Physical Therapy Treatment for Dizziness and Vertigo

If you have ever experienced episodes of dizziness, no matter what the cause, you know that it can be very scary, as well as quite debilitating. According to The Hearing and Balance Clinic, dizziness is the 2nd most common reason people go to their doctor, and it is estimated that 70% of the population will experience dizziness at some point in their life. With this high prevalence, dizziness and vertigo still tend to be poorly treated and it troubles me as a physical therapist that so many people suffer with their symptoms longer than necessary.

The list of potential causes of dizziness or vertigo is quite long and can range from medication reactions to mold and toxin exposure, along with viruses and other illnesses. But, I would like to take a look at 2 additional causes that are quite common and are easily treated by physical therapy and vestibular rehabilitation.

The first one is our vestibular system which involves your inner ear. You may have heard it referred to as the “crystals” in your ears. These crystals are like little pebbles that are normally stored in a space inside canals that are in your inner ears. These fluid filled canals are lined with fine hairs that communicate with your brain regarding your movements and positioning. Sometimes these crystals get displaced from their storage chamber causing them to start floating around. When they float into the hairs, it causes them to send signals to your brain that conflict with information being received from your eyes. This “confuses” your brain and results in those awful dizzy spinning sensations. But the good news is that as a Physical Therapist, I can perform some specific vestibular positioning tests to see if these crystals are causing your symptoms. If they are, I move right into simple treatments to reposition the crystals, thus relieving your dizziness.It often takes ONLY 1 or maybe 2 treatments to resolve your symptoms if this is the cause.

The other source of dizziness I would like to address is dysfunction and tightness in the numerous muscles of the cervical and thoracic spine. This is probably the most overlooked cause of dizziness and can also occur in conjunction with the vestibular problems discussed above. This one can be tricky because you don’t have to be having neck pain for these muscles to be causing dizziness. You might just be dizzy! These muscles attach to the skull and spine, so when they are tight, compressive forces increase not only on these bony structures, but also on the many vascular and neural structures in the area. When these nerves and blood vessels have this increased pressure on them, they can’t function properly which affects blood flow and nerve signals to your brain. This can cause dizziness alone, or also with neck pain.

There are a variety of hands-on treatments and exercises that can help restore normal function to these muscles and joints in the spine. But one of the quickest and most effective treatments for this problem is dry needling. Using needles is the only way to get down to the deepest layers of muscles where the problem is often residing.

So if you are still experiencing the debilitating and frustrating effects of dizziness or vertigo and feel like you have done everything, but haven’t tried physical therapy, there is hope. Victress Health and Wellness is here to help you find the answers. I urge you to contact us and set up a free consultation to see what treatments you can benefit from.

To sign up for a free physical therapy consult visit victresshealth.com/freeconsult