What Causes Balance Disorders?

Balance disorders can be caused by several different factors, such as neuropathy, inflammation, head injuries, vision problems, hormonal imbalances, gut infections, medications, and lifestyle choices. While patients are typically told their balance issues come from an inner ear problem that is often not the case and we need to examine the root causes. The most common cause of balance issues is nerve damage and loss of proprioception. When patients are suffering from neuropathy they have limited sensation in their feet which immediately causes balance issues.

Symptoms of Balance Disorders

The most common symptom of a balance disorder is dizziness or vertigo (the feeling that you’re spinning). Other signs and symptoms may include lightheadedness, nausea, blurred vision, loss of hearing, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), difficulty walking, fatigue, confusion, difficulty concentrating, and sweating. If you experience any of these symptoms for more than two days, it’s important to see your doctor for further evaluation.

Conventional Treatment for Balance Disorders

Conventionally trained doctors typically perform physical exams and tests to diagnose your condition. This may include hearing tests (audiometry), eye movement tests (electronystagmography), imaging tests (MRI or CT scan) to check for structural abnormalities in the brain or spine, and blood tests if necessary. Often if patients are diagnosed with conditions like Meniere’s syndrome or some crystals in your inner ear (BPPV) they will recommend medications or dietary advice like “stop eating salt”. Oftentimes these approaches don’t work and the patient is told to just “live with it”.

Treatment depends on the underlying cause but may include medications such as antihistamines, meclizine (Antivert), methylprednisolone, or diuretics, physical therapy exercises designed to improve balance and surgery if necessary, and other treatments specific to your situation.

Damage Caused by Chronic Stress

Cortisol increases blood sugar and over time can lead to insulin resistance or pre-diabetes. Thus, the immune system becomes suppressed, allowing for chronic inflammation and increased susceptibility to viral infections. Over time, high cortisol levels can also suppress digestive function which is at the core of your immune resilience and energy production, leaving you feeling drained and more susceptible to long-term illness.

Functional Medicine Approach to Treating Balance Disorders

Our approach to treating balance disorders is to get to the root cause of why you have balance issues. Often people are diagnosed with conditions like an “inner ear problem” which isn't the real issue. Unfortunately, people are not given the correct treatment and this is why the medications “don’t work”.

Often the balance disorder has nothing directly to do with your ear and can be a separate condition that needs a specific protocol to health it such as:

  • Nerve damage
  • Blood sugar dysregulation
  • Brain inflammation
  • Gut dysbiosis such as leaky gut
  • Anemia
  • Nutrient deficiencies
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Food sensitivities
  • Autoimmunity (such as Meniere’s)

At Premier Health Of Summit, our team takes a holistic approach to any chronic disorder – including balance disorders. In fact, it’s less about managing symptoms and more about investigating the underlying “WHY”. 

That’s why it is important to assess if the patient may have neuropathy a common cause of balance disorders. We perform a metabolic workup to check blood chemistry as well as another potential testing to assess the potential causes such as stress, hormonal imbalances, and brain or gut issues. 

It will also indicate if there are nutritional deficiencies, blood sugar problems (which leads to neuropathy), anemia, adrenal issues, and many other imbalances that can keep you from healing balance disorders. Knowing your blood chemistry helps facilitate effective nutritional changes that can be sustainable and encourage proper body functions.

Once we do the correct testing, we craft a precise treatment plan unique to your needs that includes all the elements you need to finally leave your balance disorder behind. With this more in-depth approach, you may even experience a complete reversal.

Functional Medicine Approach to Treating Balance Disorders

So if you’re ready to explore how to approach balance disorders, then claim your free 10-minute phone consultation with Dr. Brian Anderson to help you map out an effective, technologically-advanced treatment strategy based around…

  • without mind-altering pain medications
  • without surgery
  • without injections.

We’ll explore your desired treatment goals, and we go over what’s expected and whether our functional neurology approach to fibromyalgia is right for you.

We offer these short phone consults for FREE so you can get more clarity & confidence on how to reverse your fibromyalgia and finally reclaim a pain-free, confident life feeling and looking your best.

We believe you can't make new decisions without new information, so this phone consult is your chance for a personalized assessment.

Click here to claim your free phone consultation or call or text our office at 908.913.7508 to schedule.

Take The First Step Today On Your Journey Back To Health

Do you have questions about starting your path back to health? Our patient coordinator is standing by, happy to answer any questions you have to determine if our approach is right for you.

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Areas Served


Premier Health of Summit is located in Summit, New Jersey, and serves clients throughout central New Jersey and surrounding areas, including New Providence, Berkeley Heights, Chatham, Madison, Florham Park, Springfield, Maplewood, Union, Westfield, Scotch Plains, Ridgewood, Hackensack, Hoboken, Jersey City, Staten Island, Lakewood, Princeton, Lawrenceville, Flemington, Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Mendham, and Clinton as well as Bergen County, Passaic County, Morris County, Essex County, Hunterdon County, Union County, Somerset County, Middlesex County, and Monmouth County.

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