Care can also help increase your strength and coordination to help lower your risk of falling and getting hurt during daily activities, such as when you walk up or down stairs, use the bathroom, or exercise.
Some people with a balance disorder will need the help of our vestibular rehabilitation therapists to cope with their problems. In each case, we will conduct a personalized evaluation of your condition and then we will develop an individualized treatment plan.
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Reference: www.choosept.com
