What is Vestibular Rehabilitation?
Your vestibular system includes parts of your inner ear that communicate with your brain. The vestibular system helps control balance and eye movements. If your vestibular system is affected, you will experience symptoms of dizziness, vertigo, and/or poor balance. Patients who experience systems of vestibular dysfunction will benefit from a type of physical therapy called “Vestibular Rehab”.
Who would benefit from Vestibular Rehabilitation?
Patients with symptoms such as:
- Dizziness
- Vertigo (room spinning sensation) especially with head movements or position changes
- Difficulty walking in busy visual environments (ie grocery stores)
- Poor balance.
Patients who have been diagnosed with one of the following:
- BPPV
- Vestibular neuritis
- Labyrinthitis
- Vestibular migraine
- Post-concussion dizziness
- Meniere’s disease
- Cervicogenic dizziness
What to expect during a physical therapy evaluation:
- Subjective interview to discuss dizziness/balance symptoms in great detail
- Neurological and musculoskeletal exam
- Oculomotor exam (assessing eye movements with head movements)
- BPPV/vertigo positional testing
- Balance exam
What to expect during treatment:
(Depending on your diagnosis, your treatment may consist of one or several of the following)
- Patient education
- Repositioning techniques (for BPPV – typically requires only 1-2 visits for full recovery of symptoms)
- Habituation exercises
- Balance exercises
- Gaze Stabilization exercises (simple eye/head movement exercises)
