Our goal is to create awareness of the impact of falls and how Physical Therapy can help. Each year approximately one third of adults over 65 experience dizziness, balance problems, or falls. Falls can lead to debilitating injuries and are the leading cause of injury in older adults. An extensive evaluation at 1st Choice Physical Therapy can determine the cause of decreased balance and/or dizziness, assess your posture, strength, and coordination, and detect any weaknesses in your vestibular system, which is the system in the inner ear that regulates balance. All therapists at 1st Choice Physical Therapy are Master Level Balance and Vestibular Retrainers who will develop a customized program to help you feel better and decrease your fall risk.
Vestibular Disorders
Vestibular physical therapy is treatment that improves inner ear function. The inner ear can become injured or develop a weakness for a variety of reasons. When the signal from the inner ear to the brain is not functioning correctly, one feels dizzy and/or imbalanced. As specialists in these issues, 1st Choice Physical Therapists teach the three systems that are responsible for balance to coordinate together or compensate for deficiency in one system. An exercise based program will be developed to reduce vertigo and dizziness, gaze instability, imbalance, and fall risk.
Vertigo may also be caused by a condition called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, or BPPV. This is a mechanical problem in the inner ear when small calcium carbonate crystals dislodge and migrate into one or more of the three fluid filled semicircular canals of the inner ear. This gives the brain false information that one is spinning in space and lasts for less than one minute. Between spells, one might feel a vague sensation of imbalance. Ist Choice Physical Therapists will determine which canal the crystals are in and perform a specific series of head movements called Canalith Repositioning Maneuvers to flush the crystals out. This can oftentimes immediately dissipate all vertigo symptoms.
Benefits of a Balance and Dizziness Training Program
- Strengthens key muscle groups
- Improves balance reactions
- Integrates vision, sensation, and vestibular information to the brain
- Challenges balance in different environments (curbs, uneven surfaces, changes in direction, etc.)
- Posture mobility and strengthening
- Decreases visual disturbances
- Education in fall prevention
- Canalith repositioning techniques for BPPV
If you experience any balance issues, have dizziness or vertigo spells, have visual annoyances that increase your dizziness symptoms, or even simply have difficulty with navigating stairs or ramps, give 1st Choice Physical Therapy a call. We are glad to help.
