I don't know whether it's just age, or if it's a by-product of Guillain Barré Syndrome, or maybe a bit of both, but my balance is pretty bad. I have to be really careful, it seems as if the slightest thing will throw me off. I swear, at times if seems as if I could trip over a kleenex.

I'm wondering whether there is any form of exercise / therapy / training that a Certified Old Guy can do, to improve balance.

Yoga for Seniors (is there such a thing?)? Maybe a very gentle form of martial arts?

Does anybody have experience with this?

Suggestions are welcome. Please keep in mind my age, and the fact that I am not really in great shape, I depend somewhat on a cane to help with balance.

Go to the damn doctor. there.

My older sibling had an ear ache, oh , he thought it would go ( t.f.) away , on it's own.
five days later it was much worse.

He took o.t.c. pain med's over the week end and then made an appt. with his g.p.

two days later he was in the e.r. at 9 p.m.
they sent him too a specialist.

two day's later he went too out patient surgery to have a tumor removed, from under his jaw bone.
they said 60 -90 minute operation.

3 1/2 hours later they woke him up.

ten days later , still in a lot of pain and extremely tired.

18 days later still mostly off his feet,

old farts do not heal any where near as fast as the kids days.

get ( t.h.) to the doctor

the tumore was much large

I will email my girlfriend at work and she was she says.

She went to the doctor and they recommended therapy and exercises.

When I was visiting my parents who live in Leesburg FL, we got to talking about balance and they stated many of the people they know do water yoga, water aerobics, Tai Chi for that problem.

^^^^^^^ My local Y and and another place offer Tai Chi for Seniors. I took a weekly class for 3 months. It was good, I enjoyed it.

Check it out.

Good luck, best wishes to you.

bendable --

This is not a stroke, tumor, or anything like that. It started when I got hit with Guillain Barré Syndrome, which affects the central nervous system. I lost most of the feeling in my feet, and lost quite a bit of strength in my hands and legs, which affected by balance.

Did physical therapy for couple months, recovered much of the lost strength, but numbness in hands and feet still there. Doctor says full recovery might be three months, three years, or never.

Unless I find a neurologist who tells me differently, there will not be any dramatic medical improvement, but I think that there might be some sort of exercise program that might help with balance, so I'm looking for what might work for an 82 year old guy, with reduced strength. Probably a program that is taught or led by somebody who understands the parameters.

Yoga is a good thought, especially after consulting with your neurologist.

A balance board (with a walker or something solid to hang on to, for safety) could help, especially if done looking at a full length mirror. It will help you develop balance and retrain your brain as to what your body is doing, visually, instead of just going on what your body is telling you it is doing (proprioception).

Luck.

Bruce

I've always heard that your big toes are critical for balance so if you've lost a lot of feeling in your feet that may be the culprit. I had an ingrown toenail removed yesterday and walking was a little weird for the rest of the day while my big toe was still numb.

Loss of feeling in the feet is huge. I have a family member who struggles with that. I'm glad to hear that you are paying attention. You'd be amazed how many folks fall on an average day just because they are not attentive.

There are a lot of yoga programs for your age group and there is also tai chi. Slow, steady, and anything that helps core strength will help you. Best of luck brother!

There are some alternative health products that boost the body's ability to heal and to fight off infections. Balance issues are typically easily solved. However peripheral neuropathy older than two years is difficult to treat successfully.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
There are some alternative health products that boost the body's ability to heal and to fight off infections. Balance issues are typically easily solved. However peripheral neuropathy older than two years is difficult to treat successfully.

I was hospitalized for a week when the GBS first hit. Pretty painful at first, morphine did not help, IV steroids did. The treatment was a couple of IVIG transfusions, they ran about five or six hours each. That, and a couple months physical therapy made quite a bit of improvement. Doc told me that time would tell, recovery from that point could be anywhere from stalled, to close to 100%, totally unpredictable.

Initial prescription for nerve pain was Lyrica, that did not work out too well, so we changed to Gabapentin, which seems better.

Numbness and lack of feeling in forward part of feet and in fingers persists. Numb fingers mean that my day is not complete if I don't drop two or three things. Numbness in feet contributes to balance problems. I walk carefully, but there are slip-ups. I lost my balance in the kitchen this morning, trying not to fall, I twisted and wrenched my back.

I'm hoping that some sort of exercise program will help with the balance, I'm looking for recommendations from those who might have experience.

Get your neurologist to refer you to a physical therapist who specializes in balance issues. You live in Orlando which has a pretty big senior population who have these problems. With nerve damage the exercises are somewhat different than those who might have a balance issue related to vestibular issues or a CVA. I would take the PT suggestions as far as pool therapy and Yoga are concerned. Medicare should cover these services. PTs are the experts here. Pool therapy would be good for mobility and exercise, not for balance issues.

