Vertigo, dizziness, and balance issues affect millions of people every year. If you have ever had an episode of vertigo, you know how debilitating It can be in your day-to-day life. Did you know that a specialized type of Physical Therapy can significantly decrease the symptoms of dizziness, vertigo, or balance difficulties? It is called vestibular rehabilitation. This is a specialized type of physical therapy designed specifically for these types of problems. Let’s first discuss the role of your vestibular system. Your vestibular system is a part of your nervous system. Its primary role is to tell the brain where the head is oriented in space. The vestibular system has multiple components; however, the primary component is the inner ear. The signals come from the inner ear via the vestibulocochlear nerve. This nerve talks to the brain, spinal cord, and thalamus. These central nervous system centers control our perception, whole-body balance, and eye movements.
When the vestibular system is not working correctly, you can experience multiple symptoms, including dizziness. Dizziness can be redefined as lightheadedness, spinning, floating, woozy, whirling, and a general feeling of instability. Your episodes can happen at any time and anywhere: standing, sitting, or lying down.
Often, positional changes, quick movements, and walking in stores or busy places can stimulate dizziness. When your vestibular system is not functioning correctly, it can leave you feeling nauseous and unsteady. So, what causes our vestibular system to malfunction? Your vestibular system can naturally weaken as you age. Balance difficulties can start when our eyesight or hearing starts to diminish. Vestibular system malfunctions are often coupled with medical diagnoses, including Parkinson’s Disease, Meniere’s disease, head trauma, stroke, migraines, and many more. Dizziness and balance difficulties are also side effects of many medications. We know that vestibular disorders can significantly impact and diminish a person’s quality of life. The great news is that vestibular rehabilitation can significantly decrease your symptoms and give you your life back.
Vestibular rehabilitation is a specialized form of physical therapy that focuses on vestibular issues, including vertigo, nystagmus, balance, and dizziness. There are multiple ways that physical therapy can decrease your symptoms through adaptation, desensitization, and/or substitution. With adaptation, your central nervous system (CNS) adapts to imbalanced stimuli by using gaze stabilization exercises. These exercises include keeping your eyes on an object and moving your head in multiple directions. You can also keep your head steady and follow an object with your gaze. These exercises are great for those who have vision difficulties like nystagmus or jumping vision when viewing objects. Desensitization exercises are when your physical therapist places you in specific positions to realign the otoliths in your inner ear. The otoliths are tiny crystals that are found in your utricle or your inner ear. When the otoliths free float outside of your utricle, dizziness
and loss of balance will occur. The dizziness can be bad enough to stimulate nausea and vomiting. The PT will perform an Epley maneuver to realign the crystals. This maneuver can solve the problem in as little as two treatments. Finally, substitution is performed when one or more of your sensory systems is damaged or lost. This happens with the natural aging process. These exercises strengthen the remaining equilibrium sensory components.
Vestibular Rehab is typically done in an outpatient setting. It is essential to realize that these exercises can initially intensify your symptoms short term. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, vestibular rehabilitation usually clears up in 3-4 weeks. Rehabilitation can be self-directed or in the care of a specialty trained Physical Therapist. Your Physical therapist will complete a comprehensive evaluation of your health history and evaluate and treat you based on your symptoms and specialty test. These tests will provide your physical therapist with the information needed to know what type of treatment will best suit your needs. They will then provide you with a customized exercise plan based on your evaluation findings. Treatment will include either Adaptation, Desensitization, or substitution. Compliance with your exercise-based plan is essential for a full recovery. At the end of your treatment, you should expect improved balance, decreased dizziness, decreased risk of falling, improved vision stability, and improved confidence.
So what do you do now? The first step is finding a specialized Physical Therapist for vestibular disorders. You can start the process immediately by calling to schedule your initial evaluation at 585-482-5060. Sarah Jane Carlton, PT, DPT, MFA, and Nicole Lanzafame, PT, DPT, are our specialized Physical therapists at Wellness 360. They can evaluate and treat all levels of vestibular disorders and balance issues. Our team at Wellness 360 supports the needs of most diagnoses, including but not limited to Parkinson’s Disease, balance and fall prevention, osteoporosis, pre and post-surgery, neurological disorders, ataxia, low back pain, neck pain, and more. You can check out more at www.wellness360fitness.com.