For once, I discovered an interesting article in the ghastly New York Times — motto: “Other Than That, The Story Was Quite True” — because it has nothing to do with politics, for once:
I don’t know quite when I started to lose my balance. I think it was in my early sixties, when for no reason at all, I would stagger a bit when turning a corner (walking, not driving, of course). I wouldn’t fall over, but it nevertheless alarmed me.
And when getting dressed, specifically putting on pants or briefs, I suddenly found myself unable to balance on one leg without toppling over; which means that now I pretty much have to either brace myself against a wall with one hand, or else make sure that if I do fall over, there’s a bed close at hand to catch me. It’s irritating.
Going down stairs has a similar effect. Where once I could bound down a staircase with no effort at all, I find myself having to grip the banister like my life depends on it, which it does, now.
Of course, I’m very familiar with the fact that we Olde Pharttes tend to have brittle bones, hence the distressing number of said group suffering things like broken hips, skulls or limbs after toppling over. (see: novelist Jilly Cooper, dead following fall)
The famous expression “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” is not so funny anymore.
The NYT article suggests this:
Some other guy opines:
Which might be plausible, except that in my case it’s not a reason because I don’t take any of the above drugs, or even drugs that are similar.
Of course, we all know that some meds like Benadryl can cause dizziness — FFS, it says so right on the pack — which is why if I do ever take one of those, I take it right before going to bed.
No, I have no idea why I’m suddenly so tottery on my feet, when in the past I always had excellent balance.
It’s also a well-known fact that Olde Pharttes are more likely to experience vertigo when faced with extreme heights or drops. Just a photo of some idiot hanging from a sheer cliff face by only their fingertips will actually cause my stomach to heave; I have no idea how I’d feel if facing a sheer drop in person, but I’m perfectly prepared to believe stories about elderly people inexplicably toppling over a cliff as through drawn to it.
I’ve said it before and I repeat it now: this getting old business is not for the young.
I thought the phrase, in Texas at least, was “I’ve fallen and I can’t reach my beer!”
Other than that, you’re right. It’s Hell getting old.
I’ll be 60 in a few months and I can relate, especially getting dressed at 5 am in the morning. I’d better be sitting down to put my pants on or else I’m likely to be lying down, and not in a good way.
So, another potential theory. Balance is controlled by our inner ear. And what have we done to our fucking ears? Motorcycles, Rock and Roll, Guns, Loud Cars, more Guns, more Rock and Roll, 40+ years in an Industrial Plant (me, not you), and even MORE GUNS. My hearing is fucked 9 ways to Sunday. My tinnitus is so bad that when things are quiet for everyone else, it sounds like I’m in the surf during a hurricane. Constant background noise. Now, do you supposed that affects the inner ear balance thingie?
I’m going to say yes. And there ain’t no fixing that.
Try balancing on one foot for 30 seconds, 3 times each foot. It’s leftover rehab from my knee replacement 6 years ago , but it really helps balance.
Same with me, Kim. Just had my yearly Medicare checkup and and asked my GP if my unsteadiness was a side effect of getting old. I also have the occasional wobbliness rounding a corner and sometimes tack back and forth when I should be walking a straight line. He immediately became much more focused in his questions, saying I wasn’t old enough for the staggers. Sigh; just when I thought I might get out of this thing alive.
It’s called getting feeble in your old age.
From observing my parents, it doesn’t stop getting worse and it doesn’t get better.
Some of you have a few years on me, but I definitely don’t have it like I used to and like you, I don’t like it.
Like a lot of things I think it affects different people at different rates, but everyone gets some eventually.
It ain’t dope, it’s life. It’s a bitch then you die.
Like most things in life, it’s probably more than one thing.
But, to flog the bones of the decayed horse, it’s a lot of “if you don’t use it, you lose it”.
As people get older they do less physical “work”–exercise, or actual work. They don’t get down on the floor and get back up as much, they don’t stretch, or do any exercise.
This leads to muscle loss, it leads to degredation in proprioception etc.
A lot of stability/balance is foot strength and the ability of the brain to fire those foot muscles quickly and in coordination. Often our choice of footware inhibits this.
So spend some time every day doing the dreadful calisthenics and some balance training, while barefoot. It doesn’t have to be much, just 15 minutes of mixed calisthenics, and maybe 5 minutes of balance work.
I’m convinced that stupid doctors overprescribe blood pressure meds.
Yes, high blood pressure is a problem. But I noticed my balance improved when I cut back on my BP medicine. I’m in my 70’s. You need to balance the long-term damage of high BP against the sudden death caused by falls.
They’ve been changing the targeted goals for BP downwards for years.
I discovered some of my wobble while putting on pants is due to standing on cushy flip-flops plus thick carpet.
For bone strength: Some years back, a researcher found that what triggers the body to build/keep strong/heavy bones is the hip joint impacts from about a dozen fast steps every day. (jogging, essentially. Guess what older people have stopped doing…
My wife has been doing yoga for years. Now she focuses only on the balancing exercise parts but it makes a real difference for her. She’s been urging me to do something similar added into my exercise routine.
Something I remember from when my parents went down this road; for general balance (not just getting dressed) keep your head up and eyes forward while moving. Don’t shuffle around head down only looking at the floor a few feet in front of you. Keeping your eyes looking at the ‘horizon’ makes your brain keep doing its part in keeping you steady. I imagine that is slightly at odds with ‘keeping your head on a swivel’ to remain aware of your surroundings, but head down shuffle is definitely worse.