Balance is a foundational aspect of maintaining your health. This can mean following a balanced diet or balancing exercise with rest, but it also applies in the most literal physical sense of keeping your balance.
Balance problems are of particular concern for Savers, since one outcome of poor balance is falls, and falls can lead to fractures. Today we'll look at the causes of poor balance, and how to maintain and improve it to protect your bones.
The Effects Of Poor Balance
Falls and fractures are the most common danger posed by poor balance. However, there are other negative outcomes as well. In severe cases, poor balance may include dizziness that prevents standing or moving around at all. Lesser cases can impair your ability to do everyday tasks or drive safely.
Less serious balance issues may result in the inability to walk in a straight line or to move around obstacles easily. This could impair your ability to work or result in continual bumps, bruises, and embarrassment.
These less severe outcomes might also be your first clue that you have poor balance. Others include an inability to stand on one leg at a time while putting on pants, or if you can't stand still with your feet together and eyes closed.
You can use either activity as a test of your baseline balance. Over time, it’s important to pay attention to your balance, as age is a leading cause of poor balance, for reasons we'll examine next.
Synopsis
Poor balance can lead to falls that can end up in fractures. Severe cases can be caused dizziness that prevents standing or moving around and impairs your ability to work or drive. If you can't walk in a straight line, if you often bump into things, or you can't stand still with your feet together and eyes closed, you likely have poor balance.
What Causes Poor Balance?
A number of factors may cause poor balance, many of which are linked to aging. Other factors are related to the inner ear, which includes the vestibular system. This system gathers information relating to equilibrium, spatial orientation, and movement to help us remain oriented and keep our balance.
- Poor Eyesight – Our eyesight has a close relationship to our vestibular system, providing essential information about our orientation in space. Reduced vision can impair that information, leading to imbalance. That's an additional reason why poor eyesight can lead to falls and fractures.
- Weakness – As we age, we lose muscle mass — so to maintain our strength we must exercise regularly. Core strength is especially critical for balance, so if you don't have a strong core, you won't have good balance either.
- Arthritis – Arthritis can impair movement, making it more difficult to keep your balance.
- Neurological Disorders – If your inability to balance includes feeling lightheaded or seeing the room spin, then you may be suffering from vertigo. Sometimes imbalance from vertigo is a sign of stroke, if sudden and paired with symptoms like numbness or speech problems. Dementia can also reduce balance, as can Parkinson's disease.
- Inner Ear Problems – Because the vestibular system is part of the inner ear, disorders of the inner ear often impact balance. In people with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, certain head movements disrupt particles in the inner ear causing dizziness, spinning, lightheadedness, and nausea. While rarely serious, some people require physical therapy to recalibrate their vestibular system. In less common cases, the problems might be caused by benign growths impinging on nerves, or by infections.
- Blood Pressure Imbalance – Abnormally high or low blood pressure can cause dizziness and a loss of balance.
- Nerve Damage – Nerves throughout the body are important for maintaining your balance, since the nervous system provides the brain with information about where body parts are in space. Nerve damage resulting in peripheral neuropathy can disrupt the flow of this information, leading to poor balance. Peripheral neuropathy can be caused by diabetes, chemotherapy, infection, trauma, nutrient deficiencies, and even alcoholism.
- Medications – Many medications cause loss of balance as one of their side effects. The more drugs you take, the more likely you are to suffer severe side effects, sometimes caused by drug interactions. As we age, our bodies respond to drugs differently, and we're more likely to be over-prescribed with new medications. Taking multiple prescription drugs increases the risk of falls and fractures, in part due to reduced balance.1
- Sea Travel – Seasickness can extend beyond nausea while you're on the waves. Sometimes sea travel can cause balance problems that take time to self-correct, from a few hours, to as long as a few months.
Synopsis
Causes of poor balance include poor eyesight, weakness, arthritis, neurological disorders, inner ear problems, blood pressure imbalance, nerve damage, and prescription medications, particularly when multiple drugs are taken.
Rebuilding Your Balance
Fortunately, in most cases lost balance can be regained, and the balance you have can be maintained and strengthened. Even in cases where the loss of balance was caused by a neurological disorder, there are specific interventions that can help. For those extreme cases, physical therapy or even surgery of the inner ear may be recommended by a medical professional.
For most people, a combination of exercise and dietary adjustments can have a profound impact on balance. In particular, exercises that focus on core strength, building muscle, and balancing will help. Yoga or other exercises that use poses and slow movement can be especially beneficial. Studies have found that balance training programs that included stretching, walking, and balance-targeted poses and movements reduced the risk of fracture.2
The Save Institute's pH-balanced diet contains all of the nutrients you need to maintain neurological health, muscle strength, and strong balance.
Synopsis
In extreme cases, therapy or minor surgery might be needed to correct a serious balance-impairing condition. For everyone else, a combination of regular core-strengthening exercise and a healthy diet can help to build and maintain balance.
What This Means To You
Like most health pursuits, there are many paths to increased balance, and the most important choice you can make is to get started.
