How Chiropractic Care Can Help Your Balance Problems
Good balance is essential for an individual to be able to control and maintain body position while mobile or remaining still. Good balance helps someone to walk without staggering, arise from a sitting position without slipping, and to climb stairs without slipping.
Balance problems are frequently described by 9 percent of adults, aged 65 and older. Good balance is vital in helping an older person to stay independent, and implement daily chores and activities. Dizziness, “wooziness,” and problems with balance are encountered by a large majority individuals as they age.
The label, vertigo, relates to the experience that some people have that they, themselves, or the things around them are spinning. About 40 percent of people nationwide will have an incidence of dizziness that is severe enough to go seek medical assistance. And, among older adults, falls are the prevailing cause of severe injury and deaths.
Balance and Inner Ear Conditions
There are many types of balance disorders. Three conventional types are benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, labyrinthitis, and Meniere’s disease. Of these three, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is the most widespread. It presents as a brief, intense sensation of vertigo when a person changes head position. It can also be experienced when rolling over to the left or right in bed, upon arising in the morning, or when looking up for an object on a high shelf. This condition is more likely to occur in adults 60 and older, but it can also occur in younger people.
There are various reasons for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. It may be created by an inner ear infection, head injury, or simply aging. While it can be connected with other disease processes, many times a simple Epleys procedure can eliminate the condition. Your Santa Barbara Chiropractor has many years of experience in this procedure.
Labyrinthitis is an infection or iirritation of the inner ear that creates dizziness and loss of balance. It affects adults of any age and the cause is unknown.
Ménière’s disease is a balance disorder that causes vertigo, hearing loss irregular, tinnitus (ringing or roaring in the ears), and a “full feeling” in the ear.
Although those over 65 years are more likely to experience balance disorders, age is not the only explanation for why these problems occur. Depending on the reason for the balance disorder, treatment will vary. Occasionally, there’s a simple resolution to balance challenges, such as simple exercises for vestibular rehab. A chiropractor is well-trained in assessing and treating a number of balance problems. Call a health care professional, such as your Santa Barbara Chiropractor, if you have undergone, or are currently experiencing, dizziness, vertigo, or other problems with balance.
Not all balance disorders are produced by problems in the inner ear. Some may involve other areas of the body such as the brain or heart. Other factors, besides aging and ear infection, may include head injury, certain medicines, challenges with blood circulation, upper respiratory infections, viral infections, stress, fatigue, smoking, alcohol use, stroke, high or low blood pressure, and heart disease.
Balance disorders created by high blood pressure can normally be managed by less sodium intake,sustaining a healthy weight, and exercise. To aid in making the symptoms of dizziness less severe, most often eating low-salt or salt-free foods, and avoiding caffeine and alcohol, will help.
Balance disorders are dangerous. It is the most prevalent cause of falls and fall-related injuries in older people. It is essential to have a possible balance disorder accessed and treated as soon as possible.
If you can answer “yes” to any of these 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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