When we study balance, we first need to define the one of the main components of balance: nerves and sensation.
What is sensation?
Sensation is our body’s ability to relay information to and from our brains. Sensation is another word for how we feel things. Our bodies can normally feel light touch, dull, sharp, temperature changes, and even where we are in space. All these processes are run by our central nervous system which includes our brain, spinal cord, and nerves.
What about our brain and our nerves?
Our brains begin to decrease in the size after age 40. Decreases by as much as 6% to 7% are typical to occur by the time we reach 80 years old. The “little brain” in the back of our brain, called the cerebellum, also begins to decrease in size. The cerebellum is extremely important for our balance and stability.
Nerves also begin to decline in the number of cells that they have. They also become less efficient because they lose a special sheath around them called the Myelin Sheath. The myelin sheath helps get the signals down from our brain to our muscles which help us move. This is often times why an older person is not able to feel themselves losing their balance. Even if they do feel themselves losing their balance, the signal to “catch” themselves isn’t fast enough.
What is a nerve?
Nerves are our body’s information highway system. Nerves come out of the spinal cord which is at the base of the brain. The brain sends information down the spinal cord to the nerves in order to move our muscles. Nerves also help transfer information up to our brain through what we sense and touch in order to help us know and be stable in our environment.
The nerves in the feet, legs, arms, and trunk help our brain know where we are in space by sending information to our brain which sifts through all the information and makes corrections as needed. Our brain and nerves are constantly working very closely together in order to maintain the balance that we need throughout our daily activities.
What can I do to help my nerves?
Aging, traumatic injuries, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, and diabetic neuropathy are all common causes of injury to the nerve and it’s sheath. As there are many reasons why nerves can be injured or not working as well as they should, it is a good idea to first see your primary care physician and/or a neurologist that can help you determine the best course of action. Certain medications can help nerves improve in their function while other medications can cause side effects that affect your nerve.
Diabetes is one of the most common reasons people have problems with their nerves. If you have diabetes, it is essential to keep your blood sugar levels under control. When blood sugar levels are out of whack, this causes damage over time to the little vessels that nourish the nerves. If the nerves aren’t able to be nourished, they begin to lose their ability to function. Typically, the first thing to go is the sensation – or the ability to feel different things like light touch, dull touch, pain, temperature changes, and even two-point discrimination (fancy word for if you can feel 2 points at the same time or if it just feels like 1).
Diet plays a big role in our nerve health. If you have any condition like multiple sclerosis that is affecting your nerves, I would suggest you pick up Dr. Terry Wahl’s book which has excellent diet strategies that helped her go from being stuck in a wheelchair to regaining her ability to practice medicine and be active again in her life. If you would like to find more information about her, check out her page here.
Are there any activities or exercises that can help nerves?
There are! You can work with your physical therapist or occupational therapist to determine which exercises are best for you to perform for your own situation. But the following are examples of what a therapist may like to work on:
Pins and Needles – Supersensitive Nerves
Sometimes we can’t quite feel the ground as nicely as we desire to do so because we feel pins and needles. Some people even say it feels like they are walking on glass. When this is the case, it is usually due to a nerve being super sensitive. We can “de-sensitize” the nerve from being hyper alert and help bring it back to normal by giving that sensitive area various surfaces to feel. Typically, you place the sensitive part of the body on a surface that you can tolerate for 15 minutes rubbing or stroking it back and forth. This is of course, best done sitting down. There are various surfaces that you can use from soft mole skin, to rough Velcro in order to continue de-sensitizing the nerve.
Numb feet – Neuropathies
When the nerves have a problem like with peripheral neuropathy, diabetic neuropathy, or even they often go from feeling everything normally, to then pins and needles, and then to the nerve not being able to sense anything so that it becomes numb. If the condition is due to diabetes or other neuropathy, it is essential to work with your medical doctor to help the condition because neuropathies are often brought on from an underlying medical condition.
Pinched Nerves
If there is a nerve that has been “pinched,” the nerve will become aggravated and will definitely let you know it’s not happy. Pinches can happen in many areas of path along the nerve. It is common to have nerves be pinched, or squished, in the back. As such, it is important to work with a physical therapist who can help you out of your pinch, in a pinch. Physical therapists can use various electrical and thermal modalities, manual therapy, nerve mobilization exercises, and traction to help alleviate pinched nerves. It’s important to note that each nerve has a different set of exercise to do. That is why it’s important to work one on one with your physical therapist.
What about exercises to help my balance?
Again, it is important to work with your physical therapist when you are doing any of the balance activities, in order to keep you safe and reduce your fall risk. The following balance exercise is one of the exercises that we therapists often use to help someone regain their body’s ability to “feel.”
Clients are to stand in a corner on an uneven surface, such as a foam, that is secured to the ground. I like to use the kitchen because there is often times a corner spot that you can place your back against and you can use the countertop to help stabilize you as you stand on top of the foam. Sometimes people will use a pillow instead of the foam. The goal is to maintain your balance with your arms at your side, without touching the countertop, for 30 seconds, three times. If you decide to stand on the foam mat, make sure you place a non-skid rubberized surface like shelf-liner down between the floor and the pad as it can slide. If you are interested in getting a foam mat, you can find it here.
So now what?
As we have seen, nerves play a vital role in balance. The sensation that our nerves supply our brain is a key component in our balance. Nerves can be affected by a variety of factors and conditions. We can improve our nerve health and in turn, our balance by working with our physician and physical therapist. Next up, we will look at another component that affects our balance – our vision. Be sure to subscribe to the exclusive newsletter on the right of this page for updates and to receive updates on some new material that will be coming out soon! If this page has been helpful, feel free to “Share” with your friends using the buttons below.