That's why the Save Institute's online guided exercise platform, SaveTrainer, offers workout classes designed to build balance. Through a combination of caring for your blood pressure and neurological health, building core strength, and doing balance training, you can maintain your faculties to live a rich and active life!
References
1 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2544881
1 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00198-006-0252-5
i was also diagnosed with the inner ear problem, but still not 100% cured.
kindly suggest some exercise; I also have low back/ cervical problems.
thanks
I suggest you consult with a physical therapist, Archna. With the issues you’ve mentioned, there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” solution.
One more cause of poor balance to add to your list!
Lack of B12
My father was on metformin (for his diabetes) for a decade and the doctor never told him that it depletes b12. His balance was getting worse and worse over the years. Once he started taking b12, his balance did improve.
Indeed, a B12 deficiency can adversely affect the way we walk and move because it decreases balance and coordination. And also keep in mind that studies have also shown that vitamin D3 supplementation resulted in a lower rate of falls.
I have slight scoliosis and I think this affects my balance as the spine curves to one side, thus affecting my center of gravity. I find if I consciously stand up as straight as possible, I can stand on one leg and bend the other for a short while.
That’s a very helpful discovery! Good posture can work wonders, as you write 🙂
I have Plantar Fasciitis in my right foot and now I think in my left one and can’t balance on one foot. Anyone has any suggestions?
Diana, I’m sorry you’re dealing with that foot issue. I suggest you work on strengthening your core muscles, since they play an important role in maintaining balance.
This article shows you one exercise and contains recent research about the benefits of core muscle exercises on balance. Also, certain foods can actually improve balance as well, so you’ll find a delicious recipe rich in resveratrol, a balance-enhancing compound:
https://saveourbones.com/weekend-challenge-no-crunch-abs-toner-and-balance-booster/
I’ve know 2 people that have had section of their colon removed. One of them is an emergency nurse friend and said that after some time she didn’t know why her balance was off. She said they didn’t tell her after her surgery that at some point she would need a certain B vitamin in shot form, because the part removed was key in digesting that particular B vitamin needed for balance, and she no longer had that part. The other person was my Dad, and many years prior to meeting my nurse friend, I noticed he would bump the side of the doorway every time when inside my home. To my knowledge, he wasn’t told about needing B shots and I don’t know for sure if that was his problem, but thought I’d mention it in hopes it may help someone.
Thanks for sharing this with our community, Rosemary!
Another reason for poor balance is wearing thick soled and non-flexible clunky shoes so that one loses all sensation of the feel of the ground or floor. It like having neuropathy. Going barefoot is a good thing and walking outside on the dirt and uneven areas is a help.
Thanks for sharing those tips, Claudia!
Thank you, Ita.
You’re very welcome, Ita!
This is in response to Marlene’s post. Like her, I hv had vertigo, the BPPV type, for abt 10yrs. I wld like to ask Marlene what she does as “vestibular exercises” I hv found that eyeball movement helps in keeping it under control, so alsoa generous dose of Gingko Biloba, and Vinpoecteine, and Pirecetam which is Nootropic. So Marlene, I wld like to learn from u, if u hv the time and patience.
Hello K. Gopal Rao,
Thank you for reading my comment .
I’ve learned that every person despite of the same diagnoses
of vertigo, like for both of us ( BPPV ), responded differently
because of different factors affecting it. I’ve been learning
to listen to my body.
For me, it is consistent exercises that I enjoy doing it, like Tai-chi,
moving my head slowly from left to right ( back and forth), and
learning ballroom dancing. And of course, a well- balanced
nutrition.
Take care always,
Marlene
Vivian, I’ve been noticing that my balance is getting worse lately, especially when I jog in uneven terrain. I will do the balance test and will do balancing exercises from now on. I needed this article. Thanks for sharing this valuable information!
You’re welcome, Carla. I hope your balance will improve fast!
Hi Vivian
I was diagnosed with high calcium in my blood. After all the scans, it was discovered that 2 of my parathyroid glands are producing excessive hormones. I was discouraged to take calcium. Pl advice how I could prevent excessive calcium lost in the bones.
Joy, you can prevent calcium loss from your bones by following a pH-balanced diet and exercising on a regular basis.
Joy, you can find much good information about your parathyroid situation at parathyroid.com. I went to the Norman Parathyroid Center in Tampa, FL to have a benign tumor removed from one of the parathyroid glands. Read their information first and then check with your local endocrinologist to see if that could be your problem.
Hello Vivian,
Thank you very much for these excellent and valuable information.
I have vertigo and was diagnosed 18 years ago ( Benign
Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo due to motor vehicle accident.
I have learn from British Columbia Balance Dizziness Disorder
Society on how to cope with it.
One speaker that I cannot forget even @ this time, and I quote
in my own understanding, he said ” to train our brain to be
dizzy “.
I continue to do vestibular exercises, and doing Tai- chi , and
learning ballroom dancing , and especially good nutrition.
I had medication ( SERC ) for a month and did not help me.
Thank you again Vivian, for this information.
You’re very welcome! And I thank you for sharing your story with our community, Marlene! I’m glad to know you’ve overcome that condition and love your positive attitude 🙂