Do you sometimes feel dizzy and find it difficult to balance?
Find out why.
Balance relies on the interaction between many different organs and systems in the body. Your brain centrally processes all the ‘balance’ information coming from the senses and for all the messages sent out to the muscles of balance.
The senses mainly involved in balance are:
- vision (it tells the brain how you are moving relative to your surroundings),
- the balance part of the inner ear,
- touch (from the feet and joints).
When you feel dizzy, you might be feeling any one of these: imbalance, light-headedness, blacking out, staggering, disorientation, weakness and other sensations such as mild and brief to severe spinning sensations accompanied by nausea also known as vertigo. Here are some definitions:
- Dizziness – A general term for all abnormal symptoms of balance and stability. vertigo.
- Imbalance – Inability to keep one’s balance especially when standing.
- Lightheadedness – The feeling of nearly passing out, similar to the feeling you might have if you hold your breath for a long time.
- Vertigo – The sensation that you or your surroundings are moving or spinning or whirling.
So you can see why balance is really important for clear thinking and remembering!
For further details, this is a useful website:
https://www.michiganear.com/ear-services-dizziness-balance-vertigo.html
And for some great exercises for improving balance, try these from the Mayo Clinic.
