Everyone loses their balance from time to time. We trip. We fall. We stumble.

“Its not the end of the world to lose your balance. It’s a problem if it happens 2 or 3 times a day,” says Physical Therapist, Nathalie Grondin with Lee Memorial Health System.

In fact, medical experts consider balance our 6th sense. But when it comes to really knowing how it affects our life, some people are well, unbalanced. So we presented two common schools of thought to Nathalie Grondin. She set us straight.

The first, ‘I have never had a fall, so I don’t have to worry about balance issues.’ “When a person starts having a balance problem, they may not notice immediately, but they’ll say, ‘I’m not as confident in myself, I’m going to start avoiding activities because I am not sure of myself,” explains Grondin.

The second, ‘I’m afraid I might fall, so I will just stay in the house where I am nice and safe.’ “That’s a misconception. Two things happen here: its well known that most falls occur in a person’s home doing normal activities. The other misconception is if I stay home, I am not going to put myself at the risk. The problem with that is we become very inactive,” warns Grondin.

And finally, ‘I notice my parents are having some balance problems, but don’t want to tell them because I don’t want to hurt their feelings.’ “It can be a delicate situation to say, ‘I noticed you had some balance problems, but if you address it in a positive manner such as there’s a lot to be done no matter how old you are, no matter what situation you’re in, there’s a lot that can be done to keep your independence.”

To learn more, you can contact The Balance Clinic. Just log onto LeeMemorial.org.