VESTIBULAR/BALANCE DISORDERS
What is it?
Good balance and an intact sense of equilibrium are often taken for granted. Most people don’t find it difficult to roll over in bed or drive their car without getting dizzy, or walk across a gravel driveway, transition from walking on a sidewalk to grass, or get out of bed in the middle of the night without stumbling. However, with impaired balance and/or vestibular health, such activities can be extremely challenging and sometimes dangerous. Symptoms can include dizziness, false sense of motion when you’re not moving, or even vertigo (i.e., the feeling of spinning or that the things around you are spinning when they are not), as well as hearing and vision problems and difficulty with concentration or memory. Balance dysfunction can be a result of a “sick” vestibular system, or it can be purely physical in nature, such as not having adequate strength in your legs or core, lacking sensation in your feet from conditions such as diabetic neuropathy, or lacking adequate functional endurance to keep your balance over longer periods of time.
The Importance of Maintaining Good Balance & Equilibrium
Balance is the ability to maintain the body’s center of mass over its base of support.
Equilibrium is the feeling of steadiness, whether sitting or standing still, and especially during movement.
Properly functioning balance and equilibrium systems allow humans to see clearly while moving, maintain orientation with respect to gravity and positioning, determine direction and speed of movement, and make automatic postural adjustments to maintain optimal posture and stability in various conditions and activities.
Balance and equilibrium are achieved and maintained by physical strength and coordination, as well as a complex set of sensorimotor control systems that include sensory input from vision (sight), proprioception (sense or awareness of your position and level of effort), and the vestibular system (includes sense of motion, equilibrium and spatial orientation), Through an amazingly complex monitoring and correction system involving reflexes and management input from the brain, sound balance and equilibrium result when we’re properly integrating, managing and responding to all of that sensory and motor input. Injury, disease, certain drugs, as well as the aging process, can affect one or more of these components and potentially turn one’s world “upside down.”
What We Do
Summerville PT & Balance offers specially trained therapists certified in vestibular rehabilitation, so we are experts in evaluating and treating vertigo and BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, aka “crystals” in the ear), dizziness and balance disorders. We work with you, your physician (PCP, ENT and/or Neurologist) and other health professionals such as Audiologists to ensure an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. We offer advanced, non-invasive evaluation and unsurpassed physical therapy interventions that will get you feeling stronger, steadier, safer and back in control in no time!
After all…….
……….Life is All about Balance!
