Archive for the ‘work injuries’ Category
Work Injuries, Your Balance, and How Your Cincinnati Chiropractor Can Help
As a Cincinnati Chiropractor I treat many elders who are affected by balance problems. In fact, dizziness, “wooziness,” and other balance-related conditions affect at least nine percent of adults, aged 65 and over. Good balance is essential, of course, in helping seniors in remaining independent and in avoiding falls and encounter injuries that are often very serious or even fatal. But, did you know that falls contribute to a large percentage of work injuries for adults younger than 65 years of age, including those in their twenties and thirties? That’s right! Balance difficulties can take place at any age. In fact, those who work in”precarious locations” like construction workers, roofers, oil platform employees, windows cleaners, or any other place where a ladder is involved are in danger of serious injury if their balance isn’t good.
The most important action of good balance is to aid us in managing and maintaining our body position, whether standing still or moving, and whether on the ground or high up on a platform. Good balance helps us to walk without faltering, arise from a sitting position without teetering, and to climb stairs without tripping. To sum it up, then, good balance is essential to our health and well-being.
What may be surprising to you is that you could have a balance abnormality without realizing how serious it is. Often times someone can “shake off” a dizzy feeling and it may not return for a while. The problem is that when unexpected dizziness comes about at a consequential moment, it is too late to shake it off and a fall is most likely inevitable.
Vertigo is the medical term for the sensation that you, or things around you, are spinning. Nearly forty percent of individuals in the U.S. will have at least one episode of dizziness that is acute enough to seek out help from a health professional, like your Chiropractor at Cincinnati Chiropractic. That said, if you are involved in any of the activities listed above, it is an extremely good idea for you to have a chiropractor check your balance prior to an unexpected episode of dizziness, instead of as a response to such an episode. Why? Because as a chiropractor, I can not only check your balance, and make adjustments if needed, but can help you to maintain good balance in the future. And, of course, having good balance may save you from serious injury or worse.
Balance disorders are dangerous at any age. If you believe that you might have a possible balance disorder, it is vital for you to be examined and treated without delay. Often guidelines are helpful. Therefore, if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, even if the experience is seldom or infrequent, it is highly recommended that you discuss the symptom(s) with a chiropractor as soon as possible:
• Have you experienced a feeling of being “unsteady?”
• Has the room seemed to spin around you?
• Has there ever a time when you felt as if you were moving when you knew you were standing still?
• Have you lost your balance and/or fallen down?
• Have you ever felt as if you were falling?
• Has your vision ever become “blurred?”
• Have you ever felt disoriented, or lost a sense of time, place or identity?
Remember: Balance problems are not isolated to a particular age group. Our falling down is an ever-present possibility from the time we learn to walk until we take our final step If you work in a job that makes your falling down a “critical” event, you need to have your balance checked. Don’t wait until you sustain a work injury! Call a Chiropractor today, and if you’re in the Cincinnati area, I’d love to be your Cincinnati Chiropractor!