Dizziness is one of the most common reasons people visit a doctor, and one of the most frequently dismissed. Many are told it is their blood pressure, their age, or stress, and sent home without a plan. Vestibular therapy is a specialized form of physical therapy that treats the inner ear system responsible for balance, and it resolves symptoms that often have no other obvious cause. Learn how the vestibular system works, which conditions it treats, how to tell whether you are a candidate, and what treatment involves.
What Is Vestibular Therapy?
The vestibular system sits in the inner ear and works with your eyes and the rest of your body to keep you upright and feeling balanced. It tells your brain where your head and body are in space. When it is not working properly, the result is dizziness, unsteadiness, or both.
Vestibular therapy retrains that system. Rather than masking symptoms, it uses specific exercises to help the brain adapt to faulty signals, compensate for lost function, or resolve the mechanical problem causing the symptoms. A great many people have an impaired vestibular system without knowing it, which is why dizziness so often goes untreated for years.
Which Conditions Does Vestibular Therapy Treat?
The Recovery Project treats a wide range of vestibular conditions, including:
- BPPV, also known as positional vertigo
- Labyrinthitis, vestibular neuritis, and Meniere’s disease
- Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, known as PPPD
- Cervicogenic dizziness, which originates in the neck
- Post-concussion-related dizziness and balance deficits
- Central vestibular dysfunction related to traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, or stroke
- Age-related vestibular hypofunction
- Convergence insufficiency
- Mal de débarquement syndrome
- Superior canal dehiscence syndrome
The range matters, because these conditions respond to very different treatments. BPPV can often be resolved in a small number of sessions with a repositioning maneuver, while central dysfunction after a brain injury needs a longer program of retraining.
What Symptoms Suggest a Vestibular Problem?
Vestibular disorders produce more symptoms than most people expect, and they are not all about spinning. Common signs include:
- Vertigo and dizziness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Sensitivity to movement or changes in position
- Imbalance or spatial disorientation
- Lightheadedness
- Visual blurring, discomfort, or sensitivity
- Ear pain or a feeling of fullness
- Headaches
- Neck pain
The visual and neck symptoms are the ones most often missed, because people do not connect them to the inner ear.
How Do You Know If You Are a Candidate?
There is a straightforward way to find out. The Dizziness Handicap Inventory is a short questionnaire that measures how much your dizziness is affecting your daily life. It is free, it takes a few minutes, and it produces a score.
A score of 31 to 60 indicates a moderate handicap. A score of 61 to 100 indicates a severe one. Either result is worth following up with your doctor or a vestibular therapist. The Recovery Project links to a downloadable copy of the questionnaire on its vestibular rehabilitation page.
What Treatments Are Used?
Vestibular therapy is highly specific, and the treatment depends on the diagnosis. Techniques include:
- Adaptation and gaze stability training, which retrains the connection between the eyes and the inner ear
- Optokinetic and habituation training, which gradually reduces sensitivity to movement
- Substitution and compensatory strategies, which teach the body to rely on other systems for balance
- BPPV maneuvers and the canalith repositioning procedure
- Convergence re-training for visual focusing problems
- Cervical proprioception re-training where the neck is contributing
- Balance and endurance training
- Virtual reality rehabilitation using the Virtualis trainer
Treatment is also available by telehealth, which suits people who find travelling difficult while symptomatic.
Vestibular Therapy in Michigan
The Recovery Project has therapists with advanced training and certification in vestibular disorders, and its vestibular rehabilitation program provides comprehensive evaluation as well as treatment. Clinics are located in Livonia, Clinton Township, and Lansing, and availability varies by location. Wellness programs are available once formal therapy ends, so balance and endurance work can continue.
Dizziness Is Treatable More Often Than People Think
Living with dizziness is exhausting, and it narrows life quickly as people stop driving, stop going out, and stop moving in case it triggers symptoms. Most vestibular conditions respond well to the right treatment. If dizziness or unsteadiness is affecting your daily life, call The Recovery Project at 855.877.1944 to arrange an evaluation.