Balance Problems
Find Long-lasting Solutions
Balance problems can leave you feeling disoriented and vulnerable. We understand that balance problems can debilitating. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We believe one of the first steps in finding long-lasting relief from balance issues is understanding what’s causing them, and what your options are for improving your quality of life.
Symptoms of a Balance Problem
Symptoms will vary depending on the root cause of your balance problems. Some of the more common symptoms include:
What Causes Balance Problems?
Balance problems are most commonly caused by a problem in the central nervous system or the peripheral nervous system, but can also have other causes.
Nervous System
Your nervous system consists of your brain and spinal cord, which make up your central nervous system (CNS), and nerves that branch out throughout your body (the peripheral nervous system). Your nervous system controls your entire body. Neurological disorders can cause temporary or chronic balance problems.
What neurological disorders cause balance problems?
Some of the neurological disorders and conditions that can cause balance problems include:
- Concussion or brain injury
- Brain tumor
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Parkinson’s disease
- Cervical spondylosis
- Stroke
- Spinal injury
- Pinched nerve
Vestibular System
Your vestibular system is part of your peripheral nervous system, and also plays a big part in your balance. Its job is to provide your brain with information about your motion, head position, and spatial orientation. It also helps you to keep your balance, stabilize your head and body when you’re moving, and maintain good posture.
It’s a sensory system mainly housed in the inner ear in a series of interconnected compartments called the inner labyrinth. Receptors send signals to the cerebellum and nuclei in the brainstem, which then send signals to other parts of your brain and your eye muscles.
Vestibular balance disorders arise when there’s a problem with your vestibular system. These issues can include:
- Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
- Labyrinthitis & Vestibular Neuritis
- Meniere’s Syndrome
Other Causes
Other potential causes of balance problems include:
- Aging, and loss of muscle mass
- Depression and anxiety
- Heart disease
- Some medications
A thorough review of your symptoms, when you experience them, and how long they last can help lead to an accurate diagnosis, which can then lead to improved balance once the underlying cause is treated.
Balance Problems FAQs
Q: When should I see a doctor for balance problems?
A: Any time you have a sudden change in balance, you should consult with a doctor. And any time that balance problems prevent you from doing the things you want to do, or you want to work at getting better balance, you should consult with a medical provider.
Q: Can an ear infection cause balance problems?
A: Yes. If an ear infection is not treated, it can damage your vestibular system, causing balance problems, vertigo, and dizziness.
Q: How do you fix a balance problem?
A: If the balance problem is linked to something simple like an ear infection, we simply treat the cause of the temporary imbalance problem. But if the balance problems are due to a chronic disorder or disease, we don’t “fix” it, but come up with a plan of action to help you achieve better balance, and cope with your symptoms.
How Cima Health Can Help
Cima Health provides restorative, lifelong solutions that target the root cause of your balance problems. Your care will start out with a comprehensive evaluation to assess your overall health and coordination. We will also ask questions about your work and home life, lifestyle, and habits before making recommendations for an integrative plan of care. Together, we come up with non-invasive and alternative treatments that can help you achieve better balance, whole-body wellness, and live pain-free for life.
Treating and preventing back pain involves several treatment modalities, all of which you can receive in one location. They include:
Let’s take a look at how each of these areas works together to provide you with natural pain relief and inspires you to make lifestyle changes to prevent back pain in the future.
Chiropractic Care
Depending on what is causing your balance problems, chiropractic care may provide nearly immediate improvement in your balance, gait, coordination, and posture. Targeted spinal adjustments can make a huge difference. We may also recommend manual therapy, dry needling, Class IV laser treatment, and after a gait analysis, Footmaxx orthotics and shoes for balance problems.
Our Palm Beach Gardens chiropractors are all highly trained professionals and include:
Physical Therapy (PT)
Physical therapy, when combined with other treatments can also help with balance problems, whether caused by a temporary health issue or chronic disease like MS. We will help you stretch and strengthen your muscles with exercises and a stretching program tailored to you. We may also provide you with balance exercises and eye exercises you can do at home.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is another modality we offer that can target balance problems. The massage therapist will stretch and massage you to help improve your posture, flexibility, stability, and balance. In addition, regular massage can provide relaxation and stress relief.
Functional Medicine
Our functional medicine team will review your dietary habits, and may perform a blood chemistry analysis to identify any underlying nutrient deficiencies or causes for your balance problems. What you eat affects your brain health. In this case, we would be concerned with how your diet affects your cerebellum, which is the part of the brain that coordinates your balance.
Problems with your cerebellum can cause ataxia, or an unsteady gait. Certain foods can also trigger a flare of your vestibular balance disorder. After a careful analysis, we will come up with a diet and nutrition plan tailored to you.
Physical Fitness
The last component of improving your balance is exercise. Our physical fitness team of personal trainers can help develop an exercise plan that will strengthen your leg muscles to help improve your balance. We may recommend Pilates as well.
The entire team at Cima Health works together to provide you with restorative, lifelong solutions.
Patient Testimonials
Book an Appointment
Balance problems can make it hard to get around, or do the things you love, like going to a concert venue or big sporting event. If you’re looking for innovative treatment for your balance problems, book an appointment today. One of our chiropractors will do a comprehensive examination to get to the root cause of the problem and develop an integrative plan of care to help you achieve better balance and inspire you to achieve whole-body wellness.
