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Visual vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) uses physical exercises to manage disorders that cause dizziness and balance problems. Vestibular dysfunction is typically an inner-ear disorder that impacts your quality of life. You often feel disoriented or lose your sense of balance. The VRT works to strengthen the connections between your senses and brain. This helps to reduce or resolve the symptoms.
Prior to therapy, you’re medically assessed to discover the nature and scope of the symptoms. A therapist then designs a specialized VRT plan based on the impact of the vestibular dysfunction. The program of balance therapy is usually conducted in weekly visits with the therapist and supplemented with exercises you do at home.
With time and persistence, you can reduce or eliminate the symptoms. Depending on your condition, therapy may last just a few sessions or several months. In the New York and New Jersey areas, the physicians and staff at Neuro Injury Specialists offer the guidance and treatment you need. Dr. Mark Cohen is a top neurologist with expertise to help get your life back in balance, and he’s teamed up with Dr. Dmitriy Dvoskin and Dr. Leon Reyfman board certified pain management specialists, who bring additional skills to the practice.
If you have a vestibular disorder, you’re likely to experience symptoms that are common to issues with the inner ear. These typically occur when signals between your senses and the brain are interrupted. You often lose your ability to maintain spatial orientation.
Symptoms include:
In some people, other symptoms occur that are indirectly related to the vestibular disorder and might include:
In addition, people with certain medical conditions are often candidates for VRT.
These conditions include:
A number of issues often contribute to visual or vestibular dysfunction. It’s best to report these recurring symptoms to your physician because professional assessment is required to determine the best VRT for your recovery.
Clinical studies show that VRT helps you in various ways that allow you to function and perform your daily tasks. Balance therapy is vital to keep you from adding to your injuries with falls and other accidents.
Benefits commonly include:
There are multiple rewards of balance therapy that allow you to overcome vision and vestibular dysfunction. Your own recovery also depends on various aspects of your situation.
These factors include:
A major factor of success with VRT is keeping up with the home routine. When you’re diligent in following the plan, you recover quicker.
The exercises used in balance therapy typically focus on movements in the head and eyes.
These include a variety of actions such as:
The movements are done in specific ways from week to week. The therapist alters the techniques to make the routine most effective. When you begin the VRT regimen, you may feel dizzy, but most people see improvement after a few weeks. The exercises used during therapy are adjusted according to your level of recovery.
The length of therapy you may need and the amount of improvement you can expect depends on a variety of factors, including:
In general, you can expect a weekly session for six weeks to two months. Some people need as few or two sessions total or as many as several months of treatment. Typically, all patients also do exercises at home to supplement the sessions with a therapist.
The home regimen includes exercises for retraining or improving:
Most of the people who keep up the home regimen significantly reduce dizziness and balance issues. Your VRT specialist is trained to monitor and adjust the routine as needed.
You should expect a series of tests and assessments to evaluate your condition. These actions help develop a course of therapy that’s tailored to your needs.
The comprehensive neurological evaluation includes a diagnostic workup, such as:
Each of these steps provides important information about your condition. The doctor uses it to design a customized plan of VRT for you. No one likes feeling disoriented all the time. Vision and vestibular dysfunction take away your sense of stability, and VRT is designed to get you back in balance. Contact the team at Neuro Injury Specialists for an expert evaluation. Drs. Cohen, Dvoskin and Reyfman have the experience to get you back on the road to recovery while also aiming to determine the cause of your balance problems.