Things to Know About Balance As You Age : Sometimes we can take our sense of balance for granted. Our balance is what helps us stand upright, and it’s something we need for a variety of physical and daily activities.
Balance is technically known as our ability to maintain the center of mass over our base of support, especially during movement. In dynamic exercises like sports, balance is key.
As you get older, even though it can diminish, there are exercises for the elderly or anyone who wants to improve their balance.
-
What Are Balance Problems?
If you have a balance problem, it can make you feel dizzy or like the room is spinning. You might feel lightheaded or like you’re going to fall down. You can feel these things if you’re lying down, standing, or sitting. There are a lot of body systems that have to work properly for you to have normal balance. These body systems include bones, muscles, joints, eyes, and the balance organ in your inner ear. Your heart and blood vessels also play a role. Different medical conditions can cause balance problems, but most are from issues in the balance organ of your inner ear—the vestibular system.Signs of a balance problem include the sense of motion or spinning, which is vertigo, feeling lightheaded or faint, a loss of balance or unsteadiness, feeling like you could fall, vision changes, or confusion. Some people might also experience dizziness or a floating sensation.
-
Why Does Aging Contribute to Balance Issues?
As we get older, we walk differently. When we don’t have a proper stride, it can cause balance issues. When you lose your balance, you may have other symptoms that follow it. You could feel faint, unsteady, or nauseous. As you age, your body changes which leave you at greater risk for certain conditions. Balance loss is typically a symptom of another condition rather than a standalone condition. Particular things that can cause loss of balance include:
-
- Sudden blood pressure changes
- Lack of circulation when your body isn’t as efficient at pumping blood as it used to be
- Neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s
- Medications including antidepressants, anti-seizure drugs, tranquilizers, and sedatives
- Low iron levels
- Low blood sugar
- Arthritis
- Chemical imbalances in the brain
- Earn problems and infections
If you’re 65 or older, you have arthritis, and either high or low blood pressure, you may be especially at risk for balance problems. If you have a viral infection, you’re recovering from a head injury, or you take medicines, you might also be at more of a risk of experiencing balance problems.
-
-
Exercises to Improve Balance
There are a lot of things you can do on your own that may help improve your balance, in addition to any treatments your doctor recommends. If you can work on maintaining balance as you age, it can help you stay more physically active and help you improve your health in other ways.If you improve your balance, you can also lower your risk of falls and injuries to the ankles and knees.
Things to know about improving your balance include:
-
- Improving your core strength is important for your balance. Core strength can help you be more stable as well. You might think of your core as your visible ab muscles, but it’s much more than this. Your core includes all the muscles between your hips and shoulders. It helps support your bones and keeps your musculoskeletal system working the way it should.
- Build your lower body strength with exercises like leg curls, squats, extensions, deadlifts, and glute bridges. Your lower body strength is important for stability because these are among your largest muscle groups. They keep your hips in alignment and work to maintain muscle mass as you can help improve your balance.
- If you can learn how to focus on a point outside of your body and train yourself to do that if you’re feeling out of balance, it can help. You can do this when you’re standing stable but also when you’re moving or participating in a task. When you’re standing, focus on a fixed point that doesn’t move and is at least ten feet in front of you.
You can also look around while you walk. If you move your head back and forth, it helps to retrain your inner ears and eyes and keep them integrated with one another, which helps promote balance.
-
There are simple things you can add to your daily routine that add up to make a big difference in your sense of balance as you get older.
Related Videos about Things to Know About Balance As You Age :
Things to Know About Balance As You Age
how to improve your balance as you age, at what age does balance decline, balance age test, what is losing balance a symptom of, balance in old age tied to brain changes, what neurological disorders cause balance problems, balance disorders, feeling off-balance but not dizzy,