When you can narrow down what might be causing balance issues for your aging family member, you can do a better job of finding solutions for her situation that actually work.
Joint Pain and Damage
Damage to joints creates pain. That often means that your elderly family member doesn’t move that joint and the rest of her body in the same way that she used to move it. And if that joint is a weight-bearing joint, that can create even bigger concerns, too. Pain also keeps your senior from reacting or moving quickly, which can mean that changing positions or correcting balance problems isn’t easy for her to do.
Vision or Hearing Issues
Your senior’s ears and eyes are crucial parts of helping her to maintain her balance. If her vision is uncorrected and blurry, that’s going to leave her unable to find a spot to focus on easily. Likewise, inner ear problems cause symptoms like vertigo. It’s not unusual for people with inner ear issues to describe a feeling as if the room is moving around them.
Numbness or Nerve Damage
If your elderly family member’s legs or feet are experiencing numbness, her brain isn’t getting messages that let it know where those body parts are. That makes it much easier for your elderly family member to trip or simply to feel as if she’s sort of floating. Nerve damage also keeps those signals from getting to the brain and that’s a big issue.
Other Health Issues
So many health problems can make the brain malfunction when it comes to balance. The entire body has systems that work together to keep your elderly family member going, but when those systems aren’t working well there are problems. Talk to your senior’s doctor about whether her health issues, like high blood pressure, could also contribute to balance issues at some point.
Side Effects from Medications
Your senior may take more than a couple of different medications. Each medication has side effects and those can add up so that they amplify each other. If you suspect that medications could be causing balance issues for your elderly family member, talk to her doctor to see what changes if any could make a difference.
Finding the causes for your senior’s poor balance can do so much toward helping manage her overall health as well as helping her to avoid something like a bad fall. Home care providers can help you and your senior to work out daily schedules that accommodate whatever is causing her to have trouble with her balance. They can also help her to learn to safely use assistive devices, like walkers or canes.
If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring Elder Care in Hillcrest, CA, or the surrounding area, please contact the caring staff at Love 2 Live Care. Call Today 1-619-291-4663