Do you ever feel a sudden sense of dizziness or a fear of falling? Feeling unsteady on your feet is a common and unsettling experience that can disrupt your daily life. At WV Physical Therapy, we understand that these sensations can be alarming, but identifying the cause is the first step toward regaining your stability and confidence.

There are many reasons you might feel unsteady on your feet, ranging from simple inner ear issues to more complex neurological conditions. Understanding these potential causes is crucial. This guide will explore some of the most common reasons for feeling unsteady and explain how targeted physical therapy can help you find solid ground again.

Understanding Balance and Stability

Our ability to stay upright is a complex process managed by three main systems in our body:

• The Vestibular System (Inner Ear): This system acts like a gyroscope, sensing head movements and providing your brain with information about motion, equilibrium, and spatial orientation.
• The Visual System (Eyes): Your eyes help you see where your body is in relation to your surroundings, providing crucial cues for maintaining balance.
• The Proprioceptive System (Muscles and Joints): Nerves in your skin, muscles, and joints send signals to your brain about your body’s position, helping you make constant, subtle adjustments to stay stable.

When you feel unsteady on your feet, it often means there’s a problem with one or more of these systems.

Common Reasons for Feeling Unsteady on Your Feet

Feeling off-balance isn’t just a normal part of aging; it’s a sign that something needs attention. Let’s look at some of the most frequent culprits.

Inner Ear and Vestibular Issues

Your inner ear plays a massive role in your sense of balance. When this system is disrupted, it can lead to significant feelings of dizziness and instability.

• Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV): This is one of the most common causes of vertigo—the sensation that you or your surroundings are spinning. BPPV occurs when tiny calcium crystals (otoconia) in your inner ear become dislodged and move into the wrong canal. This sends confusing signals to your brain about head movement, causing you to feel unsteady on your feet.
• Vestibular Neuritis or Labyrinthitis: These conditions are caused by inflammation of the inner ear or the nerves connecting the inner ear to the brain, often following a viral infection. This inflammation disrupts the flow of sensory information, leading to vertigo, dizziness, and balance problems.
• Ménière’s Disease: This is a chronic disorder of the inner ear that causes episodes of vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), and a feeling of fullness in the ear. The exact cause is unknown, but it’s related to fluid buildup in the inner ear.

If you’re experiencing these symptoms, our balance disorders program is designed to diagnose and treat these exact issues.

Weakness in Muscles and Joints

As we age or if we lead a sedentary lifestyle, the muscles that support our body can weaken. This is particularly true for the muscles in our core, hips, and legs, which are essential for maintaining stability. When these muscles aren’t strong enough to make the quick adjustments needed to keep you upright, you can easily feel unsteady on your feet.

Regular physical therapy can help you build strength in these key areas, improving your body’s ability to support itself and respond to changes in position.

Neurological Conditions

Certain conditions affecting the brain and nervous system can interfere with the signals that control balance and coordination.

• Peripheral Neuropathy: This condition involves damage to the peripheral nerves, often in the feet and legs. When these nerves are damaged, they can’t effectively send signals about sensation and body position to the brain. This lack of feedback can make it difficult to feel the ground beneath you, leading to a feeling of being unsteady on your feet.
• Parkinson’s Disease: This progressive neurodegenerative disorder affects movement, causing tremors, stiffness, and impaired balance and coordination.
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS): MS is an autoimmune disease that damages the protective sheath covering nerves, disrupting communication between the brain and the rest of the body. This can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including weakness, numbness, and balance problems.

Other Contributing Factors

Several other factors can contribute to feeling unsteady:

• Medication Side Effects: Dizziness and loss of balance are common side effects of many medications, including those for blood pressure, depression, and pain.
• Vision Problems: As we get older, changes in our vision can make it harder to perceive depth and distance, affecting our ability to navigate our surroundings safely.
• Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension): A sudden drop in blood pressure, especially when standing up too quickly, can cause lightheadedness and make you feel unsteady.

How Physical Therapy Can Help

If you consistently feel unsteady on your feet, it’s not something you have to live with. Physical therapy offers a proven, effective approach to improving balance and reducing your risk of falls.

At WV Physical Therapy in Rochester, NH, our expert therapists will conduct a thorough evaluation to identify the root cause of your instability. We’ll then create a personalized treatment plan that may include:

• Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT): For inner ear issues like BPPV, we use specific head and body movements (like the Epley maneuver) to reposition the displaced crystals and retrain your brain to process vestibular information correctly.
• Strength and Conditioning Exercises: We’ll design a program to strengthen your core, hips, and leg muscles, providing your body with the support it needs to stay stable.
• Balance Training: You’ll work through a series of progressively challenging exercises designed to improve your body’s ability to maintain equilibrium in various situations.
• Gait Training: Our therapists will analyze the way you walk and provide exercises and cues to improve your walking pattern, making you less likely to feel unsteady on your feet. Our Running Analysis service can be adapted to improve walking gait as well.

Take the First Step Toward Stability

Feeling unsteady on your feet can be frightening and limit your ability to enjoy life to the fullest. But it doesn’t have to be your new normal. Understanding the reasons behind your instability is the first step toward finding a solution. With a customized treatment plan from a physical therapist, you can regain your confidence and get back to living an active, stable life.

If you’re in the Rochester, NH area and ready to stop feeling unsteady, schedule an appointment with our team at WV Physical Therapy today. Let us help you find your footing.