A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can leave you with a problem balancing — which can affect your life in ways that you just wouldn’t expect.
In order to understand your balance problems and what you can do to minimize the problems, get as much information as possible on the subject.
What different ways can balance problems affect your life?
Most people associate balance problems with a risk of falling — but they’re so much more than that. Because the human ability to balance relies on a combination of actions from both your eyes and your ears, balance issues can affect:
- Your ability to read for any lengthy of time, because of trouble holding your gaze steady.
- Your ability to feed and dress yourself because you can develop hand-eye coordination problems.
- Your personal safety, especially when you are in the bathroom because the floors are usually slick and there are numerous hard surfaces you could hit and injure yourself on if you fell.
- Your ability to drive, again because of problems holding your gaze steady and hand-eye coordination issues.
- Your energy levels because many people’s brains respond to balance issues by getting fatigued and sleepy.
- Your ability to eat because your dizziness may cause chronic nausea.
Not everyone with a TBI will develop the exact same problems — some people will be minimally affected while others may have their whole lives disrupted.
How can you minimize balance problems?
This isn’t the time to worry about how you look — it’s time to focus on getting control back over your life. With that in mind, consider the following:
- Get a cane or a walker. Have a physical therapist evaluate your level of need and listen to his or her advice. If necessary, get both, so that you can switch between the two as needed.
- Use large-print books (which are easier to focus on) and allow yourself more time to finish reading or writing something than you’d normally expect.
- Ask your doctor for medication to help control the dizziness (like Antivert) and nausea (like Zofran) to help you eat.
- Hire a driver or learn how to operate Uber and Lyft — rather than remain stuck in the house.
If you suffer balance problems following a TBI, make sure that your attorney understands exactly how the issue affects your life. It’s an important issue when it comes to your right to compensation.
Source: BrainLine, “Balance Problems After Traumatic Brain Injury,” Michelle Peterson and Brian D. Greenwald, accessed Sep. 01, 2017
