Balance problems can make you feel dizzy, as if the room is spinning, unsteady, or lightheaded. These feelings can happen whether you’re lying down, sitting, or standing.
Many body systems — including your muscles, bones, joints, eyes, the balance organ in the inner ear, nerves, heart and blood vessels — must work normally for you to have normal balance. When these systems aren’t functioning well, you can experience balance problems.
Many medical conditions can cause balance problems. However, most balance problems result from issues in your balance organ in the inner ear (vestibular system).
Signs and symptoms of balance problems include:
- Sense of motion or spinning (vertigo)
- Feeling of faintness or lightheadedness (presyncope)
- Loss of balance or unsteadiness
- Falling or feeling like you might fall Feeling a floating sensation or dizziness
- Vision changes, such as blurriness
- Confusion
Relevant reading
Mayo Clinic on Hearing and Balance, 3rd Edition
Mayo Clinic on Better Hearing and Balance helps readers understand the possible causes of hearing and balance issues and offers solutions aimed at improving not just hearing and balance, but quality of life overall.
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