22 September 2020
It’s Balance Awareness Week, a week to raise awareness of the challenges faced by people who have vestibular disorders (disorders relating to balance or that affect your sense of balance) such as Meniere’s Disease.
A common symptom of vestibular disorders is dizziness or vertigo – the sensation that you, or the environment around you, is moving or spinning.
This can have a major impact on your day-to-day life and can cause a lot of anxiety as it isn’t always easy to tell when an attack may happen. However, there are things you can do that may help you during an attack or help prevent one:
Moving your head quickly or getting up from laying down too fast can bring on feelings of dizziness or vertigo that take time to subside. Where possible, try to allow extra time to complete your daily tasks so you can avoid hurrying about. If you do feel dizzy or get vertigo try and sit down as soon as you can to avoid falling over.*
Dropping your head down quickly to bend over can give you a dizzying sensation and increase your risk of falling.* Where you can, try to squat down instead of bending. If your knees aren’t happy with you squatting, why not invest in a grabbing aid? Grabbing aids mean you don’t have to bend over or stretch up to reach something quite so often. Try one like the Combi Grabber or the Sure Lock Folding Reacher, which folds up so it’s easy to carry around with you.
A walking stick can help provide that bit of extra support while you’re out and about. This extra support can help to reduce your risk of falling should you get an attack of dizziness or vertigo while walking.
Walking sticks now come in a range of styles and designs from brightly coloured sticks like the Spotty Purple Ladies Walking Stick through to ones that even come with seats like the Height Adjustable Stick Seat so you can be sure to find one to suit your needs.
Having grab rails give you a point of support to hold onto if you’re feeling dizzy or you aren’t as steady on your feet as you’d like to be. Grab rails come in a variety of designs from the more traditional white grab rails, such as the Plastic Fluted Grab Rail, all the way through to the sleek and stylish stainless steel grab rails, like the Stainless Steel Metal Grab Rail or Steel Grab Bar. You can get also get specialised grab rails for your bed or bath too.
If you’re worried about symptoms of dizziness, vertigo or loss of balance, please speak with your GP for more help.
For more details about Balance Awareness Week and to get a free information pack about dizziness and balance disorders, please contact the Ménière’s Society on 01306 876883 or Balance Awareness Week visit their website. You can also find out more about vertigo on the NHS website.
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