Is Dizziness a Problem For You?

Dizziness and balance problems account for 5 to 10 percent of all physician visits and affect approximately 50 percent of all adults at some time. Causes are varied and all patients should have a medical assessment prior to starting physiotherapy.

Common Causes:

Common causes of dizziness can be due to Cardiovascular issues, neurological dysfunctions, visual deficits, psychogenic issues (anxiety, depressions). It can also be due to vestibular system disorders:

• BPPV-Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
• Head Trauma (whiplash) -a frequent cause of vestibular disorder in people under age 50.
• Vestibular system degeneration-primarily in an elderly population
• Ear infections and inner ear infections
• Ototoxicity-high dosage or long term use of certain antibiotics
• Barotrauma- scuba diving-pressure/miners
• Vascular insufficiency

Vestibular Rehabilitation Services:

During your vestibular assessment, we will be looking into many different areas to determine what may be causing your symptoms. This thorough assessment will involve looking at the vestibular system (inner ear), your balance, neck, and eye movements among other things. These assessments will often take approximately 90 minutes as there is usually more testing involved compared to a standard musculoskeletal assessment.

Our goal for your vestibular assessment is to determine what is causing your dizziness or imbalance in order to provide you with an appropriate treatment plan to get you back on your feet. Treatment techniques and/or vestibular exercises will provided and structured specifically to your needs based on your limitations. See Vestibular.org for more information.