Gait and balance issues can cause unsteadiness and difficulty standing and walking. Depending on the cause, a person may also experience vertigo, dizziness, and motion sickness, for example. Common causes of these issues in adults include musculoskeletal injuries, arthritis, and visual or inner ear problems.
Foot supination happens when you don't use the proper muscles to walk correctly. People who develop this issue struggle with pushing or activating the right muscles in their feet as they walk. It could be due to a number of factors, but usually, it's caused by a muscle imbalance in the feet.
Abnormal gait may be caused by diseases in different areas of the body. General causes of abnormal gait may include: Arthritis of the spine, hip, leg, or foot joints. Conversion disorder (a mental disorder)
What is ataxia? Ataxia is a loss of muscle control. People with ataxia lose muscle control in their arms and legs. This may lead to a lack of balance, coordination, and trouble walking.
Muscle weakness is commonly due to lack of exercise, ageing, muscle injury or pregnancy. It can also occur with long-term conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. There are many other possible causes, which include stroke, multiple sclerosis, depression, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME).
Peripheral nerves
The nerves outside of your brain and spinal cord can become damaged, which is called peripheral neuropathy. Weakness, numbness, pain and balance issues can be caused by peripheral neuropathy because it makes it difficult to determine where your body is relative to other objects or the ground.
Osteoarthritis and skeletal deformities of the lower extremities are the most common reasons for non-neurological gait disorders in adults [2]. The resulting orthopedic gait disturbances may be characterized by a limited range of motion, avoidance of weight-bearing and asymmetry or limping.
A waddling gait happens because of weakness in your hip girdle and upper thigh muscles. To make up for the weakness, you sway from side to side and your hip drops with each step.
What causes balance disorders? Causes of balance problems include medications, ear infection, a head injury, or anything else that affects the inner ear or brain. Low blood pressure can lead to dizziness when you stand up too quickly.
Researchers have found that balance begins to decline in midlife, starting at about age 50. In one recent study, adults in their 30s and 40s could stand on one foot for a minute or more. At age 50, the time decreased to 45 seconds. At 70, study participants managed 28 seconds.
The most common causes of imbalance without dizziness are related to dysfunction of the muscles, joints and peripheral nerves (proprioceptive system), or the central nervous system (brain). People with bilateral vestibulopathy have balance issues but no dizziness if the damage affects both ears at the same time.
Walking or Gait Difficulties
A common, early symptom of Parkinson's disease is a decrease in the natural swing of one or both arms when walking. Later, steps may become slow and small, and a shuffling gait (festination) may appear.
Individuals with Parkinson's gait will take slow, shuffling steps and may or may not swing their arms. Their feet may sometimes feel stuck to the ground — a condition called freezing.
Metoclopramide (Reglan), calcium channel blockers, antidepressants, and neuroleptic drugs can all cause symptoms and signs indistinguishable from idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, Charcot Marie Tooth disease, ataxia-telangiectasia, spinal muscular atrophy, peroneal neuropathy, and microvascular white-matter disease all cause significant gait disabilities. Electrolyte disorders include hyponatremia, hypokalemia, and hypomagnesemia can cause gait disorders.
Gait abnormalities are more common as you age. Around 15% of people experience a gait abnormality by age 60. However, more than 80% of people over age 85 have a gait abnormality. Children are less likely to have a gait abnormality unless they have an underlying health condition or experience an injury.
The present work suggests that people with MS have a decrease in speed and stride length, as well as an increase in double-stance intervals during gait.
Leg weakness can be caused by a variety of medical conditions, some of which are serious. Possible causes include stroke, systemic diseases, inflammatory conditions, nerve damage, muscle disorders, and medication side effects.
People will often experience shaky or weak legs when dealing with vascular issues in the leg, like deep vein thrombosis or blood clots. Clots are very serious if untreated because they could break off into the bloodstream and travel to an artery in the lungs, blocking blood flow.
Often, the cause of weakness or pain in the legs when walking is a narrowing of the space around nerves that carry signals to the lower part of the body. When symptoms affect your legs, the condition is typically lumbar spinal stenosis.