06/11/2023
🖐HELLO Macedonia and surrounding Northeast Ohio residents. Are you experiencing vertigo, dizziness, unsteadiness on your feet, poor balance, nausea or issues with your spatial awareness? Do you get dizzy whenever you roll over in bed, lay down or sit up in bed, tilt your head up or down. Do these movements or similar movements make you feel like you or the room is spinning, make you feel nauseous or like you are going to vomit, make you feel unsteady or lightheaded or even affect your vision. Do these symptoms only last seconds to minutes then go away. These symptoms might be new and you are unsure what to do about them or they may be chronic and you have been to the ER or a doctor's appointment already and were given medication but are still having this issue. If any of these topics sound like you I have good news. Vestibular Therapy can help!!! Vestibular Therapy is evidence based and has been proved through research in the literature using systematic reviews and randomized control trials to cure the most common cause of vertigo, dizziness, unsteadiness/poor balance, nausea, vomiting and impaired spatial awareness in 1-3 Vestibular Physical Therapy Visits. Vestibular Therapy has even been proven to have a success rate of 90% to 92.5% at curing the most common type of vertigo in 1 week (Sinsamutpadung & Kulthaveesup, 2021, P.866).
How common is Dizziness, Vertigo and Imbalance?
The prevalence ranges from approximately 20% to 30%, depending on the definition of dizziness and the population studied (Iwasaki & Yamasoba, 2015, P39).
💉Will medication help?💊
Did you know that medication is 0% effective at curing the issue for the most common cause of dizziness and vertigo which is called BPPV.
🧩Is vertigo - BPPV misdiagnosed or hard to diagnose by non-specialist?🩻
Did you know that randomized control trials have been done that show this pathology is poorly recognized by non-specialists and has a long delay between onset of symptoms and correct diagnosis/treatment often with multiple healthcare contacts. One study showed the average time between first showing symptoms and correct diagnosis was 70 months, with an average of 8 hospital visits as this pathology doesn’t show up on imaging (Abbott & Tomassen & Lane & Bishop & Thomas, 2016, P.335).
🩺How is it diagnosed?🪪
Did you know that as a Doctor of Physical Therapy you can get advanced training to become a Certified Vestibular Therapist that performs what is known as the gold standard test at diagnosing the most common type of vertigo that can be cured in 1-3 sessions along with treatments for many other pathologies that can also cause similar symptoms. 3 different test (known as the gold standard at being the most accurate for a correct diagnosis) can be done in the comfort of your own home that will tell you which inner ear is affected and which of the 3 canals are affected. This information then leads to which maneuver to treat you with.
✅How is it treated?
Treatment consists of moving the head and body into different positions to let gravity move the misaligned crystals in your inner ear back to where they belong.
✅How long does it take to cure?
Did you know that Randomized Control Trials have been completed that show that if this gold standard test and treatment is completed to treat BPPV it can cure 90% to 92.5% of people with the most common type of vertigo/dizziness in less than one week (Sinsamutpadung & Kulthaveesup, 2021, P.866).
✅Why I opened my LLC
If you didn’t know the answers to all of these questions then you are the reason that I opened my own private practice and named it In Home - Manual and Vestibular Physical Therapy. If you have dizziness the odds are you have BPPV and can be successfully treated in 1-3 vestibular sessions. How often can you say you walked into a doctor’s appointment or better yet had a doctor come to your house symptomatic and walked out cured. After seeing these results first hand I knew I had to educate and treat this issue.
✅If I test negative for BPPV can vestibular rehab still help with other causes of vertigo?
Yes! If you test negative for BPPV you will also be tested for other vestibular and non-vestibular pathologies that can also cause similar symptoms to find out if you will be appropriate for a vestibular home exercise program using a combination of exercises that consist of substitution, adaptation and habituation exercises. Learn more at my website below https://wordpress.com/page/inhomemanualandvestibularphysicaltherapy.com/414
1. Substitution exercises involve training the patient to rely on other sensory inputs, such as vision and touch/proprioception to compensate for the abnormal signals coming from the vestibular system.
2. Adaptation exercises trains the body to use different reflexes in order to adapt our brain to the abnormal sensory signals that are causing the vertigo.
3. Habituation exercises are designed to reduce the brain's sensitivity to dizziness in order to decrease triggers.
More detailed description located on my website. Learn more by clicking the link below. https://wordpress.com/page/inhomemanualandvestibularphysicaltherapy.com/414
✅Evidence for Vestibular Rehab
All three of these approaches have also been researched and supported in the literature through systematic reviews to have strong evidence for being effective at addressing vertigo and or dizziness related to vestibular impairments such as a vestibular unilateral or bilateral hypofunction. (Hall & Herdman & Whitney & Anson & Carender & Hoppes & Cass & Christy & Cohen & Fife & Furman & Shepard & Clendaniel & Dishman & Goebel & Meldrum, & Ryan & Wallace & Woodward, 2022, P119).
Medicare Accepted Initial Evaluations and treatment plans available
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Non medicare patients Sign up today to claim your discounted voucher 🪪
If you are interested in scheduling an appointment no need to drive anywhere, I will come to you with everything you need to evaluate and treat you in the comfort of your own home. All you have to do is send me a message on Facebook or sign up below.
Dr. Tim Thomas PT, DPT, COMT, CVT - Certified Vestibular Therapist, Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist
References
1. Abbott, J., Tomassen, S., Lane, L., Bishop, K., & Thomas, N. (2016). Assessment for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in medical patients admitted with falls in a district general hospital. Clinical Medicine, 16(4), 335–338. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.16-4-335
2. Hall, C. D., Herdman, S. J., Whitney, S. L., Anson, E. R., Carender, W. J., Hoppes, C. W., Cass, S. P., Christy, J. B., Cohen, H. S., Fife, T. D., Furman, J. M., Shepard, N. T., Clendaniel, R. A., Dishman, J. D., Goebel, J. A., Meldrum, D., Ryan, C., Wallace, R. L., & Woodward, N. J. (2022). Vestibular Rehabilitation for Peripheral Vestibular Hypofunction: An Updated Clinical Practice Guideline From the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy of the American Physical Therapy Association. Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy, 46(2). https://doi.org/10.1097/NPT.0000000000000382
3. Helminski, J. O., Zee, D. S., Janssen, I., & Hain, T. C. (2010). Effectiveness of Particle Repositioning Maneuvers in the Treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: A Systematic Review. Physical Therapy, 90(5), 663–678. https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20090071
4. Iwasaki, S., & Yamasoba, T. (2015). Dizziness and Imbalance in the Elderly: Age-related Decline in the Vestibular System. Aging and Disease, 6(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.14336/ad.2014.0128
5. Sinsamutpadung, C., & Kulthaveesup, A. (2021). Comparison of outcomes of the Epley and Semont maneuvers in posterior canal BPPV : A randomized controlled trial. Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology, 6(4), 866–871. https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20090071
