Balance disorders affect about 40% of older adults and can often lead to falls. Balance problems may manifest as feeling dizzy or unsteady, or feeling as if your surroundings are moving. Good balance means the ability to control and maintain the body’s position, whether moving or remaining still. Good balance is important for steady walking, getting up from a chair without falling, climbing stairs without tripping, and bending over without falling. It is key to getting around, remaining independent and completing tasks of daily living.
Deeper dive
Balance disorders can be caused by certain health conditions, medications or a problem in the inner ear or the brain. They can also result from problems in visual, skeletal, nervous or circulatory systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one out of six older adults has impaired vision; one out of four has impaired hearing; and one out of four has loss of feeling in the feet. Some balance disorders can begin suddenly and with no obvious cause. Whatever the cause, it can profoundly affect daily activities and cause psychological and emotional hardship.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, part of the NIH, many balance issues are caused by disturbances of the inner ear. The part of the inner ear responsible for balance is the labyrinth, which is made of bone and soft tissue. To maintain the body’s position, the labyrinth interacts with other systems, such as the eyes, bones and joints.
- Vertigo – the feeling like you or things around you are spinning – is a common symptom of balance disorders.
- Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), also called positional vertigo, is a brief, intense episode of vertigo that occurs because of a specific change in the position of the head and is common in older adults.
- Ménière’s disease is a balance disorder that can happen at any age. A person may experience vertigo, transient hearing loss, tinnitus or a feeling of fullness in the ear. It has no known cause.
- Lightheadedness or feeling faint, known as presyncope, is also common in older adults. Chronic physical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes are often involved.
Balance disorders frequently lead to falls and fall-related injuries such as hip fractures. The CDC says that more than one in four older adults fall each year. Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths.