Vertigo, general dizziness, balance problems, frequent falls, nausea, feeling light-headed, motion sickness: what do all these things have in common? They are all symptoms that may be associated with a vestibular (inner ear) disorder.
There are many possible causes of dizziness, but a large percentage of cases are caused by dysfunction of the vestibular system. Damage to our inner ear affects the nerve signals being communicated to the brain, often impacting a patient’s sense of balance, motion, and space.
Vestibular therapy services are offered at all of our outpatient clinics, where there is always a therapist on-site who specializes in vestibular therapy techniques. Each therapy program is dictated by an initial evaluation, and our team is highly skilled at providing quality care and symptom relief to patients of all ages.
Because each person’s symptoms will be different, therapy is specifically designed to meet each individual’s needs. Much of vestibular therapy includes exercise-based, manual techniques to correct abnormalities and provide relief from symptoms.
Our physical therapists are able to help patients:
Many vestibular patients are reassured by the techniques and treatments prescribed by their physical therapists. It can be comforting to know that these disorienting symptoms are able to be treated quickly by therapists, in a painless and noninvasive manner.
Techniques like Epley’s maneuver are specific, strategic movements of the head and upper body that can be used to prevent dizziness. Often used in BPPV patients, vertigo and dizziness can sometimes be corrected in 2-3 therapy sessions when performed successfully.
Supervised movement of the head and eyes can improve a patient’s tolerance to motion. Gaze stabilization exercises can help people maintain optimal vision while their head is moving.
These types of exercises improve function of the vestibular system, while addressing balance loss. Balance training includes movement while standing still (static) as well as dynamic gait training.
The specialists in our vestibular therapy program often treat general dysfunction of the vestibular system, meaning it is not working well enough to the extent that it has started to affect a person's quality of life. This can occur after damage to the inner ear or the central nervous system itself, specifically parts of the brain that process vestibular information.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV as it is often referred, is the most common diagnosis made in Catholic Health’s vestibular program. Most people have tiny crystals of calcium that normally reside within our inner ear canals. If these crystals become displaced, small as they are, they can affect our perceptions of balance and motion. Fortunately, this condition is extremely treatable with manual repositioning techniques.
Neuritis can be compared to BPPV by how an abnormality within the inner ear causes uncomfortable symptoms for the patient. Neuritis is an inflammation of the inner ear that is indicated by intense episodes of dizziness and nausea that can last anywhere from several minutes to a few hours. Occasionally, neuritis will also cause hearing loss, and then the condition is known as labyrinthitis. Both neuritis and labyrinthitis are treated with medication to reduce inflammation, and PT exercises for symptom management.
A concussion is a small traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting from a blunt force or trauma to the head. In some cases, concussion patients may experience symptoms that are normally treated in vestibular therapy, like vertigo, dizziness, and imbalance. A vestibular therapist can conduct a clinical exam for a concussion patient to determine if therapy could potentially manage concussion symptoms.
A vestibular migraine is not the most common diagnosis, but it is often characterized when a patient’s episodes of dizziness last remarkably long, from hours to days. It is frequently seen in female patients, or those who have a history of suffering migraine headaches. During an episode, patients are often sensitive to light and sound, and sometimes get an aura that an episode is coming on, just like a regular migraine.
There are many vestibular disorders that are either less common or more general in nature. Catholic Health has experts prepared to help you with your vestibular condition, no matter how challenging.
