Since a person has risen to his feet, he has maintained a vertical posture thanks to various sensory systems that send information to the brain about the environment and the position of the body in it. The vestibular apparatus is one of the main sources of providing such information to the brain.
Sense of balance
A special organ is hidden in the inner ear, which constantly records the position and movement of the human body, helping to maintain balance. How terrible the feeling of loss of balance is, everyone who has suffered seasickness or has ridden a carousel for too long knows. The world begins to stagger and rotate, and nothing can be done - it remains only to lie down and wait until everything falls into place. The vestibular apparatus indicates how the body is oriented relative to the gravity vector. Usually down. On a ship or carousel, it's different. So the vestibular apparatus is formed: the greater the pitching or rotation, the greater the disorientation. Under such conditions, having closed his eyes, a person cannot determine his position in space. Vision helps in this case.
How is the vestibular apparatus?
The organ of sense of balance is located in the upper part of the labyrinth of the inner ear. The vestibular apparatus is formed by the cochlea and two semicircular canals filled with fluid. During reeling, fluid irritates nerve endings and causes motion sickness. The vestibular apparatus is formed by the vestibule of the inner ear deep in the temporal bone and consists of a system of cavities filled with a viscous endolymph - semicircular canals, spherical and elliptical sacs. Their receptors are hair cells with sensitive cilia.
The vestibular apparatus is formed of semicircular canals that are placed in three mutually perpendicular planes. Cilia in them respond to head movements - tilts and turns. This tells the brain a potential imbalance. The hair cells of the sacs every moment inform about the position of the head relative to the vector of gravity, and therefore about the stability of the body as a whole.
Perception of head movements
The vestibular apparatus is formed of three jelly-like caps covering the receptors, in this case hair cells with cilia and immersed in a viscous fluid called endolymph. During head movements, the endolymph flows from these caps and presses on them. Deforming, they displace the cilia, and this excites a nerve signal, which is deciphered by the brain as a rotation or tilt in a certain plane.
Gravity Perception
The vestibular apparatus is formed so that the remaining groups of hair cells in it are covered with two mutually perpendicular jelly-like pillows, called macula, with millions of crystals of calcium carbonate (otoliths). At any moment, under the influence of gravity, at least one macula is deformed. This displaces the cilia, generating a nerve signal that tells the brain about the position of the head.
How does the balance organ work?
With sufficient loosening, the body of equilibrium is subjected to vibrational loads, from which a person loses balance and stability. Some suffer from seasickness in an airplane, others while traveling by car. Its manifestation can be eliminated by the use of drugs. It is interesting that even in invertebrates, including jellyfish, the vestibular apparatus is formed. The answers to the question, in what form, are simple. Peculiar organs of equilibrium are the auditory vesicles with granules that press on the cilia of the hair cells. With changes in body position, this pressure changes, generating a signal perceived by the nervous system.
Until the sense of balance is lost, a person does not think about his nature, how the vestibular apparatus is arranged, and yet this is one of the main factors of physical form. Stability is vital in old age when joints wear out and bone fragility increases. Preservation of balance is the result of joint action: the eyes, vestibular apparatus and special receptors in the muscles and joints. With age, all these functions weaken, and reflexes slow down. In addition, age-related diseases, as well as side effects of certain drugs, affect the sense of balance. As a result, after 65 years, the risk of injury is increased due to a weakened sense of balance.
Symptoms in diseases of the vestibular apparatus
- dizziness;
- vomiting
- nausea;
- changed complexion;
- impaired coordination and balance;
- profuse sweating.
Diseases caused by imbalance
Diseases of the vestibular apparatus have similar symptoms, but varying degrees of danger and complexity.
- Vestibular neuritis. One of the most common diseases that occurs as a result of infection. Symptoms are manifested: dizziness, nausea, vomiting, which last 3-4 days, after which they disappear, but cure occurs only after a month. In older people, it can last a couple of months.
- Syndrome of vertebral-basilar insufficiency. It occurs in parallel with diseases of the cardiovascular system, often occurs after 60 years, may be the result of a stroke, hearing problems, vestibular nerve. In this case, nausea, vomiting, imbalance, poor coordination, incoherent speech, visual perception are possible. Usually the syndrome lasts a short time, but if these symptoms appear frequently, hospitalization and a thorough examination of the body are necessary.
- Obstruction of the auditory artery. The peculiarity is that it appears along with problems of blood supply to the brain, which leads to cerebellar stroke and heart attack. Severe dizziness, impaired coordination, deafness - these are signs of dangerous pathologies of the vestibular apparatus, in which an ambulance should be urgently called.
- Chronic vestibulopathy It occurs against the background of drug intoxication. Symptoms - dizziness, nausea, weakening of stability.
- Maniere's syndrome is the most common disease of the inner ear. Symptoms - increasing dizziness, hearing loss, noise and stuffiness in the ear. Without treatment, it can lead to deafness.
- Ear diseases: otosclerosis, sulfur cork, diseases of the auditory tube, acute otitis media. Basilar migraine, which is characterized by dizziness, motion sickness in transport.
- Epilepsy with dizziness, nausea, impaired consciousness and hallucinations. A tumor of the cerebellar angle. With him, there is a decrease in hearing, coordination of movement. Multiple sclerosis. Dizziness of a special degree and nausea are observed. With the onset of symptoms of a violation of the vestibular apparatus, the mandatory diagnosis of a doctor before starting treatment.
How to strengthen the body of balance
The development of the vestibular apparatus begins even in the prenatal period, when the baby sways in her mother’s tummy. Therefore, the baby’s swaying in his hands so calmingly acts, thereby forming his basic sense of balance. It helps the child take the first steps.
Then the child gets a good workout on a swing, jumping on a trampoline or riding a bicycle. All his life, a person, actively moving, trains his body of balance. Nevertheless, the fact that the vestibular apparatus is formed in such a way that it can be trained even in old age is valuable. Training of the vestibular apparatus takes place with any movement, since any activity requires good stability. Therefore, it is so important to perform balance-improving exercises at any age. Dancing is very useful, because they teach you to monitor your body, gymnastics in the form of yoga, Pilates, tai chi.
Exercise should be performed slowly, always near the support. Very useful activities in the pool.
A set of exercises for training.
- Slow slopes to the sides - 5 times each.
- Rotation of the legs 10 times right and left with support and without it.
- Standing in turn on one leg, starting at 8 seconds for each limb.
- Walking along one line 10 steps forward, then turning around in the opposite direction. Tiptoeing with arms above your head.
- Balancing, fitness ball exercises.