Our team of physical therapists help patients overcome a wide variety of health issues, and one subset of our practice is devoted to vestibular rehabilitation. Vestibular rehabilitation or vestibular therapy focuses on helping to improve your balance and any related symptoms, like dizziness, lightheadedness or visual stabilization. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at vestibular rehabilitation and explain why it’s oftentimes a very helpful branch of physical therapy for older adults facing balance issues.
The Basics Of Vestibular Therapy
Your ability to maintain your balance is based on the relationship between your central nervous system and your sensory system. Your sensory system is comprised of:
- The Inner Ear Vestibular Labyrinth – Your inner ear has a system of fluid-filled tubes and sacs, and inside the inner ear is a spiral shaped cavity called the cochlea that produces nerve impulses in response to sound vibrations. In all, these systems help create a sense of balance in your body.
- Your Eyes – Your eyes send impulses to your brain that helps your brain understand where your body is in relation to the space around it. Being able to recognize things in the space near your body, like depth and distance, can help you move your body exactly where you intend it to go, and this ensures you remain upright.
- Your Soft Tissues – Tissues and structures like your skin, muscles and joints all send signals to your brain, helping it to understand where they are in relation to space. For example, if you lift your arm out in front of you, your arm works to handle this new stress, but this new stress also signals to your brain that your arm is now positioned out in front of you.
All of this information is relayed and interpreted in milliseconds, but if something goes awry along the way, it can make it hard for your brain to help keep your body upright. That’s where the team at OrthoRehab Specialists comes in.
If you’re dealing with a balance issue or vestibular disorder, your physical therapist will begin by conducting a baseline assessment to get a better understanding of your strengths, deficits and where the root issue lies. They may also read reports from your primary care physician or an audiologist in order to determine which exercises may be most effective. Depending on where the balance issue is housed, some common vestibular rehabilitation techniques will focus on:
- Eye Stability Exercises – Sometimes your balance issue has to do with your eyes ability to stabilize and focus on a singular target. Eye movement and target tracking exercises can increase your visual stabilization and your overall balance.
- Epley Maneuver – The Epley maneuver is a series of head movements and manipulations that work to correct inner ear imbalances. Oftentimes these head movements are pursued by individuals suffering from vertigo, and they help your inner ear labyrinth return to a more normalized state.
- Strength Training – Perhaps your balance issue is tied to a weakness in one specific area of your body, like your knee or hip. We can help strengthen these structures so that a muscular deficit isn’t putting you at risk of a severe fall.
- Balance Exercises – Specific balance exercises can also prove helpful for patients dealing with a variety of vestibular disorders. Heel-to-toe walking and one-footed balance exercises are common practices, and we can ratchet up the difficulty by having you perform these exercises with your eyes closed or while on a soft or uneven surface.
Vestibular therapy exercises will be unique to the individual and the specific issue you are facing, but we’re always up for this challenge. Let us figure out what’s causing your balance problem and develop a personalized treatment program to leave you feeling more steady on your feet. For more information, or for help with a difficult physical issue, reach out to the team at OrthoRehab Specialists at (612) 339-2041.
PT of Costa Rican National Soccer Team for 2007 World Cup in Victoria, CAN. Clinical Instructor for University of Minnesota Doctor of Physical Therapy Affiliations
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