Sunday, September 19, 2010

Physical Balance

With my long time balance tag line, the irony of my periodic physical balance episodes are not lost on me. No doubt my readers will also find it humorous.

Over the past several months I have experienced infrequent episodes of unsteadiness. The episodes range from a nanosecond to a few seconds. Fortunately, it never gets to vertigo. A day or two would pass between the unsteady episodes. After arriving in Portland and a couple experiences, I headed to the emergency room to see if there was some obvious solution.

Of course nothing could be found. For me, that was the expected result. It's like a broken car that fails periodically. Until the car fails permanently, there is no way to analyze the problem.

So the referral to the neurologist ended with the same result. Neurologist in office tests did point to a problem. There was the inability to walk a straight line while looking at my feet. Standing straight with my eyes closed also pointed to a balance problem. Additional blood tests were run to rule out other possible causes. Nothing.

The usual question -- and the answer: Blood pressure is taken frequently and the reading is always the same -- it's borderline at 130/80. Perhaps it is always "normal" when I check it because I have trained myself years ago to relax when blood pressure is taken.


Jeesh. Is this physical unsteadiness coincidental as this body "celebrated" 70 years of living. Perhaps it may be just part of that downhill slide. Age appropriate condition. :))

Do not be concerned as I drive down the road driving Silver Slug and towing Wandrin Wagon. If the dizzy episodes occurred while driving, I would get the issue resolved before going any further down the road.

Note to self: Watch alcohol consumption. With an inability to walk a straight line, a roadside sobriety test would end in failure.

Yup. Enjoying Life Is A Matter Of Balance.... Indeed.

5 comments:

  1. Lloyd my balance in the last two years has gone noticably down hill. Maybe my age of 64 is the most likely cause. We just have to keep accomodating the changes. For example I frequently use 2 walking sticks when hiking if the trail surface is the least bit loose or rocky. Accomodate don't stop.

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  2. I'm 65, and didn't realize how important balance is until I bought my Wii, and then the Wii Fit Plus. One of the things I learned is that balance is something we can lose as we age, and should be doing something about now. I'm not having any problems yet, but am not very good at the balance parts of the Wii. A sure sign I should be practicing those "games." Would a Wii Fit Plus be beneficial for you? :)
    Barbara

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  3. Barney,
    Been hiking with two trekking poles for over ten years. Barring any serious issues, when I get to Palm Springs I will have some additional tests done.
    Barbara,
    Considering the size of my "home space" the Wii may not be a good fit. (Don't even know if that TV works.) It appears my alternate low tech version of balance therapy will be walking different terrains.

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  4. weird that you bring this up...i had dizziness for about 4-5 days awhile ago...also went to emergency and they could find nothing...but then it lasted another 4 days or so...then it went away and has not been back since...never thought it had to do with aging ;-) but glad to know i am not alone...jil

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  5. If it happens more when you change positions or bend over, it could be positional vertigo. Not a big deal as I understand it, just annoying.

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