What Causes Balance Problems?
Balance difficulties can have a large number of contributing factors that need specialized testing to determine which factors are contributing most to the problem.
Falls Risk Increases with Age
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But falling is not an inevitable consequence of getting older!
Intrinsic Risk factors may include:
Gait changes
- Dragging feet
- Slower, shorter steps with less power
- Broader-based, more cautious gait
Postural instability
- Slowed processing & proprioception leads to increased sway
- Altered balance response “strategies”
- Particular after the age of 80
- Postural sway increases
- Righting reflexes diminish
- Reaction time increases
- General decreases in:
- Vision
- Hearing
- Vestibular function
- Proprioception
Impaired cognition
- Increased interference with gait and balance
- Impaired recognition of danger
Impaired vision
- Macular degeneration
- Glaucoma
- Cataracts
- Poor correction
- Diabetic retinopathy
Vertigo
- Benign positional vertigo
- Acute labyrinthitis
- Meniere’s disease
Lightheadedness
- Cardiovascular problems
- Hyperventilation
- Anxiety
- Orthostatic hypotension- Check blood pressure after supine for five minutes, then standing for one and three minutes
Vitamin D Insufficiency
- Vitamin D supplemenatation can reduce falls by 22%
Muscle and Joint Abnormalities
- Reduced muscular strength and tone
- Arthritis Foot deformities
- Shoe problems
- Proximal musclular weakness
