Mild cases of dizziness and vertigo are common, with virtually everyone having an occasional experience. These are side effects of many conditions including simply standing up too quickly.
When dizziness becomes a constant companion, your risk of losing balance and falling increases. Your symptoms can stem from a physical irregularity in your vestibular system, neurological conditions, or head trauma.
At Active Care Chiropractic & Rehabilitation, we may be able to clear these symptoms with a simple treatment performed in our office, as well as drawing on additional modalities as your condition requires. We’re balance therapy specialists, and we’re ready to help you.
Balance therapy refers to any treatment that’s given to improve vestibular performance. Your vestibular system establishes your orientation in space, whether you’re standing or lying down, moving or stationary.
The primary balance organs are structures in the inner ear. The semicircular canals and otolith organs contain fluid and their walls are lined with tiny hairs that detect motion in the fluid.
This motion converts to tiny electrical signals which deliver information to the brain, which it then compares to visual and sensory data to determine your body’s position in space.
When there’s an irregularity, whether it’s a problem with the inner ear or a disagreement between data, you may experience dizziness or vertigo.
Perhaps the most common cause of vertigo, BPPV is rarely serious unless it increases your risk of falling. Occasional BPPV experiences usually aren’t cause for concern otherwise, but they can exist as a frequent and chronic condition.
The otolith organs contain tiny crystals that help your body sense gravity, so you can instinctively locate up and down. These crystals can escape and enter the semicircular canals, which are not meant to use these crystals.
BPPV results when these crystals begin to interfere with the hairs located in the semicircular canals, creating positional signals in the brain that don’t agree with your other vestibular system inputs.
Balance therapy for crystal repositioning is the answer for BPPV. We move your head slowly through a series of positions that return the crystals to the otolith organs. One or two treatments usually clears your symptoms, and we can show you how to perform the therapy at home, in case the condition recurs.
Conditions like Meniere’s disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), or vestibular neuritis may also result in poor balance. Stroke survivors can also experience poor balance.
This leads to a wide range of balance conditions, so we look at your specific case and match your therapy with exercises and treatments that suit your symptoms.
You may require one or more of these types of therapeutic exercise:
The duration of your therapy depends on your condition. Patients with minor BPPV issues may need only an appointment or two, while those with more serious underlying balance problems could require ongoing care.
With six locations, Active Care Chiropractic & Rehabilitation is conveniently located to help you. Call or click to request an appointment with us today.
