Physiotherapy Can Help With Vertigo
An interesting person came into the practice, her name is Sarah*. Sarah* is a 37 year old with two very young daughters. One day she lent over to pick up her two year old daughter and noticed that she started to feel dizzy and light-headed. From this point onwards she began to find it increasingly difficult to bend over and pick things up without feeling dizzy or lightheaded.
Sarah* decided to get help and see a Physio. On examination, the Physio noticed blurred vision combined with uncontrolled/shakey (nystagymus) eye movements and after careful assessment through the use of special tests (Dix Halpike), it was found that Sarah* was experiencing Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, this is a false sense of spinning. The Physio educated Sarah* that benign meant that her condition was non-life-threatening, and paroxysmal means that it comes on suddenly often in short durations, and is triggered by certain positions of the head.
The Physio provided treatment that involved specific head movements such as Epley’s manoeuvre to shift particles in the ears. After a couple of Physio treatments Sarah* is now back to her regular activities and picking up her daughter is no longer an issue!