Winter is coming…. (cue the appropriately themed Game of Thrones music)
December 15, 2020
Do you ever experience dizziness, or the sensation that the room is spinning? Do you ever feel that you are tilting or swaying? Do you feel nauseous or even have ringing in your ears? If you answered yes to one or more of these symptoms, you may have a vestibular issue.
Your vestibular system is a physical network including parts of your inner ear, your brain and nerves that connect the two. Your brain uses the information provided by the vestibular system to help keep your balance and give you the ability to see clearly when you move your body including your head/neck and eyes.
Vestibular dysfunction can occur from a variety of problems including inner ear conditions, viral infection, or head injury.
The most common vestibular dysfunction is BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo). BPPV is a dysfunction of the inner ear caused by a collection of tiny calcium particles. These particles stimulate the hairs in the inner ear with specific positional changes of the head causing faulty information to be send to the brain. This process causes vertigo symptoms which are typically short in duration.
What is Vestibular Physiotherapy?
Vestibular physiotherapy can help diminish dizziness and balance problems and can typically resolve symptoms within a few visits. This treatment uses specific assessment and treatment techniques along with vestibular rehabilitation exercises to help your system recover and rebalance.
Treatment could very easily consist of specific positioning maneuvers to position the calcium particles in your inner ear or may require a specific set of exercises to improve balance and walking, train hand-eye coordination, and reduce dizziness and vertigo-related symptoms.
If you or someone you know is dealing with a vestibular issue, give our clinic a call for an assessment and we’d be more than happy to help get you back on track.
