Vertigo is a pervasive feeling of spinning even when you’re standing still. The feeling can lead to dizziness, loss of balance, nausea, and vomiting. Other common symptoms include trouble focusing, ringing in the ears, and hearing loss. Common triggers of the condition include standing up too quickly, bending forward or backward, turning over in bed, and certain foods and drinks.
At least 40% of Americans experience vertigo at least once in their lifetimes. For chronic or persistent vertigo, Salmon Creek physical therapy may help reduce the severity of the condition and its symptoms.
Get Yourself Moving Again
Professionals in physical therapy jobs near me can help vertigo patients get moving again. A therapist may use a series of head and neck movements to help readjust and realign the body. Also, using vestibular rehabilitation therapy and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo exercises.
Vestibular therapy focuses on exercises like habituation, gaze stability, and balance retraining to help with dizziness and balance issues. A comprehensive program can help patients improve their ability to bend, reach, walk, sit and turn. Most vertigo patients experience improvements after 12 weeks.
BPPV exercises include the epley maneuver, Brandt-Daroff exercise, and semont maneuver. The goal of BPPV is to move calcium carbonate particles from the semicircular canals to the utricle, where they are supposed to be. BPPV is a specific type of vertigo and is often temporary.
Physical therapists will choose the treatment method based on your specific type of vertigo and your symptoms. After several initial visits, the therapist may teach you the movements so you may continue to exercise at home. You want to be careful not to overdo it alone, as you may worsen symptoms or cause injury.
Manage Your Symptoms More Effectively
Oregon City physical therapy that uses VRT is typically trying to help patients manage their symptoms and learn how to live with recurring bouts of vertigo. A critical aspect of VRT is habituation. A therapist determines which movements or environments create or trigger vertigo symptoms. Then, they intentionally trigger the vertigo with these moves in a progressive program.
Through repeated exposure to the trigger and symptoms, the patient becomes accustomed to the sensations. Given enough time and repetition, patients can learn to minimize and manage their symptoms. Still, despite the positive outcome, some patients are reluctant to expose themselves purposely to vertigo symptoms, especially when those symptoms include nausea.
A licensed and experienced physical therapist will not expose a patient to something with the sole purpose of discomfort. Still, with some cases of vertigo, exposure therapy is the best way to reduce symptoms and possibly eliminate triggers.
Vertigo is a relatively common condition that nearly half of Americans will experience at some point in their lives. It is not a comfortable problem but manageable with the proper treatment and therapy. Contact a local physical therapy office to schedule a consultation. You can also inquire about the potential treatment options and the overall temporariness or permanence of the condition. Many people don’t experience long-term vertigo.