09/11/2025
Maintaining Our Balance As We Grow Older
Maintaining our balance as we age can become a challenge, as the years pass. Would you like to know how the human balancing system works, how it weakens as we age, and the medical treatments and medicinal supplements available to moderate this.
Declining balance affects a number of residents in the retirement village where we live. One of us leaps forward like a spring chicken, while the other walks with two hiking poles. We chortle that we have just come back from skiing in the mountains and everybody loves it!
But jokes aside, balance is one of the most intricate and vital functions in our bodies, and we do need to know how it works. Let’s go into this step by step, as we delve into this fascinating topic affecting many seniors relaxing in retirement.
How Age Affects Our Balance
Maintaining our balance as we age can become a challenge, as the years go by. Let’s explore how the human balance system works. Our stability, and balance on our feet depend on three separate systems, working together as we illustrate below:
The vestibular system is a hidden world on the far side of our eardrums. It helps us understand the sounds around us. But the semicircular canals and ‘otolith organs’ do more than just that.
Those tiny organs also detect gravity and movement. This helps us understand where we are in relation to things around us, through head motion, gravity, and spatial orientation.
Our Brains Use Incoming Data
Our brain works like a central processing unit or CPU on a computer. It receives information, processes it, and instructs our central nervous system accordingly:
# Our brain uses vestibular data from our ears to sense movement and maintain equilibrium.
# Our eyes tell our brain where our body is, relative to the things around us.
# Those clues from these systems help prevent falls and maintain correct posture.
Proprioception Brings This All Together
We touched on this concept earlier, but there are few more things we would like to share. Proprioception is our body’s “sixth sense” of its own position, movement, and location in space.
This system uses receptors in muscles, tendons and joints, to send information to our brains via our nerves. This data promotes coordinated movement, balance, and the ability to judge force without looking.
Just as one example, this is how you could touch your nose with closed eyes, or walk without constantly thinking about where to place your feet. It even promotes balance with our eyes shut, if it is working correctly!
These three systems feed signals to (a) the cerebellum, which coordinates involuntary movements such as balance, posture, and coordination. And (b) the brain stem which makes rapid adjustments to our muscles via our nervous system.
Our Balance Deteriorates As We Age
Several age-related changes affect these three systems, which likely maintained our balance perfectly when we were young:
# Our vestibular system declines as the tiny hair cells in our inner ears slowly begin to die. The fluid in our inner ears thickens slightly too, slowing response times. Our hearing fades as well.
vision changes almost imperceptibly. We have reduced depth perception, and less sensitivity to contrasts. Our night vision impairs our stability further, making it easier to fall.
# Our muscles and joints undergo changes too. Our major muscles in our legs, hips and back weaken. Our reflexes in response to changes slow down. Our stiff joints reduce the speed of corrective responses further.
To complicate matters even more, the signals that trigger responses take longer to arrive from our brains. This delays our coordinated reactions, and our subconscious attempts to maintain our balance.
We can help maintain our aging balance in several ways. But when the damage is done, it is largely done. We end this post with some ideas of what you could do to slow this trend. The rest, as they say is up to you!
Addressing the Underlying Causes
Address the underlying causes first. Visit an eye specialist. Discuss how you could benefit from spectacles and / or cataract surgery.
Speak to your doctor about your blood pressure and take their advice. Perhaps you have ear infections? A diabetes test could reveal something too.
Some medicines can also cause dizziness. Review these with your doctor. They will know of the side effects which can lead to dizziness.
Practical Steps to Improve Balance
# Ask your doctor to recommend a physiotherapist. They may recommend exercises to strengthen your leg muscles.
# Discuss other core exercises, that could reinforce your pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen that anchor your center of gravity.
# Think about taking up yoga, dancing, or perhaps tai chi which combine slow, gentle movements, deep breathing, and meditation.
# On the practical level take in enough liquid and food. Remove trip hazards from your home. Install proper lighting and non-slip flooring.
Medical Supplements and Nutrients
Always discuss supplements with your doctor before you use them, especially if you are taking other medication. Consider the following evidence-based solutions arising from research.
Supplements play a role in maintaining our balance as we age. They may help support our balance indirectly, by strengthening our nerves, muscles, and our vestibular system in our inner ears:
# Vitamin D improves muscle strength, and reduces the risk of older adults tripping and falling.
# Vitamin B12 enhances nerve performance, by tackling deficiencies that can cause unsteadiness.
# Magnesium helps regulate muscle contraction, and our nerves’ ability to transmit signals.
# Omega-3 fatty acids promote healthy nerves, and may help integration of balance signals to our brains.
Compensating for Failing Balance
And finally, don’t be shy to turn to assistive devices for help, and perhaps even a carer to back you up. Personal carers are quite common in the retirement village where we live. They help residents participate more fully in village activities.
Other things to consider include:
# Walking poles and sticks help people cope with trip hazards, and avoid broken bones and then crutches.
# Electric mobility scooters are the number one attraction because of the freedom they bring.
# Electric wheel chairs bring mobility to residents who find using scooters a challenge.
# Walking frames with and without wheels and brakes, help residents move around in their cottages, and avoid frail care.
There's More to Discover About Retiring Successfully
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