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Most of our activities are dependent on a well functioning sense of balance. But what is balance and how does it work in the body? What is good balance? Can the sense of balance be influenced?
This is how the sense of balance functions
The sense of balance determines the body’s orientation in relation to gravity in order to maintain an appropriate posture. The body’s balance is dependent on a continuous flow of information from different organs and senses, which are integrated and coordinated in the brain and spinal cord. Visual cues, information from joints, muscles, skin and the organs of balance in the inner ear are of importance for the maintenance of balance. If this coordination of information from the different parts of the body functions properly we will be in good balance. One realizes gravity plays an important role when the sense of balance is tested under water or in outer space. In such environments our sense of balance can not determine what is up or down.
Massage for tension headaches and dizziness
Sensory receptors in the body’s joints and muscles play an important role in our ability to feel in what position the body is in and the orientation of different body parts. The neck muscles are of particular importance for good balance. Tense and over-worked neck muscles can cause tension headaches and also dizziness. In such cases, massage, stretching and specifically adapted activites can be effective means of treatment.
For balance, touch is equally important as vision
The skin has a previously unrecognized but very great importance for our ability to maintain balance. Light touch plays just as important a role as vision for maintaining balance. Research has shown that we sway much less when standing if the skin is touched in various ways. Perhaps touch can be an important factor in rehabilitation after a stroke or other diseases in which the sense of balance has been affected? Here, massage could be one of several methods of treatment.
Facts
EYE AND EAR Vision is one of man’s most important senses for orientation and maintenance of balance. Consider, for example, how difficult it is to walk erect in the Funny House at an amusement park, in which the floor and walls slant and are painted in strange patterns. The jumble of disparate information combined with the lack of a stable horizontal line disturbs the coordination of visual information, causing us to stagger about. The small organs of balance which inform the brain about the head’s position relative to gravity lie centrally in the inner ear. These organs contain small crystals in a gelatinous mass. Behind these lie the semicircular canals which register changes in motion. In some illnesses, the crystals can come out of the gelatinous mass and follow the fluid flow in the inner ear. Merry-go-round type of dizziness may be due to the crystal’s jamming the organs in the semicircular canals. Different movements and maneuvers can un-jam the semicircular canals by shifting the crystals loose.
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