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Walking without concentrating, leads to me tripping up!

Suzanne

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
My husband says: you always look at the ground when you walk; try walking tall.

I have good shoes now ( have small feet and as a child and teen, had terrible trouble with footwear), but as soon as I start walking without thinking or concentrating, I trip up.

3 times this morning I did this; so annoying.
 
have you ever got your ears checked? since they have organs necessary for your equilibrium the problem may come from there
 
I also have this problem and have seen both an ear doctor & a neurotologist. Neither could find any problems but was misdiagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and had the Epley Maneuver preformed on me several times to no avail.
Do you have frequent dizziness?
 
A friend of mine "walks tall", if that means, doesn't watch where her feet are going.
This is not a good strategy in the winter, because as she says "and then your head
is hitting the concrete again." This happens to her rather often.

Slipping on the ice.

I definitely watch the ground when I walk outside. Pebbles or broken pieces of
pavement can result in a twisted ankle. I don't want that.

Walking outside wearing shoes is easier to me than walking indoors on carpet wearing
shoes. The texture of carpet under shoes catches, makes me stumble at times.
 
I don't know how people can walk without looking at where they are stepping. I actually realized that I literally can not walk and look around at other things at the same time last summer. We were walking amongst the some geysers in Yellowstone and I would walk and then stop and look. I wanted to look as I walked because everything was so pretty, but, like you, I'd trip up. I'd feel like I was going to fall.
Maybe it's the others that have the problem. lol Quit complaining about stepping on Leggos if you aren't watching where you're walking. LOL
 
I also have this problem and have seen both an ear doctor & a neurotologist. Neither could find any problems but was misdiagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and had the Epley Maneuver preformed on me several times to no avail.
Do you have frequent dizziness?

Ahha! Yes, I do get frequent dizziness.

It is so annoying and hate having to concentrate on my walking.
 
A friend of mine "walks tall", if that means, doesn't watch where her feet are going.
This is not a good strategy in the winter, because as she says "and then your head
is hitting the concrete again." This happens to her rather often.

Slipping on the ice.

I definitely watch the ground when I walk outside. Pebbles or broken pieces of
pavement can result in a twisted ankle. I don't want that.

Walking outside wearing shoes is easier to me than walking indoors on carpet wearing
shoes. The texture of carpet under shoes catches, makes me stumble at times.

Walking tall, I learned means confidence booster. But like you have said: it is for practical reasons.

Happily, we don't have carpets, but do have throw rugs ( I think that is what they are called) and I am always tripping over them.
 
I don't know how people can walk without looking at where they are stepping. I actually realized that I literally can not walk and look around at other things at the same time last summer. We were walking amongst the some geysers in Yellowstone and I would walk and then stop and look. I wanted to look as I walked because everything was so pretty, but, like you, I'd trip up. I'd feel like I was going to fall.
Maybe it's the others that have the problem. lol Quit complaining about stepping on Leggos if you aren't watching where you're walking. LOL

It is horribly unbalancing to walk and look around!
 
I agree. Though in my case, not looking up once directly lead to a painful collision with a lamp post. Whereas, where I live, not looking where I'm going can easily lead to stepping into something the dog left behind.
 
I don't find looking at the ground abnormal at all. Its called paying attention to where you're going so you don't trip and lose your front teeth after face planting.:laughing::fearscream:

Really though, while I do "walk tall" in some sense, I generally revert to watching the ground unless it is absolutely flat and stable with no changes ahead. I do like to observe the environment (I usually pay closest attention to nature) but I can only do that so much without tripping. Just the other day I lifted my head up to look ahead and instantly tripped myself up on a curb, thankfully catching myself before falling. "Walking tall" with your eyes on the horizon incessantly makes no sense to me.
 
People have always told me to walk tall and other such phrases! I always look down without realizing it. I've tried looking up for periods of my life and didn't like it. You see more dumb stuff that way. :)
 
People have tried to get me to walk with my head up instead of looking down. No way. I look up and around enough to be alert for dangers but I’m the one that always finds interesting things on the ground! I’ve found gold rings, coins, $5 bill...
 
@Suzanne
Did your recent diagnosis include Spatual/Geographical dyslexia? (Trouble knowing where your body is in 3D space.) While it isn't a true dyslexia it isn't uncommon for people like us and could explain your frequent dizziness.
 
I never understood how people can walk without seeing where they are stepping.
I often stub my toe into the floor because I can't tell how high I've lifted my foot.
Plus I have neuropathy which makes it worse.
But, having a distinctive walk and tripping up is common with ASD.
We have poor proprioception according to research.

pro·pri·o·cep·tion
(prō'prē-ō-sep'shŭn),
A sense or perception, usually at a subconscious level, of the movements and position of the body and especially its limbs, independent of vision; this sense is gained primarily from input from sensory nerve terminals in muscles and tendons (muscle spindles) and the fibrous capsule of joints combined with input from the vestibular apparatus.
 
@Suzanne
Did your recent diagnosis include Spatual/Geographical dyslexia? (Trouble knowing where your body is in 3D space.) While it isn't a true dyslexia it isn't uncommon for people like us and could explain your frequent dizziness.

No. Although one of the questions was about balance and he wrote what my husband said regarding me always tripping, even on flat areas.

Did not mention dizziness, because I did not know it was associated with me tripping up.

I also find that stairs are an issue. I can see myself falling and so, am hyper careful going down stairs and feel very, very unsafe.
 
I grew up in the country where there are lots of snakes, thorns, etc. I've got a hump at the base of my neck from looking at the ground while I walk. Lol. So, yeah, I can't walk without looking down, inside, outside, everywhere. I get dioriented so to speak while driving at night on a road I've been traveling forever. Thinking home is right around the next bend, but then realizing I wasn't where I thought. Not sure if that's the same thing or not. I've been driving this same road for 25 years, and still miss the turn. but at the same time, I have a great awareness of where the edges of the car are. Still run into or bump into things walking, lol. Stump my toe, or fall slowly over, like I get unbalanced or something, it's really funny in a way, but aggravating. I've ran into doors, tripped on flat surfaces, and if someone is in front of me while walking and stop, that's dangerous. My brakes don't work that fast.
 
I grew up in the country where there are lots of snakes, thorns, etc. I've got a hump at the base of my neck from looking at the ground while I walk. Lol. So, yeah, I can't walk without looking down, inside, outside, everywhere. I get dioriented so to speak while driving at night on a road I've been traveling forever. Thinking home is right around the next bend, but then realizing I wasn't where I thought. Not sure if that's the same thing or not. I've been driving this same road for 25 years, and still miss the turn. but at the same time, I have a great awareness of where the edges of the car are. Still run into or bump into things walking, lol. Stump my toe, or fall slowly over, like I get unbalanced or something, it's really funny in a way, but aggravating. I've ran into doors, tripped on flat surfaces, and if someone is in front of me while walking and stop, that's dangerous. My brakes don't work that fast.
DITTO. :) And kids are the worse for stopping short. They're small, you'd think you'd see them better. lol
 
DITTO. :) And kids are the worse for stopping short. They're small, you'd think you'd see them better. lol

YES!!! And I'm sort of tall, so my knee always caught them and about knocked them over. Hilarious, but Soooo sad at the same time. Scoop them up in my arms laughing and cuddling them and apologizing, while they are crying profusely and trying to figure out "what the heck is wrong with this woman! She knocked me over now she's laughing about it???"", "I don't know whether to cry or laugh, or stare at her!" " MOM!!" "Please!!" :D :| :p
 

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