Vestibular Rehabilitation Program
Forty percent of people over the age of 40 experience dizziness or balance problems at some point in their life. There are many causes for dizziness, but a large percentage is caused by an imbalance or loss within the peripheral vestibular system.
Our physical therapists treat patients with dizziness and/or imbalance resulting from disorders including:
- BPPV
- Otolith Dysfunction
- Vestibular Labyrinthitis
- Acoustic Neuroma
- Ototoxicity
- Meniere’s Syndrome
- Neurologic Disorders (stroke, brain injury, multiple sclerosis)
Vestibular Rehabilitation
Vestibular Rehabilitation is a specific form of physical therapy designed to promote habituation and compensation for deficits related to a wide variety of balance disorders. This Rehabilitation is effective in improving the functional deficits and subjective symptoms resulting from unilateral and bilateral peripheral vestibular hypofunction as well as from central balance disorders. It is a systematic, individually designed regimen of exercises and activities that address the unique needs of individual patients.
Goals of Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy
The goals of Vestibular Rehabilitation are to improve balance, minimize falls, and decrease the subjective sensation of dizziness by improving vestibular function and promoting mechanisms of central adaptation and compensation. By decreasing frequency, intensity, and duration of vertigo your related symptoms such as headache, nausea, and lightheadedness are decreased and your independence in daily life is increased.
The process of compensation depends on a variety of mechanisms, including substitution strategies, prediction strategies and cognitive strategies, which combined will result in a progressive waning of symptoms of imbalance, disequilibrium, and motion-induced unsteadiness. When compensation occurs for a vestibular deficit, the remaining Central Nervous System processes allow sufficient control of eye, head, and body movements to maintain stable gaze, posture, and position.
Vestibular Rehabilitation also takes advantage of the adaptive characteristics of the Central Nervous System to reestablish homeostasis within the vestibular system. This results in increased Vestibular Ocular Reflex accuracy, refinement of oculomotor skills, improvement in postural control, and utilization of appropriate movement strategies. Adaptation serves to extinguish symptoms of dizziness provoked by motion or visual stimulation.
Components of Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy Program
Our effective Vestibular Rehabilitation program uses a team of healthcare providers to assess and treat patients with balance disorders. Our team consists of a physician trained in the evaluation and treatment of balance disorders, physical therapist trained in balance testing and vestibular therapy, and an occupational therapist.
Diagnosis
The accurate diagnosis and assessment of a patient is critical for a successful individualized Vestibular Rehabilitation program. The diagnosis includes the assessment of functional abilities such as gait, ambulation with head movement, balance with altered sensory cues, and balance under static (eg, sitting, standing) and dynamic condition.
Our Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physician does a complete evaluation of the your medical history and detailed history of the balance symptoms. The clinician elicits a clear description of the type of symptoms experienced by the patient (eg, vertigo, imbalance, disequilibrium, presyncopal sensations, gait ataxia) and the frequency and duration of the symptoms. Specific activities, head or body positions that provoke symptoms should be determined.
Treatment
Using the result of this evaluation, our physical therapist will develop an individualized treatment plan that will include exercises to be performed both in the therapy department and at home and that combine specific head and body movements with eye exercises. Many times, treatment may also include increasing activities and exercise in order to strengthen muscles and increase tolerance for certain stimuli. The customized rehabilitation program will be designed to ameliorate symptoms and restore function. Patient education is stressed to facilitate patient understanding. Physical therapists maintain communication with the physician to ensure complete care of the patient.