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​All About Home Health

All About Home Health

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Home Health Care Services

for the Central Virginia Area

Vestibular & Balance Program

For those at risk for falls due to dizziness, blurred vision, or poor balance as a result of a loss of vestibular function, it is important to know that these problems can be treated

Vestibular Rehabilitation

If you experience ​dizziness, you may have problems with your vestibular system, one of your body’s main balance systems. Symptoms that your vestibular system is not performing as it should include vertigo (the illusion you are moving when you are standing still), imbalance, dizziness, frequent falls, and headaches. Second only to low back pain, these are the symptoms that bring most people to physical therapists. In our initial examination, we will investigate if your vertigo is being caused by out-of-place inner ear crystals. If you have been diagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) we can treat this and cure it. Dizziness, the sensation of being lightheaded, can be caused by a number of factors including high or low blood pressure, medications and poor prescription glasses. We will provide tests to help determine the cause of your dizziness and then custom-design a program to treat it. Other conditions we routinely treat include Meniere’s Disease, dizziness from neck pain (cervicogenic dizziness), low functioning vestibular systems and dizziness from your central nervous system. We will help analyze your risk of falls and offer you strategies to prevent future falls.

Several vestibular strategies combined with a customized home exercise program may be utilized by our physical therapists when developing a plan of care, such as the following:

Postural stabilization exercises to improve balance

Vestibular adaptation exercises to improve vision with head movement

Particle repositioning maneuvers to relieve dizziness caused by BPPV

Treating BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo)

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50% of the time, when older people experience dizziness, it is due to BPPV. The vertigo (dizziness) caused by position changes, may be due to the otoconia (crystals) in the ear which have become dislodged and are now displaced into the fluid in one of the inner ear canals. The Epley Maneuver has a success rate of 81%.

The ultimate goal of vestibular therapy is to improve a person's safety, balance, and ability to focus with head movement. ​