“My mother is falling down often. Could it be a balance issues?”
My mother is 79 years old and keeps falling down. Could she have vertigo or a different issue with her balance?
3 Answers
Is she reporting dizziness or a spinning sensation and if so is she nauseous or unable to function? Those symptoms would indicate true vertigo. If that is not the case, falls can be caused by other factors, including hearing loss, neuropathy in the feet and cardiovascular problems. Frequent falls require a medical evaluation and a hearing test. Angela R. Sieh Ceretto, M.A., CCC-A, FAAA Audiologist Pinnacle Audiology, LLC 6809 S. Minnesota Ave., Suite 101 605-306-4481
Hi there, if your mother is falling Id get her in to her PCP ASAP who will likely refer her to an ENT and/or physical therapist. The last thing we want is for her to get injured. Of course vertigo (true spinning vertigo) would cause falls, but there are other possibilities as well if there are issues going on with her balance systems.
Disorientation is quite common among the elderly. Balance is created in the brain by taking in cues from your eyes, your somatosensory feeling, and the canals in your inner ear. All three of these fade with age. It’s possible that she’s getting vertigo-like disorientation which is causing her to fall. Many things can lead to this disorientation, so please have her consult an Audiologist or Otolaryngologist (ENT) to see if this is something she can better manage with treatment.
