Cincinnati Chiropractor Advises: Get Your Balance Checked to Avoid Work Injuries
April 23rd, 2010 | by admin |As a Cincinnati Chiropractor I treat a lot of seniors who suffer from balance problems. In fact, dizziness, “wooziness,” and other balance-related problems affect at least 9% of adults, aged 65 and over. Good balance is essential, of course, in assisting older adults in continuing to be independent and in avoiding falls and encounter injuries that are often very serious or even fatal. But, what you may not know is that falls contribute to a large percentage of work-related injuries for workers under 65 years of age, including individuals in their twenties and thirties. That’s right! No one is “invulnerable” to balance problems, no matter what their age may be. It is for this reason that those who work in “high places” like construction workers, roofers, oil platform employees, windows cleaners, or any other place where a ladder is required are far more likely to sustain serious injury if their balance isn’t good.
The chief function of good balance is to help us to manage and maintain our body position, whether we are standing still or moving, and whether we are on the ground or high up on a platform. Good balance aids us in walking without stumbling, arising from a sitting position without swaying, and in climbing stairs without slipping. In other words, good balance is essential to our health and well-being.
What you may not be aware of could have a balance abnormality without any idea of how threatening it may be. Often times someone can “shake off” a dizzy sensation and it may not return for a while. But, when precipetous dizziness comes about at a critical time, it is too late to shake it off and a fall is usually certain.
Vertigo is the medical name for the feeling that you, or objects around you, are spinning. Close to 40 percent of people in the U.S. will have at least one experience of dizziness that is acute enough to seek out a health professional, like your Chiropractor in Cincinnati. But, if you are involved in any of the activities listed above, it is an excellent idea for you to have a chiropractor check your balance prior to an unexpected episode of dizziness, rather than as a response to such an episode. Why? Because as a chiropractor, I can not only check your balance, and make corrections if necessary, but can aid you in maintaining good balance in the future. And, it may go without saying that having good balance may save you from serious injury or worse.
Balance disorders at any age are dangerous. If you think that you may have a possible balance disorder, it is vital for you to be diagnosed and treated without delay. To help to make your decision easier if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, even if the experience is seldom or infrequent, you should discuss the symptom(s) with a chiropractor as soon as possible:
• Have you experienced a feeling of being “unsteady?”
• Has the room seemed to spin around you?
• Has there ever a time when you felt as if you were moving when you knew you were standing still?
• Have you lost your balance and/or fallen down?
• Have you ever felt as if you were falling?
• Has your vision ever become “blurred?”
• Have you ever felt disoriented, or lost a sense of time, place or identity?
As discussed above, balance problems are not confined to a particular age group. From the time we learn to walk until we take our final step, our falling down is possible. If you work in a job that makes your falling down a “critical” event, you need to have your balance checked. Don’t wait until it’s too late! Call a Chiropractor today, and if you’re in the Cincinnati area, I’d love to be your Cincinnati Chiropractor!
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