Top Benefits of Vestibular Rehabilitation for Balance and Dizziness Issues 

Balance and dizziness issues can make you feel unsteady while going about your daily routines. Walking, squatting, or standing can become difficult and/or painful at times. These sensations might cause concern for your vestibular system, the portion of your inner ear that aids stability within the body. However, there's a silver lining. Vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT), a specialized form of physiotherapy, can assist. 

Here are the benefits of vestibular rehabilitation therapy for balance and dizziness. 

What is the Vestibular System? 

The vestibular system is a small part of the inner ear, but it does a lot. Like an internal GPS, it constantly relays information about where one is and where one is going from the inner ear to the brain. 

When the vestibular system is damaged and does not operate effectively, the brain is confused about what it hears from the inner ear and, consequently, what it relays back. This confusion leads to symptoms that make people feel dizzy, like the room is spinning, creating issues with maintaining balance. 

What is Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT)? 

Vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is a specialized form of physiotherapy for those experiencing dizziness and balance problems. VRT includes a variety of exercises that can help retrain the body and brain to adapt to any vestibular system change's new baseline. 

Before any treatment begins, your physiotherapist in Edmonton will evaluate your history, symptoms, and needs for a personalized treatment plan. For example, if you become dizzy when you move your head too quickly, your therapist will want to include desensitizing activities for such a movement. 

VRT occurs with young and old patients alike and for various issues from vertigo to balance issues related to getting older. 

What are the Top Benefits of Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy? 

There are many benefits associated with vestibular rehabilitation including: 

1. Better balance and stability

One of the main goals of VRT is to bring your balance back. From working with trained physiotherapists, you are guided through a course of treatment with specific exercises geared to improve the strength and coordination of muscles. 

For example, you might train to balance by walking across a balance beam or taking a straight line, heel-to-toe, down a pathway. 

2. Less Dizziness Over Time 

VRT is also effective for dizziness and vertigo. Through vestibular rehabilitation, the patient's vestibular system can be desensitized to movements or positions that cause discomfort. 

If you struggle with dizziness and poor focus, gaze stabilization may be part of your protocol. This technique requires you to fixate on an image while moving your head from side to side. The exercises teach the brain to better process information related to the vestibular system and, over time, reduce dizziness. 

3. Decreased Risk of Falling 

Problems with balance—and dizziness, especially among the senior population—make people fall. People fall and break bones, get concussions, and all sorts of other problematic issues. But this isn't the case with VRT. Your therapist will teach you fall prevention. You'll also learn how to get off the ground if you do fall and what adjustments you can make within your home to avoid sticky situations. 

4. Restored Confidence in Activities of Daily Living 

When you're off-balance and feeling dizzy all the time, it's challenging to go about your daily routine. You're not sure how you're going to walk in the supermarket or on public transportation, up and down hallways and steps, or how you'll get into a car. 

Balance Therapy in Edmonton instills confidence in undertaking these activities because it helps you master them. When you recognize that you're grounded and able to continue living without as much spinning, you're also more apt to add in previous endeavors and projects. This adjustment, in turn, allows life to be even better. 

5. Non-Invasive, Tailored Treatment 

Vestibular rehabilitation therapy is non-invasive, which means no surgery is required. Where there are drugs, there are side effects and complications; there's no such possibility with VRT. Furthermore, the treatment is tailored to you; a therapist will watch what's going on and ask about your past to create a treatment plan just for you. 

Who Should Consider Vestibular Rehabilitation?

Vestibular physiotherapy can benefit anyone experiencing balance or dizziness issues. You need vestibular rehabilitation therapy if you: 

• Experience unexplained dizziness/vertigo. 
• Have difficulty walking or maintaining balance. 
• Are recovering from a concussion/head trauma. 
• Have Meniere's disease, vestibular neuritis, etc. 
• Are an older adult who's a fall risk. 

Furthermore, don't hesitate to ask your physiotherapist if you're unsure whether this applies to you. They will assess your symptoms to determine if this is the best course of action for you. 

What Happens During Balance Therapy Sessions?

A typical VRT session involves a therapist assessing your symptoms, history, and current level of physical functioning. Therefore, your therapist tailors a specialized approach for you. For instance, a general VRT approach consists of gaze stabilization, balance, and habituation exercises. 

Gaze stabilization exercises require you to look at a predetermined target while deliberately moving your head. Therefore, if you can keep your eyes on the target without exhibiting symptoms, the exercise is deemed successful. 

Balance exercises may include standing on one leg for a prescribed duration or walking a straight line with heel-to-toe placement. 

Another aspect of VRT is habituation exercises. These are movements that increase your dizziness at first; however, exposure to your symptoms decreases desensitization and increases compensatory skills. With a VRT-trained professional, you will perform these exercises in safe conditions with them, evaluating whether you feel better or worse in the moment. Better is not usually felt in the moment but over time in gradual increments. 

Conclusion 

Vestibular therapy in Edmonton is a critical component of overcoming balance issues and feelings of vertigo. You are destined for a better quality of life with a trained physiotherapist. Don't put up with this any longer. If you are suffering from any of these vestibular dysfunction symptoms, reach out to an Edmonton physiotherapist now and begin your journey to recovery to restore your balance and feel like yourself again.