What is Vertigo ?
Vertigo is actually a symptom as opposed to a condition itself. It is an unpleasant physical sensation that is often described as feeling like you are spinning, tilting and off balance. In addition to this unpleasant sensation, it can also cause a number of additional symptoms, including sweating, nausea, headaches, dizziness and vomiting to name just a few.
Many people experience a loss of balance, which makes it difficult to stand or walk. Symptoms can be very severe in many people and can persist for several days, making it a very debilitating condition. In fact, vertigo is often recurrent for many people—lasting years—especially for those with Ménière’s disease.
Vertigo is most often caused by a problem with the way the inner ear manages balance, but there are other causes as well, including BPPV, migraines and certain inner ear infections.
Non-Medical Treatment
Physical therapy for vertigo is called vestibular rehabilitation and treatment varies depending on the cause of your dizziness. Physical therapy has a very high success rate in treating dizziness in many individuals. 90% of individuals with BPPV will be cured within 3 treatments. Treatment may include ergonomic assessment, soft tissue treatment, medical acupuncture, balance and proprioceptive exercises.
Individuals with reduced balance often develop secondary symptoms due to these new patterns of movement, such as headache, neck ache, muscle stiffness, general fatigue, and a reduction in the ability to retrain the brain to adjust to the vestibular problem, hence making the dizziness much worse.
Here at Elite Performance Therapy we can also help with these secondary symptoms