Is Your Medication Affecting Your Mobility? PT Can Help
Many people don’t realize that certain medications—whether taken alone or in combination—can impact mobility, increase fall risk, or even contribute to muscle weakness and dizziness. Unfortunately, these side effects are often overlooked until they start interfering with daily life.
I’m Lauren Masi, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. I’m also the owner and Clinical Services Director of Bay Area Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy. Today, we’re going to talk about how your medication might affect your mobility.
This is a topic that doctors often don’t bring up until it’s too late. That’s why we wanted to draw your attention to how certain medications can affect your movement and your overall health. If you’re taking medications and you are starting to notice any weird symptoms in your mobility, you should consider what we’re about to talk about today.
Taking More Than 3 Medications at a Time Can Increase Your Risk of Falls
One thing that we know that is backed by research is, if you are on more than three medications at a time, any three medications, you are at a higher risk of falls. And that’s because there are different, small interactions that can happen between medications that can be present differently in people. It’s important to be aware that this is a risk factor for falls.
We never want you to be on more medications than you absolutely need to be. A big disclaimer here: I am not a medical doctor, and I’m also not a pharmacist. My intention here is to make sure that you have as much information as you need to be able to go back to your medical providers if you have questions.
It’s important to understand the risks so that you know what you can do to help mitigate them over time. Some of the medications you’re on might lead to neuropathy, or numbness and tingling; but what we have to consider is that these medications might be needed for other, more significant medical problems. And if that’s the case, we’ll have to figure out how to manage the symptoms that are affecting your movement.
How Physical Therapy Can Help if You Take Multiple Medications
Now, how would physical therapy help with something like that? Well, the balance system actually has three components, one of which is the nerve endings in our feet and our joints. These nerves tell us where we are in space, and that’s called proprioception. That is the one that can be affected due to neuropathy, and which can impact your movement.
The other two main systems that help with balance are our vision and our inner ears. In physical therapy, we can work on different balance activities that can strengthen those other two systems if the neuropathy is caused by necessary medications and can’t be helped.
Some Antibiotics Can Lead to Increased Risk of Tendon Tears
Another thing to consider when it comes to medications is, we do know that some antibiotics can lead to an increased risk of tendon tears. I’m not going to give you all the specific names of every antibiotic which can do this. I will say that you should be aware of the quinolone family of antibiotics. Some of the most common ones you might hear of are Cipro and Levofloxacin.
Again, I’m not a pharmacist, and I can’t tell you if there are any alternatives that you might be able to take instead of those, depending on what you need them for. But if you are prescribed those medications, you can ask your doctor if there is an alternative.
I know that one of those medications is often recommended for patients who have pneumonia, so it can be seen as the lesser of two evils. But if you’re taking an antibiotic and you start to notice any tendon type pains, it may be a symptom of taking that class of medications.
Some Blood Pressure Medications Can Lead to Increased Risk of Dizziness & Vertigo
In some situations, medication is needed to control our blood pressure. But blood pressure medications can lead to an increased risk of dizziness and vertigo.
Your doctor has likely told you to improve your diet to try to control your blood pressure. You should follow those recommendations and regularly check in with your doctor to see if you still need to be on blood pressure medication.
This is because once you start making lifestyle changes to decrease your blood pressure, they’ll start working—but if you’re still taking the blood pressure medication, then you’re medically decreasing a blood pressure level that isn’t too high. This can cause symptoms like light headedness and dizziness because, at that point, your blood pressure will start to be too low.
Reach Out to Bay Area Physical Therapy for Expert Support
These are a few things to consider if you’ve recently started taking a new medication and you’re noticing these symptoms all of a sudden. Keep in mind that a possible change in your mobility or ability to function in life could be tied to your medications, and if that happens, it’s important that you follow up with your doctor.
If you have any other questions, please reach out to Bay Area Physical Therapy. For a little bit more information, please visit our other blogs on reducing the risk of falls and treating vertigo with physical therapy.