Feeling unsteady on your feet is common, especially as you get older. Balance depends on three sets of signals reaching your brain: from your inner ears, your eyes, and the nerves and muscles in your legs. A problem with any of them can make you unsteady.
Common causes include inner-ear problems, low blood pressure when you stand up, side effects of medicines, problems with eyesight or hearing, and weaker muscles. Long-term conditions such as arthritis, nerve damage in the feet, Parkinson's disease and stroke can also affect balance. Many of these can be treated or improved, and strength and balance exercises help.
Sudden loss of balance with other new symptoms can be an emergency. The signs are listed below.
Call 112 or 999 (Ireland), 999 (UK) or 911 (US) if:
Get urgent advice (in the UK, NHS 111) if you have fallen and may be in pain, injured or unwell. The same applies after a head injury if you feel dizzy, are being sick, or take a blood-thinning medicine.
See a GP if you are worried about your balance or mobility, or you have had a fall.
Balance problems and dizziness overlap, but they are not the same. The US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) lists symptoms of a balance disorder including:
It says about 15% of American adults had a balance or dizziness problem in 2008.
It helps to notice which describes you. Is the room spinning? Do you feel faint? Or do you simply feel unsteady on your feet? These point to different causes.
The inner ear contains the balance system. NIDCD lists common inner-ear causes:
Our guide to vertigo: BPPV, vestibular neuritis and Ménière's explains these in detail.
A drop in blood pressure when you stand up can make you lightheaded and unsteady. The NHS lists low blood pressure among the causes of falls. Getting up slowly helps. If you have actually blacked out, see our guide to fainting.
The NHS lists side effects of some medicines as a cause of falls. NIDCD says a doctor's first step is to check whether a medicine or another health condition is to blame. Speak to a GP or pharmacist if you think a medicine could be affecting your balance. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without advice.
The NHS lists problems with eyesight or hearing, and muscles getting weaker with age, among the causes of falls. It recommends regular eye tests and hearing checks, because ear problems can affect balance.
The NHS says long-term heavy drinking can damage the part of the brain that controls co-ordination, causing a condition called ataxia. The NHS advises not drinking too much alcohol to lower your risk of falls.
The NHS lists loss of balance and co-ordination among the main symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, along with numbness, tingling and pain in the feet. Diabetes is the most common cause in the UK. Our guide to numb or burning feet covers the causes worth finding.
The NHS lists problems with balance and co-ordination among the nervous-system symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency. Other symptoms include numbness, pins and needles, muscle weakness and memory problems. A blood test can check for it.
The NHS lists balance problems among the symptoms of Parkinson's, which can make a fall more likely. The main symptoms are slowness of movement, stiff muscles and tremor. Our guide to Parkinson's disease treatment explains what treatment can do.
The NHS lists feeling off balance, dizzy or clumsy among the most common symptoms of MS. Others include extreme tiredness, vision problems, and numbness or tingling.
The HSE lists problems with balance and co-ordination among stroke symptoms. Our guide to stroke signs explains what to look for.
The NHS says that if you have had falls, or a GP thinks you are at risk, they will check your balance by asking you to get up and move around. NIDCD suggests going prepared to answer questions like these:
NICE guidance in England covers people aged 65 and over, and people aged 50 to 64 with risk factors. It sets out a full falls assessment after certain falls. That includes people who have fallen twice or more in a year, were injured and needed treatment, or could not get up. The assessment can include:
The NHS says a GP may refer you to a specialist falls service. For inner-ear problems, NIDCD says you may see an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist and an audiologist. Tests can include a hearing test, blood tests, eye-movement tests and brain scans.
The NHS suggests these steps to lower your risk of falling:
NICE recommends a falls prevention exercise programme for people who have fallen and have problems with gait or balance. NIDCD adds that a vestibular rehabilitation therapist can help when inner-ear problems do not fully settle.
Fear of falling can hold people back. If strength and balance exercises have not helped with that fear, NICE says cognitive behavioural approaches can be considered.
Unsteadiness without spinning or faintness can come from weaker muscles, nerve damage in the feet, eyesight problems, medicines or conditions such as Parkinson's. It still deserves a GP check, especially if it is getting worse.
It can be, if it comes on suddenly with other signs such as weakness on one side, a drooping face, slurred speech or vision loss. Call 112 or 999 (911 in the US) straight away.
NIDCD says fear, anxiety or panic can come with balance disorders. International criteria also describe a long-term condition, persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, that can start after an inner-ear problem or psychological distress. But get unsteadiness checked by a GP before putting it down to anxiety.
Yes. The NHS advises seeing a GP if you have had a fall or are worried about your balance. Call 999 if someone may have injured their head, back, neck or hip, or cannot get up.
This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot tell you the cause of your symptoms. If you feel unsteady or have had a fall, see your GP.
Reviewed by: Proco Team
Last updated: November 2026