Vertigo and Balance Disorders

Vertigo is described as a sensation of spinning while stationary of either the person or their surrounding environment. Vertigo and its associated symptoms are due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear. The most common cause is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV).  Less common causes include Meniere’s disease, Vestibular Neuritis, head trauma or complications from Diabetes. Moving the head, changing position and turning while lying down often worsen vertigo. Although vertigo is a type of dizziness, not all dizziness can be classified as vertigo. There is also a type of dizziness associated with upper neck dysfunction called cervicogenic dizziness.

Physiotherapy can be very beneficial for the management of vertigo. Depending on the cause of the vertigo several different treatment approaches can be used. In simple BPPV a manoeuvre is performed to “re-position” crystals in your inner ear that are thought to cause the problem and this treatment is often extremely effective and immediate. Vestibular rehabilitation helps to retrain the brain to recognise and coordinate the information provided by our sensory system with the vestibular system.

Physiotherapists can provide education about activities that can trigger vertigo and how to modify them in everyday life. Also, people with vertigo can often have a degree of balance dysfunction which needs to be assessed and treated as needed. 

Petrea Stregas, Adam Brenner and Adam Floyd all treat BPPV at Regenerate. All of our Physiotherapists treat cervicogenic (neck related) dizziness.