Loss of balance or unsteadiness Losing your balance while walking, or feeling imbalanced, can result from: Vestibular problems. Abnormalities in your inner ear can cause a sensation of a floating or heavy head and unsteadiness in the dark. Nerve damage to your legs (peripheral neuropathy).
Certain conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, or problems with your vision, thyroid, nerves, or blood vessels can cause dizziness and other balance problems.
What causes balance disorders? Causes of balance problems include medications, ear infection, a head injury, or anything else that affects the inner ear or brain. Low blood pressure can lead to dizziness when you stand up too quickly.
Inner ear problems, which affect balance, are the most common causes of vertigo. These include: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) – where specific head movements cause vertigo. labyrinthitis – an inner ear infection caused by a cold or flu virus.
The ear is a sensory organ that picks up sound waves, allowing us to hear. It is also essential to our sense of balance: the organ of balance (the vestibular system) is found inside the inner ear.
("Auto" means "self.") Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) happens when the immune system attacks tissues in the inner ear. This often causes sensorineural hearing loss. AIED also causes balance problems for about 1 in 2 people who have it. In most cases of AIED, only the ears are affected.
Peripheral nerves
The nerves outside of your brain and spinal cord can become damaged, which is called peripheral neuropathy. Weakness, numbness, pain and balance issues can be caused by peripheral neuropathy because it makes it difficult to determine where your body is relative to other objects or the ground.
Vision problems can make it challenging to maintain proper balance. When someone has troubled vision and the eye muscles work harder to compensate for the decreased visual clarity, eyestrain, headaches, and balance disorders can occur.
Losing your balance while walking, or feeling imbalanced, can result from: Vestibular problems. Abnormalities in your inner ear can cause a sensation of a floating or heavy head and unsteadiness in the dark. Nerve damage to your legs (peripheral neuropathy).
The most common causes of imbalance without dizziness are related to dysfunction of the muscles, joints and peripheral nerves (proprioceptive system), or the central nervous system (brain). People with bilateral vestibulopathy have balance issues but no dizziness if the damage affects both ears at the same time.
Background and aims: Heart failure affects most systems of the body and causes various problems in patients. Balance deficits and gait deviations can be a result of these effects.
Researchers have found that balance begins to decline in midlife, starting at about age 50. In one recent study, adults in their 30s and 40s could stand on one foot for a minute or more. At age 50, the time decreased to 45 seconds. At 70, study participants managed 28 seconds.
If you are experiencing dizziness, lightheadedness, a spinning sensation, confusion, or blurred vision the first step is to speak with your primary care physician. He or she will begin the process of testing to determine the cause and may refer you to a local neurologist for some aspects of treatment.
Problems with the joints, (such as arthritis), bones (such as deformities), circulation (such as peripheral vascular disease), or even pain can make it difficult to walk properly. Diseases or injuries to the nerves, muscles, brain, spinal cord, or inner ear can affect normal walking.
Aging, infections, head injury, certain medicines, or problems with blood circulation may also cause balance problems. It is important to see your doctor about balance problems. They can be a sign of other health problems, such as an ear infection or a stroke.
Some aminoglycoside antibiotics, such as gentamicin and streptomycin may be used in treatment of balance problems caused by Ménière's disease. Streptomycin injections and application of gentamicin directly into the inner ear are useful for their ability to affect the hair cells of the balance system.
The most common causes of vestibular neuritis and labyrinthitis are viral infections, often resulting from a systemic virus such as influenza (flu) or the herpes viruses, which cause chickenpox, shingles and cold sores.
In fibromyalgia, dizziness, poor balance, and falls are common complaints. For some people, they're a minor annoyance that crops up on occasion. In others, they can be severely debilitating and lead to regular injuries. Falling, and especially falling frequently, is a serious problem.
Cerebellar degeneration is a disorder that affects nerves in the back of your brain. It can lead to balance issues or difficulty with speech and eyesight.
Your neurologist or movement disorder specialist will perform a history and physical examination of your eye movements, cranial nerves, speech, coordination, gait, and sensation. They may order imaging including MRIs or CT scans to determine a neurological cause of your balance symptoms.
The organs of balance in the inner ear are called the vestibular system. This system includes three fluid-filled loops (semi-circular canals) which respond to the rotation of the head. Near the semicircular canals are the utricle and saccule, which detect gravity and back-and-forth motion.