Do you find that when you are doing tasks throughout the day that you experience bouts of dizziness? Is it difficult for you to focus on doing one activity for extended periods of time? If you feel lightheaded, nauseous, and tired at various times throughout the day, you may be suffering from vertigo. If so, the good news is that we here at Back to Motion Physical Therapy are able to help. We can evaluate you and determine if you are suffering from this condition and – if so – we can help in creating a customized treatment plan that will allow you to find much-needed relief. In some instances, this relief can be achieved in minutes!
What is Vertigo?
Vertigo is a type of dizziness that results in the sufferer feeling a sense of spinning. It makes you feel as if you or the surroundings around you are moving when – in fact – they are not. This condition often stems from inner ear issues or issues with the brain, itself. Patients that experience vertigo often state that they feel as if they are falling or are whirling around. These sensations lead to loss of balance, vomiting, nausea, and more serious balance issues – such as the onset of Benign Positional Vertigo (BPPV), Meniere’s disease, migraines, and infections.
What are the Most Common Symptoms of Vertigo?
While we have touched upon the main symptoms associated with vertigo, the list below is a comprehensive list of the most common symptoms experienced with vertigo:
- Sensation of Motion and/or Spinning
- Unsteadiness
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Difficulty Focusing the Eyes
- Abnormal Eye Movements
- Double Vision
- Ringing in the ears/Tinnitus
- Ears Feeling Full
- Hearing Loss
- Headaches
- Sweating
Symptoms That Could Indicate an Emergency
If you have vertigo and you experience certain symptoms, you should seek emergency medical care immediately. The following outlines these symptoms:
- Sudden Headache That is Severe
- Sudden Chest Pain
- Double Vision
- Loss of Vision
- Fainting
- Seizures
- Trouble Breathing
- Weakness, Numbness, or Tingling in Either an Arm or a Leg
- Problems Talking
- Slurred Speech
- Stumbling
- Not Moving Right or Loss of Movement
- Trouble Walking
- Confusion
What are the Most Common Causes of Vertigo?
There are many common causes behind the development of vertigo. In order for a physical therapist to help a person suffering from vertigo, they must determine what is causing the issue. The following outlines a few potential causes:
- BPPV – For all intents and purposes, BPPV is typically a case of an inner ear infection. It happens when tiny calcium particles that are called “canaliths” start to clump up in the ear canals. The inner ear is directly responsible for sending gravitational messages up to the brain that relates to the movements of the body. This is how we remain balanced. If the inner canals of the ear are blocked, the right messages can’t get to the brain. It is then that we experience the feeling of being unbalanced.
- Meniere’s Disease – This is a disorder that impacts the inner ear. It is caused from fluid buildup. In turn, this fluid causes pressures to fluctuate within the ear. The fluid and the pressure block the messages from entering the brain. This causes an imbalance. In addition to weird sensations, this condition can also cause ringing in the ears, which is medically referred to as “Tinnitus”. In extreme cases, this could result in the development of hearing loss.
- Vestibular Neuritis – This is also more commonly termed “labyrinthitis”. This is also an ear infection, but it is caused by a virus, not bacteria or fungus. The inner ear and all of the nerves that surround it become inflamed and swell up. As a result, there are issues in the proper messages reaching the brain.
- Less Common Causes – While the above-listed causes are the most common, there are fewer common causes behind vertigo. These include an injury that occurs to the head and/or neck, migraines, brain tumor, stroke, medications.
What is the Prognosis of Vertigo?
In many cases, vertigo is an issue that is capable of going away on its own. Then again, there are cases that are capable of progressing and worsening as time progresses. If you want to experience the best prognosis possible, you should consult with a physical therapist as quickly as possible.
How Does Physical Therapy Help Those with Vertigo?
According to medical documentation, physical therapy is the standard treatment for people that have vertigo. We here at Back to Motion Physical Therapy are trained to aid in alleviating vertigo symptoms that our patients may be experiencing. If you make an appointment with our team, the next step would be meeting with one of our licensed, insured, and thoroughly trained physical therapist to determine the details of your condition. Any information that will be obtained during the interview will help the professional to create a customized treatment plan for your condition.
Then, the physical therapist will perform an assortment of tests to determine the underlying cause of the vertigo that you are experiencing. Once a culprit has been identified, the therapist will figure out how to resolve the vertigo that you are experiencing. The treatment that you are provided with may include movements of the head and/or the neck. If the issue continues after the movements of the head and/or the neck, a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of vertigo.
What are the Goals of Physical Therapy?
When you meet with a physical therapist for treatment for vertigo, the following goals are put into place:
- Improving Visual Disturbances That Occur with Head Movements
- Improving Balance – Both Dynamic and Static
- Decreasing the Risk of Falls
- Reducing Dizziness
- Resolving Any Type of Positional-Based Vertigo
- Increasing the Ability to Engage in Functional and/or Social Activities
- Improving the Overall Fitness
Exercises in Physical Therapy
Physical therapists will encourage patients with vertigo to engage in certain types of exercises. These are designed to assist those who have dizzy spells and experience instability of the posture. The principles of these exercises are based on adaptation, habituation, and/or substation. It has been established that if the recovery of the gaze returns with these exercises, stability of the posture will return. This is because the vestibular system of the body is capable of adapting to the response to the stimuli.
If you are a patient that experiences dizziness and motion dizziness, the physical therapist will prescribe habituation-based exercises. These types of exercises are prescribed to decrease the patient’s response to direct stimuli that they are exposed to. Other exercises may be ordered to directly address any impairments that negatively impact the patient’s stability. An example would be decreased lower body flexibility and/or strength.
How Often Would a Patient with Vertigo Have to Go to Physical Therapy?
Unfortunately, there is no single time frame for physical therapy for patients that suffer from vertigo. The frequency as well as the overall duration of the treatment will depend heavily on the patient and their associated pathology. The PT will create a program that includes both in-house and at-home exercises that can be performed. During each in-house visit with the physical therapist, the therapist will assess how the patient is responding to treatment and if it is well, it will be moved to full home program exercises.
Contact Us Today
We here at Back to Motion Physical Therapy have been assisting patients with vertigo for many years. Our practice integrated the newest and the most advanced approaches and treatments for those that have vertigo. We believe in restoring each patient to optimal health and making sure that we offer a highly comprehensive approach. Our evaluation is a multi-system one that places an emphasis on mobilization of the joints, a whole-body focus, and a global physical therapy approach.
Services
Back to Motion Physical Therapy offers many unique services to our patients. These include
It does not matter what is causing your problem, we here at Back to Motion Physical Therapy have the solution. It is important to understand that each person’s issue with vertigo is unique and when meeting with one of our physical therapists, an interview and an evaluation will be conducted so that the best customized treatment plan may be created. If you have special needs due to other health conditions, please inform our team as soon as you are able to.
Products
In addition to having a customized care plan put into place, we offer a couple of different products that you may benefit from utilizing. These include BioFreeze and the Flexi-Freeze cold pack for the contour space of the neck. Studies show that patients that have BPPV and/or other types of vestibular disorders will benefit immensely from physical therapy. You no longer have to get a referral for physical therapy. Simply visit our website or give us a call today to set up a personalized appointment for evaluation so that we may create a care plan: