If you are experiencing symptoms of dizziness, pressure in the ear, nausea, ringing in the ears, chronic headaches, or imbalance, it could be a sign of dysfunction in your Vestibular system. The good news is a therapist can help with Vestibular physical therapy in order to get you back to living your life!
Your Vestibular system controls parts of the inner ear and brain, working to process sensory inputs that impact your feelings of balance and your eye movements. An injury or illness could have caused a disruption in the system resulting in experiencing sensations of dizziness or vertigo. These symptoms extend far beyond a simple annoyance Spooner patients report and could potentially result in being in and in getting around their homes and state of constant imbalance, affecting your social life by limiting the enjoyment of everyday activities.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo or BPPV
One of the most common Vestibular diagnoses is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo or BPPV. Physical therapy has been successful in the treatment of BPPV. Physical therapists treat other Vestibular diagnoses including Vestibular neuritis, labyrinthitis, and dizziness associated with concussions or migraines. Vestibular rehabilitation could dramatically change the systems through a focused treatment plan.
Your Vestibular physical therapy treatment plan will depend on your diagnosis and tolerance level of symptoms. Treating BBPV may include your physical therapist guiding you through canalith repositioning maneuvers, which are a series of head positions focusing on dislodging a calcium crystal from one of the canals in your inner ear. Vestibular physical therapy may also include adaptation or habituation exercises which provide the brain with a method to adapt to existing dysfunction.
Vestibular physical therapy can get you better sooner than you anticipate! For BPPV, rehabilitation may require just a few short therapy sessions focused on repositioning maneuvers. However, if the symptoms are related to another diagnosis, the process may take a few weeks of exercises that gradually progress. These are typically focused on head movement, with a variety of other factors depending on the provocation of symptoms. Most patients will have success with a significant reduction in symptoms or possibly a complete resolution of their symptom after completing Vestibular physical therapy, and drastically improving their quality of life.
If you are experiencing Vestibular symptoms such as dizziness or imbalance, please contact Spooner Physical Therapy to meet with a Vestibular certified therapist at 602-559-9700 or by scheduling an appointment.
Learn more about Vestibular Rehabilitation at Spooner Physical Therapy. Ready to schedule an appointment? Schedule an appointment or complimentary movement screen with a Spooner physical therapist at one of our locations throughout the valley.