Learn The Human Normal Body Balance To Prevent Disorders

A balance problem is a condition that causes you to feel unbalanced or dizzy even when you are standing motionless or lying down, as if you are moving, spinning, or floating. Balance issues can be caused by a variety of medical diseases, drugs, or an issue with the inner ear or the brain.

The human balancing system is intricate. It incorporates and coordinates input from three sensory systems: vestibular, visual, and somatosensory.


The assessment and management of balance system disorders and their symptoms is a multidisciplinary effort that may involve audiology, behavioral health, cardiology, neurology, neuro-ophthalmology, neurotology, occupational therapy, otolaryngology, otology, physical therapy, and/or a primary care provider.

What Are the Signs of a Balance Problem?

Some of the common symptoms of a balance disorder include:

  • Dizziness or vertigo - Vertigo is the illusion that one’s body or the environment is spinning or tumbling and usually indicates a vestibular problem. Any sensation of motion, such as tilting or falling can also be caused by vestibular disease.
  • Motion Sickness - Motion sickness or travel sickness is characterised by nausea, vomiting, pallor and sweating when travelling in a moving vehicle, typically a car. It is a physiological response to a mismatch between vestibular and visual information about the moving environment. 
  • Falling or a feeling as if you are going to fall
  • Lightheadedness, fainting, or a floating sensation
  • Blurred vision
  • Confusion or disorientation
  • Nausea and vomiting - Nausea is a sensation of unease in the stomach associated with an involuntary urge to vomit. There are many nerve connections between the vestibular system and the vomiting centre and trigger zone in the medulla, so that nausea is a very common associated feature with any type of dizziness or imbalance.
  • Diarrhea
  • Changes in blood pressure and heart rate
  • Fear
  • Anxiety
  • Trauma
  • Panic

Symptoms may come and go over short periods of time, or last for longer periods of time.

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THE CAUSES

The underlying causes of balance issues and their symptoms are numerous and diverse. They include vestibular-related factors as well as those connected to other body systems and diseases. Conditions and events that cause imbalance and/or dizziness may resolve on their own or become persistent.

Causes of balance system disorders may include, but not be limited to, the following:
  • acute injury to the vestibular system
  • aging vestibular system
  • alcohol and/or drug ingestion
  • anatomic brain changes
  • autoimmune inner ear disease
  • benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
  • circulatory or cardiovascular conditions

What Are the Types of Balance Disorders?

There are more than a dozen types of balance disorders. Some of the most common include:
  1. Vertigo
  2. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
  3. Labyrinthitis
  4. Meniere's disease
  5. Vestibular neuronitis
  6. Perilymph fistula
  7. Mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS)

How is a Balance Disorder Diagnosed?

A balance issue is difficult to diagnose. There are a variety of possible causes, including medical disorders and drugs. A doctor may refer a patient to an otolaryngologist to assist evaluate a balance problem (a physician and surgeon who specializes in the ear, nose, and throat). 
A hearing test, blood tests, an electronystagmogram (which analyzes eye movements and the muscles that govern them), or imaging investigations of the head and brain may be ordered by the otolaryngologist. Posturography is another possible test. 
The patient stands on an unique adjustable platform in front of a patterned screen for this examination. The doctor assesses how the patient's body moves in reaction to movement of the platform, patterned screen, or both.

How Is a Balance Disorder Medicated And Treated?

The first step in treating a balance disorder is determining if the patient's dizziness is caused by a medical condition or medication. If this is the case, the doctor will either treat the problem or recommend an alternative prescription for the patient.

The treatment for the many forms of balance disorders discussed above will vary according to the specific balance issue. Medication, vestibular rehabilitation therapy, head, body, and eye exercises, and home fixture adjustments to make them safer are some treatment possibilities (for example, handrails in the home).