Ummm...Don't drink so much! Sorry, I couldn't help it. I'm unbalanced, imbalanced, dizzy, you name it. Not alcohol related, but I'm wondering. Maybe the booze would help with the pain of falling. When my GP asked me how I was doing a while back, I told him pretty good except that I fall down a lot. That shook him.

But the textbook answer seems to be send me to a bunch of useless specialists. My Medicare part whatever says I only pay $15 for my GP copay. For the specialists its $45. Too much because they don't help, but sometimes put me through a bunch of pain (for nothing). Because they were clueless, they decided to focus on my heart. The good side was I got me a brand new stainless steel racing valve! That actually seemed to help just a bit. But I still fall down too much.

After a while you just accept it. And you slow down so as not to be moving too fast when the crash landing happens. Yes, the cane helps a bunch, but its not a cure for the out of balance problem. Its a pain when every time you stand up, you don't know if it'll be a success or if you'll be on your face. The biggest part of the problem seems to be that I can't run. Not even a few steps. On the good side, I got handicap stickers for our cars.

With neuropathy and the mini-strokes, I had that for a while. My doc told me to walk. I walked (with wife and cane) for increasing distances. By the time I hit a mile, I didn't need the cane. 15 months later, I'm riding a bicycle, although I don't trust myself to motorcycle yet. Hope you find what works for you.

I am 63 and I have balance problems going down stairs and doing things like putting on a pair of pants. It's not fun at all. I took two winters off when I was a whipper snapper and did the ski bum thing in Sun Valley. I got really good at moguls unless I caught air. I always sucked at the diving board thing when swimming. Throughout my life I've always sucked when both of my fleet aren't firmly planted. It is much worse now. I now need to have a wall close to me when I dress. I have an appointment with a neurologist in a few weeks just to see if it's my age or something else is out of whack. I pray you get this problem straightened out. Like I said before, it's not fun AT.ALL.

My old boss (a physician) was having balance problems and found that improving his flexibility through significant periods of stretching completely cleared it up.

quote:

I'm hoping that some sort of exercise program will help with the balance, I'm looking for recommendations from those who might have experience.

I have extremely good success with a Bioenergetic Imprinter. The imprinter works in the realm of vibrational medicine, as does homeopathy. However it is an electrical device. Another device is a heavy duty TENS unit. The FDA describes the TENS unit I use as "State of the Art". Originally designed for pain, the model also boosts healing rates dramatically. If you want to learn more, best to contact me via email, mine is listed on this forum.

Example, a friend came in with Pertussis, or whooping cough. It persisted for two weeks, without any let up. I treated her once with the equipment listed above, the next morning the disease was gone and never returned.

Generally these alternative health care devices only assist the body it what it is trying to do, gives it more power or ability. One patient came in with Lyme Disease, had it for 5-6 years. She purchased the Bioenergetic Imprinter, used it several times a day, and the symptoms of Lyme never reoccurred. She stopped using the device, and it has now been over 5 years with no symptoms.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:

every time you stand up, you don't know if it'll be a success or if you'll be on your face

I have found that there is something I can count on: every time I fall, the floor is there to catch me.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
bendable --

This is not a stroke, tumor, or anything like that. ... .

There is a simple muscle test for balance problems, helps diagnose what part of the body is the cause.

Put one arm out 90 degrees from the torso, palm down. Have someone push down at the wrist, test to see if the shoulder muscles have locked the arm reasonably well.

Take the back side of the fingers of the other hand, and place them over one ear. Have the assistant push down on the outstretched arm. Repeat at the other ear.

If shoulder muscles become weak when the back of the fingers are over the ear, you have an infection somewhere in that area. Usually is is a low grade inner infection, which may have progressed to the cranial nerve. However a tumor in that area would also give a positive test result.

Muscle testing is exceedingly sensitive as to what area of the body is diseased. Using homeopathic remedies can help DX what is the cause of the disease. I have remedies for staph, strep, Lyme, parasites, etc. I use them to help DX problems, but they can be used with the imprinter to help direct the body's healing ability.

Our drug based medical system has many cures, but is still limited. Usually drugs are prescribed to directly attack an infection. Side effects include a weakening of the person's overall health.

Alternative therapies work completely different, by trying to boost the body's healing ability. Our immune system is fantastically sensitive, but not completely powerful.

Get sugar, wheat and seed oils out of your life (i.e., eat real food, avoid fake food, and be active every day). I am constantly surprised how insulin resistance manifests in the human body through inflammation.