Balance & Vestibular

About Balance and Vestibular Dysfunction

Problems with dizziness and balance can happen for a number of reasons:

• as the result of trauma, most often concussion or brain injury
• with disease processes such as Meniere’s Disease, neuropathy, tumor, Multiple Sclerosis and other neurological disorders
• Or for no known reason at all 

And although problems with dizziness and balance can happen at any age, they become more common as you get older.  Symptoms include dizziness, feeling off-balance, a feeling of spinning or floating, or blurred vision.  This can result in disorientation, falling or stumbling.

To have good balance, you need all the components of your balance system to be working together.  Many balance programs focus on only one component of the system, but our comprehensive balance program includes:

• Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy – the vestibular system, or inner ear, is composed of fluid filled canals. As your head turns, the fluid moves through the canals and gives the brain information about where your body is located in space.  Vestibular rehabilitation therapy is a specialized treatment that identifies and corrects problems with the vestibular system.

• Dual Task Training and Vision Therapy – Visual information tells the brain where our body is in relationship to the environment.  Difficulty with visual tracking and focusing adversely affects balance.  Dual tasking is the ability to perform two or more cognitive and motor activities simultaneously while maintaining postural control.  Our comprehensive balance programs include dual task training and vision therapy to ensure complete success.

• Sensory Rehabilitation – Sensory nerves give the brain information about where our hands and feet are in relationship to other body parts or objects. And knowing where your hands and feet are without looking is essential to being able to hold and manipulate objects and to walk, climb and run.  Sensory rehabilitation uses low level laser and other modalities to improve sensory nerve function and helps to maximize your balance.

• Musculoskeletal Flexibility and Strength Training – Having sufficient leg strength and flexibility makes it possible to move from sit to stand, to step up onto a stool, to squat and to perform other movements needed in daily life.