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Vestibular Care: It's All in Your Ears Pittsfield, Massachusetts (MA) - Berkshire Health Systems
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  5. Vestibular Care: It's All in Your Ears

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  • Save a Life, Lift Your Soul, Give Blood
  • Team Approach for Breast Cancer
  • Surviving Breast Cancer: A Journey
  • Hunger in the Berkshires
  • Vaccinations Help Avoid Needless Risks
  • Embrace Mindfulness
  • Low Carb High Fat Diet has Benefits
  • Probiotics Uses the Good Bugs to Fight the Bad Ones
  • Use the Power of Nature for Better Health
  • Unplug from Online for Better Health
  • Weight Loss Through Narrowing Your Eating Window
  • Mammography and Dense Breast Tissue
  • Medication-Assisted Treatment for Addiction Disorder
  • Smoker or Former Smoker? Lung Cancer Screening is Recommended for You
  • Be Safe When Using Over the Counter Medications
  • Screenings for Colon Cancer
  • Thyroid Health Essential to Metabolism
  • Go for Nutrition that is Heart Healthy
  • High Blood Pressure and Ways to Lower It
  • Hospitalists: Your Around the Clock Caregiver
  • Weight Loss Surgery Has Lasting Impact
  • Can you Find Joy in the Holidays When Sick?
  • Coping with Holiday Depression
  • When Quitting Smoking You May Need to Try and Try Again
  • Vaginal Birth after C-Section
  • New Tool to Assess Breast Cancer Risk
  • Migraines: How to Treat Them
  • Vestibular Care: It's All in Your Ears
  • Prepare for a Healthy Trip Abroad
  • New Moms Encouraged to Breast Feed
  • Language Diversity Important to Healthcare
  • Latest Advances in Joint Replacement
  • Vaping and Nicotine Addiction
  • Urgent Care or Emergency Department
  • Free Medicare Wellness Visit
  • Rehabilitation from Stroke Onset
  • Life Threatening Stroke Can be Prevented
  • Mammography and MRI for Women with High Risk of Breast Cancer
  • Breaking the Silence on Kidney Disease
  • Stop Mindless Eating
  • Hospitals Working to Improve Heart Health
  • Your Healthy Gut Bacteria
  • Give Up Smoking in 2018
  • Healthy Resolutions for 2018
  • Healthy Giving for 2017
  • Concussions: Myths and Truths
  • Celebrate a Thankful & Healthy Holiday
  • Don't Die of Embarrassment: Get Screened for Colon Cancer
  • Don't Let the Flu Get You This Season
  • Advanced Cardiac Imaging
  • Chronic Wound Care
  • What is a Hospitalist?
  • Healthy Heart Rhythms
  • Wellness Coaching
  • Men's Health In Crisis
  • Prevent Stroke or Respond FAST
  • Walking to Good Health
  • Healing Through Acupuncture
  • Self Care is Our Future
  • Family Wellness - Play Together Stay Healthy Together
  • Rewriting Your Book of Life
  • Pre-Diabetes: A Wake-Up Call for Better Health
  • Overcoming Crisis With Resiliency
  • Stepping Off the Slippery Slope
  • Sleep & Wellness: Learning to Cherish Your Sleep
  • Kicking the Habit and Ending the Fear
  • High Blood Pressure: One of the Few Things in Life We Can Control
  • Friendship is Powerful Medicine
  • It's Flu Season: Get the Vaccine!
  • The Healing Power of Gratitude
  • Where's the Joy?
  • New Year's Resolutions to Live By
  • Preventing Falls: A Leading Health Risk for the Older Population
  • Staying Healthy in the Office
  • Exercising at Home and Staying Fit in the Winter
  • Cardiac Rehabilitation: Regaining a Healthier and Better Life
  • Nutrition & Exercise: Two Great Gifts for Children
  • A Screening That Has Saved More than a Million Lives
  • How Walking Can Change Your Life
  • Injury-Free Sports & Activities
  • Have a Healthy Summer
  • Head to a Farmers' Market
  • Just Breathe
  • Lyme Disease Facts
  • Mindful Eating
  • Empathy in Healthcare
  • Preparing Your Family for an Emergency
  • Helping Someone to Cope with Opioid Addiction
  • Breast Cancer Awareness: Mammograms Save Lives
  • Antibiotic Resistance
  • Lung Cancer Screening
  • Giving Thanks
  • Healthy Holidays

Vestibular Care: It's All in Your Ears

Making the world right again: Vestibular therapy eases dizziness from inner ear disorders 
By Jessie DeLuca, PT, and Mary Ann Racette, MPT 

The symptoms seem to come out of the blue. You roll over in bed and suddenly feel like you’re dropping off the face of the earth. The intense spinning sensation may only last a matter of seconds, but the experience is unforgettable. Or, your symptoms might be a lot less dramatic, such as a persistent woozy feeling that doesn’t seem quite right.  

Both situations should prompt a visit to your primary care physician to rule out something serious. But chances are, you just experienced the first episode of vestibular disorder - a condition that affects the inner ear causing a range of symptoms that can jeopardize your balance, function and quality of life. 

The vestibular system is a sensory organ that is housed in both the right and left inner ears. Vestibular disorders can be caused by aging, traumatic head injuries, a virus, other illnesses, and even chemotherapy. The condition unleashes a wide range of symptoms that include extreme spinning, dizziness, unsteadiness and nausea.  Organizations that provide information and support to people with vestibular disorders say that 35% of all adults over the age of 40 have experienced vestibular disorder at some time in their lives. 
 
Left undiagnosed and without vestibular rehabilitation therapy, people who are dizzy or unsteady tend to move around less, leading to an additional range of health problems associated with deconditioning that puts them at a greater risk of falling. Yet, in a majority of cases, vestibular rehabilitation therapy can ease the symptoms, resolve the disorder and restore most, if not all, quality of life. 

Not all rehab facilities provide this specialized care so it’s important to make sure a vestibular therapist is on staff. At BMC’s Center for Rehabilitation, we perform a 90-minute patient evaluation to isolate the specific vestibular disorder and create a customized plan of care.  
 
Vestibular disorders are typically classified as peripheral, which means the disorder is located in the inner ear, or central, which means the disorder originates in the brain. If peripheral, the inner ear is not giving the brain correct information. If central, the inner ear is providing the right info, but the brain is not processing it correctly. The vast majority of vestibular disorders originate in the inner ear, including Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), which is the most common and most treatable vestibular disorder. 

In this case, crystals located in the inner ear break free within vestibular system. When the head is put in certain positions – like when you are rolling over in bed - the free-floating crystals trick the brain into thinking it’s spinning out of control. Therapy involves identifying what ear and which canal is involved and then manipulating the crystals back where they are supposed to be. This condition is 90% treatable, usually in 3 visits or less. 

Another common vestibular disorder that responds very well to therapy is called vestibular hypofunction, which occurs when the vestibular nerve in one ear has somehow been damaged, often by a virus, causing a feeling of imbalance. Specialized therapy encourages the other healthy ear to pick up the slack, restoring your sense of balance. 

Years ago, vestibular disorders were hard to diagnose and people suffered, often with frightening physical symptoms that gradually caused them to be more sedentary, isolated and anxious. Today, physicians are far more likely to refer patients to vestibular rehabilitation for relief. In addition to easing symptoms and restoring a sense of balance and safety, vestibular therapy enables our patients to take back control of their lives. 

Jessie DeLuca, PT, and Mary Ann Racette, MPT, are physical therapist at the Center for Rehabilitation at BMC. 

 

 

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