Common Vestibular Issues
Dizziness Therapy & Treatment Melbourne
Dizziness is extraordinarily common with up to 30% of adults and 10% of children suffering from vertigo &/or dizziness at any time in their lives
The Vertigo Co
Understanding Dizziness
More often than not, those suffering from Vertigo or Dizziness have an accompanying balance disorder or are unsteady on their feet when walking often describing this as “feeling like I’m drunk”. In most instances, the cause for these problems is an issue with the underlying “Vestibular System” – the balance organ in the inner ear (the semi-circular canals and otolith organs) and/or the accompanying part of the brain – (known as the vestibular nuclei) in the brain stem.
Common symptoms include:
Vertigo (the sensation that the world is spinning)
Dizziness (various sensations such as rocking, bobbing, swaying, tilting, floating, feeling like you are “on a boat”)
Light-headedness
Unsteadiness or "Disequilibrium" (a sense of being off balance)
Veering when walking from side to side
Falls (whereby an individual completely loses their balance and falls to the ground)
Typically, these symptoms lead to a diagnoses of one (or more) vestibular disorders listed below.
the Vertigo Co
Vestibular Disorders
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
BPPV is an inner ear condition which causes short bursts of "vertigo" (a feeling like the world is spinning) when the head is placed in certain positions such as lying down, rolling over, looking up or bending over.
Vestibular Migraine
Vestibular Migraine is a type of Migraine whereby dizziness is the more prominent feature rather than headache. Symptoms often include vertigo, headache, imbalance, nausea, vomiting, along with sensitivity to light and sound.
Vestibular Neuritis or Labyrinthitis
Vestibular Neuritis or Labyrinthitis results from an infection in the inner ear (vestibular system), causing an intense bout of vertigo, nausea, vomiting and significant unsteadiness when walking.
Menieres Disease
A chronic inner ear disease resulting from abnormally large amounts of fluid (endolymph) collecting in the inner ear and causing recurrent bouts of vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus and pressure in the ears
Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD)
A type of chronic non-vertiginous dizziness resulting in persistent sensations of rocking and swaying which is worse in busy complex environments such as supermarkets or shopping centres for example
Other Vestibular Disorders
There are multiple other balance disorders not discussed here such as Acoustic Neuroma (a tumour in the inner ear) Ototoxicity (drug induced vestibular damage), Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS), Vestibular Paroxysmia, Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence (SSCD), Motion Sickness, and Neurological conditions such as Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or Cerebellar Ataxia.
If you would like to know more please contact our friendly staff at The Vertigo Co via phone or email if you have any queries!