Why Your Balance Gets Worse With Age and What to Do About It

Feeling a wee bit wobbly on your feet as you age? You're not alone. Balance-related issues are one of the most common health complaints among older people, according to the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

But feeling unstable on your feet can have major consequences. Good balance is necessary to carry out even the most basic daily activities (think: walking, climbing stairs, getting in and out of a car, etc.), so if you struggle to stay steady, you're less likely to maintain independence in older age.

What's more, balance problems are a primary cause of falls in the elderly, per the NIA. Indeed, one in four older Americans will take a tumble every year, and a fifth of these falls will lead to a serious injury, such as broken bones or a head trauma, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But why does our balance break down as we go gray?

Here, Grayson Wickham, DPT, CSCS, founder of the Movement Vault, explains why we tend to teeter more in our twilight years, plus ways to prevent it (because bad balance doesn't have to be inevitable).

As you age, you'll slowly start to lose muscle mass (a process known as sarcopenia that begins as early as age 30).

Sarcopenia occurs due to a confluence of age-related factors including increased inactivity and hormonal changes, Wickham says.

Problem is, "when you lose muscle mass and strength, your ability to maintain strong and stable joints decreases," Wickham says. "And having stable joints is one of the key factors when it comes to having good balance," he says.

"You need to be able to keep your joints in a stable position while both moving and not moving," Wickham says. So if you lack joint stability, your joints may "buckle," which you will experience as poor balance, he says.

As we know, healthy joints are essential for equilibrium. But your joints tend to take a hit as you age. Very often, this is due to a more sedentary lifestyle in your senior years.

"If you add up all the time that you are either sitting or lying down during your average 24-hour period, you will most likely be shocked," Wickham says. "Most people are only moving for about one to two hours of their day," he says.

But here's the thing: "When you are not moving, you not only lose muscle mass, but also joint mobility and flexibility," Wickham says. And this is bad news for balance.

That's because when you sit for prolonged periods of time, your muscles and joints become tight. And eventually, they won't be capable of moving as well.

As a result, these tight, restricted joints won't be able to activate and contract specific muscles or achieve larger ranges of motion, which all help you maintain your balance, Wickham explains.

What's more, arthritis and/or bone-related diseases (like osteoporosis) — which are more common in older folks — can lessen joint mobility too.

As you become less physically active in older age, your proprioception (the technical term for body awareness) will decrease too, Wickham says.

Important for aging and balance, "proprioception is the ability to sense where your joints and body are at all times," he says.

"You have nerve receptors in and around your joints that send information to your brain and nervous system," Wickham says. "This means that your brain and nervous system know where your body is both consciously and subconsciously (which can also be thought of as coordination)," he explains.

"When you age, and don't move often, these nerves receptors don't work as well, which leads to diminished body awareness," Wickham says.

"And when you don't have a good sense of where your body and joints are, it makes it difficult to maintain your balance," he says.

Reflexes — involuntary or automatic reactions that your body does in response to something — play a pivotal part in controlling coordination, balance, posture and movement.

For example, if you trip on a crack on the sidewalk, your hands and arms will automatically stretch out to break your fall and your muscles will tighten to reduce injury, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center.

But reflexes and reaction times tend to slow in your golden years, primarily due to inactivity and age-related degeneration of the nervous system, Wickham says.

Indeed, as you age, the areas of the brain responsible for motor control lose cells and shifts in nerve fibers slow down electrical impulses, per the University of Rochester Medical Center.

"In addition to these factors, your overall level of health also plays a role," Wickham says. Your level of inflammation, insulin and glucose regulation and other medical issues can contribute to chronic health conditions that may lead to deterioration of your nervous system and, as a result, cause delayed and/or diminished reflexes, he says.

Your vestibular system (the part of the inner ear involved in balance) is a big factor when it comes to maintaining a healthy equilibrium, Wickham says.

Just like your nervous system degenerates as you age, your vestibular system can also deteriorate in your twilight years and is similarly impacted by other health-related biomarkers (such as inflammation, insulin and glucose regulation, etc.), Wickham says.

That means "the better your overall health is, the better every system in your body will function, including your vestibular system," Wickham says.

Aging can affect your eyes. In fact, older age is associated with a higher risk for certain eye diseases, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

But this shift in sight can blight your balance abilities.

"Most people rely heavily on their vision for balance," Wickham says. You can test this by standing on one leg with your eyes open. Next, try the same thing, but close your eyes. "It was most likely a lot more challenging to maintain your balance with your eyes closed," he says.

But when vision declines, it can impact things such as depth perception, sensitivity to contrast and night vision, which are all important factors when it comes to staying steady on your feet.

Wondering how to improve your balance? While certain aspects of aging are beyond our control, there are things you can do to keep balance issues at bay.

For one, you can prevent (and even fix) tight muscles and joints before they become too limited and impair your balance, Wickham says. Specifically, moving more often throughout your day and performing active stretches and mobility drills can help preserve balance, he says.

Likewise, you can reduce (and in some cases reverse) the forces of aging on your reflexes and coordination by prioritizing physical activity, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The following movements and exercises are a great starting point to build balance-supporting foundational joint mobility, stability, strength and proprioception, Wickham says.

For the best balance results, do 1 or 2 sets of this routine three times a week.

And if you find you're feeling a little shaky, that's OK. It takes time to build balance. Simply hold onto a chair or wall until you feel sturdier.

"This is a great bang for the buck movement as it helps you improve your balance and hip joint mobility at the same time," Wickham says. "Your goal is to stand as still as possible [on one leg] while moving one of your hips through your absolute full range of motion," he says.

With your feet and ankles working to keep you steady, this movement will improve your single-leg balance while improving your hip mobility, proprioception and glute and hamstring strength, Wickham says.

"This movement helps you improve your single-leg stability (on your non-moving leg) while strengthening and activating your gluteus medius muscle," Wickham says.

Your gluteus medius is monumental for good balance. So if it's weak, it can lead to an unstable hip, which is a precursor to poor balance, Wickham explains.

"This exercise takes single-leg balance to the next level as you must concentrate on tossing and catching a ball all while maintaining a stable standing position," Wickham says.

"This movement works on single-leg quadriceps strength and stability with a joint mobility bonus," Wickham says.