Balance disorder
![Balance Disorder Illustration A](/Images/godic/202501/10/Balance_Disorder_Illustration_A3822.png")
![Illustration of the flow of fluid in the ear, which in turn causes displacement of the top portion of the hair cells that are embedded in the jelly-like cupula. Also shows the utricle and saccule-otolithic organs that are responsible for detecting linear acceleration, or movement in a straight line.](/Images/godic/202501/10/Balance_Disorder_Illustration_B3822.png")
![This figure shows nerve activity associated with rotational-induced physiologic nystagmus and spontaneous nystagmus resulting from a lesion of one labyrinth. Thin straight arrows - direction of slow components; thick straight arrows - direction of fast components; curved arrows - direction of endolymph flow in the horizontal semicircular canals: AC - anterior canal, PC - posterior canal, HC - horizontal canal.](/Images/godic/202501/10/Balance_Disorder_Illustration_C3822.png")
A balance disorder is a disturbance that causes an individual to feel unsteady, for example when standing or walking. It may be accompanied by feelings of giddiness, or wooziness, or having a sensation of movement, spinning, or floating. Balance is the result of several body systems working together: the visual system (eyes), vestibular system (ears) and proprioception (the body's sense of where it is in space). Degeneration or loss of function in any of these systems can lead to balance deficits.