Do you know how to improve your balance? Do you feel off balance or unsteady? Have you ever had a fall? Have you ever wondered what makes up our body’s balance?
Before we begin to improve our balance, we need to know what makes up our balance in the first place. When we think about balance and its components, it is helpful to think of a four-legged stool. In order to maintain our balance, all four legs of the stool must be strong enough to hold up the stool. Each of the legs contains a component of balance.
In order to have a fully “balanced” system, we need to have each of the legs of the stool intact and functioning decently. If any leg of the stool becomes weaker or broken, it is more difficult to stay balanced. You may be able to stay balanced on a three-legged stool for some time, or even a two-legged stool, but sooner or later, you’re not going to be able to maintain your balance.
What are the four main components of our body that make up our balance?
- Muscular System
- Sensation
- Vision
- Vestibular, or Inner Ear
Muscular System
Our muscle system is one of the four main components of balance. Within our muscular system, we can include muscle strength, posture, and flexibility. If our muscles aren’t strong enough to hold us up, or to help us make corrective movements when we need to, then our body is at a higher risk of falling. Likewise, posture is extremely important for maintaining our balance when we are walking. Muscle flexibility is equally important because if our muscles aren’t flexible enough, we won’t be able to get into the right positions and posture that we need to maintain our balance.
Sensation
A second major component of our balance system includes our sensory system. This system gives us the ability to feel where we are in space. Our bodies have nerves and little receptors all over our body that help us know where we are in relation to our environment even with our eyes closed.
Vision
Vision is a third key component to balance. Our eyes help us to stabilize our body while we are either stationary or in movement.
Inner Ear Vestibular
The final key component of our balance system is called the vestibular system. This is our inner ear which is located deep within the skull, behind the eyes. This elaborate system is sensitive to even the slightest movement of your head or body in space. Think of this delicate system as two engines that are running at equal power. In order for our vestibular system to function at its highest level, the left engine and right engine need to be functioning at the same rate. If there is any disruption to one of the engines, we begin to feel very unsteady, that we are veering left or right, or we may even experience the dreaded “V” word… Vertigo!
What happens to our balance as we age?
Each of these key components of our balance system all slowly decline as we age and we often don’t realize it until it’s too late. Your physician and physical therapist can help you determine which components of your balance system may need to be improved. If you are experiencing balance issues and haven’t seen a physical therapist yet, please do so. Physical therapists can simply screen you for any of your components of balance that may have become weaker without you realizing it.
What can we do to improve our balance?
Be sure to check for my next few posts where I will begin to provide more details and how you can improve each of these components. By understanding each of these components a little better, my hope is that you will be able to improve your balance and reduce your fall risk.
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