Vestibular rehabilitation for vertigo, dizziness, and balance disorders

People diagnosed with vestibular (inner ear) disorders may experience problems with vertigo, dizziness or decrease in balance. Vestibular physiotherapy is a specialized form of treatment which first aims to identify if certain vestibular impairments are responsible for the dizziness or loss of balance you are experiencing. BPPV or Benign Positional Paroxysmal Vertigo is a type of vestibular disorder which can be addressed through vestibular rehabilitation.

The first step is an assessment in which the aim is to identify if vestibular rehabilitation can help you. Vestibular rehabilitation for BPPV includes a combination of exercises called canalith repositioning exercises and manual mobilizations such as the Epley and Semont’s maneuver. Another sometime used exercise is called Brandt-Daroff.

When balance has been affected you will also be given specific exercises to address this. An important goal of the treatment is to provide you with the tools and exercises to regain confidence in moving and help you get back to your normal activities.

Another reason why you may experience dizziness

Dizziness can also occur simply as a result of head movements. In normal situations the speed of the client’s eyes have to keep up with their head movements. We call this the vestibular ocular reflex (VOR). In simple terms, when there is a disruption with the mechanism responsible for head and eye movements to work properly ( the VOR) , the disruption in signals can result in dizziness. To treat this, vestibular neuro-adaptation exercises can then help you retrain or restore this reflex and prevent movement induced dizziness.