What is vestibular rehabilitation?
The vestibular system is a part of your inner ear that helps you to control balance. When it has been injured you may experience dizziness, vertigo and/or balance issues.
The term dizziness refers to a range of uncomfortable sensations, including feeling light-headed, feeling faint, losing your normal sense of balance, feeling woozy and having a false feeling of your body spinning around or moving to one side. The term vertigo refers more specifically to a false sense of spinning or sideways movement.
Who can benefit from vestibular rehabilitation?
The most important start is to ensure a thorough assessment to achieve a correct diagnosis. Once our vestibular physiotherapists have reached a diagnosis, an individualised treatment plan will be developed tailored to your needs and appropriate treatment and a home exercise program will be provided to help you achieve your goals as quickly as possible.
What are possible diagnoses that vestibular rehabilitation can detect?
- Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV): caused by calcium crystals oating in the ear that cause bouts of vertigo on changing positions (e.g. getting out of bed)
- Labyrinthitis/Vestibular Neuritis: inflammation of the inner ear
- Perilymphatic Fistula: caused by intense pressure in inner ear, or a blow to the head, which results in a hole between middle and inner ear
- Acoustic Neuroma (Vestibular Schwannoma): slow-growing tumour of the eighth cranial nerve which can be corrected by surgery
- Meniere’s Disease: over-accumulation of fluid in the inner ear that causes attacks of vertigo, ringing in the ear and fluctuant hearing loss
- Vestibular Migraine: dizziness associated with the auras of a migraine headache
- Peripheral Hypofunction: Loss of balance and dizziness often associated with aging and alcoholism/drug induced ototoxicity
- Central Vestibular Disorders: Balance and dizziness following central lesions following events such as stroke or traumatic brain injury
- Mal de Debarquement Syndrome: produces disorientation in the aftermath of traveling in a boat, airplane, train or car
Vestibular rehabilitation is available at Baldivis, Busselton, Canning Vale, Cockburn, Midland, Spearwood and Point Cook.