Helpful Information & Resources for Vertigo
Consequences of a Third-Party Healthcare System
In this blog, I will share my grassroots perspective on the consequences of a third-party healthcare system in the United States from the perspective of both an experienced healthcare provider and a patient with complex health needs. What other industry do you know of...
BPPV Recurrence: What Does The Research Say?
Everyone who is treated for BPPV should be educated on the risk of BPPV recurrence and what to do about it. In this blog, I will discuss a summary of findings from three research studies published on this important topic. Study #1 In one study of 548 patients over an...
Dizziness and Neck Stiffness
Dizziness and Neck Stiffness Typically the neck is not even considered as a possible root cause of dizziness unless the patient complains of neck pain. I have found neck stiffness can cause motion-activated dizziness and neck pain. Neck Mobility is Important to...
Vertigo with Hearing Loss
Vertigo with hearing loss should not be ignored. This type of symptom cluster typically requires a thorough work up, including but not limited to a brain MRI and comprehensive hearing test. When I evaluate a new patient who has vertigo with hearing loss, I usually...
Treatment Techniques for BPPV
On Friday February 24, 2023, I attended an outstanding lecture on Treatment Techniques for BPPV at a national physical therapy conference (CSM) called: Beyond Posterior Canal BPPV: Clinical Decision Making and a Critical Appraisal of Treatment Techniques for Anterior...
Meniere’s Vertigo
Meniere’s vertigo attacks are recurrent episodes of severe vertigo, dizziness, tinnitus, and hearing loss (along with other symptoms) that occur spontaneously and last for minutes to hours, up to a day, then resolve. The co-occurring symptoms include nausea, vomiting,...
Why Do I Have Pulsating Dizziness?
Pulsating dizziness typically indicates that the heartbeat is somehow involved. In this blog, we will discuss a few possible causes of pulsating dizziness and what type of healthcare providers may be able to help. Pulsating dizziness may be fairly constant and can...
Root Causes of Upper Cervical Dizziness
There are many different causes of upper cervical dizziness. While upper cervical dizziness can be treated and relieved by a specialized physical therapist or chiropractor, the results may only be short-lived if the root cause is elusive. For long-term recovery from...
Upper Cervical Dizziness + Vestibular Rehab
Vestibular PT can Aggravate Upper Cervical Dizziness. Sometimes, patients present to vestibular physical therapy with co-occurring upper cervical dizziness. These patients require special attention since vestibular PT may cause the dizziness to become worse. The first...
Sleep After Vertigo Treatment: A Key to Recovery
Good sleep after vertigo treatment is very important when it comes to vestibular rehab. I find that patients who do not get good sleep after vertigo treatment do not recover as well. Take It Easy After Each Vertigo Treatment I advise my patients to “take the rest of...
Epley Maneuver With Limited Neck Rotation
Performing an Epley Maneuver for vertigo on patients with limited neck rotation is difficult but not impossible. Caution should be taken to ensure that an Epley maneuver is safe to perform. Screening tests that physical therapists typically perform before attempting...
Epley Maneuver for Vertigo
In this blog, I discuss the Epley Maneuver for vertigo. The Epley maneuver was first published in 1992 by the late Dr. John Epley, M.D. This BPPV treatment maneuver is specifically for free floating BPPV crystals in the posterior canal. Free floating BPPV particles in...
Migraine Prevention: 7 Strategies That Might Help
In this blog, I will share with you seven strategies that I have learned for migraine prevention. This article is focused on how to prevent vestibular migraine in between episodes. Sometimes people comment on my blogs asking me exactly what I do to take care of...
Doctor Shopping for Vertigo Care
Doctor Shopping for Vertigo Care Many patients with dizziness and vertigo are tempted to start doctor shopping for vertigo care. However, I have observed that this approach may ultimately cause disappointment. For purposes of this article, I am defining "doctor...
A Vertigo Treatment Plan Can Help
The Importance of a Vertigo Treatment Plan In my opinion, the most important thing when creating a vertigo treatment plan is to select a team of professionals that you trust and follow their treatment plan step by step. Depending on the root cause of your symptoms,...
Dizziness and Neck Pain: The Relationship
Dizziness and Neck Pain Often times dizziness and neck pain go hand-in-hand. Dizziness caused by neck problems is called cervicogenic dizziness or cervical vertigo. In traditional healthcare, the neck is often overlooked as a cause of dizziness. For people with...
Respiratory Issues And Dizziness
Low blood oxygen levels and respiratory issues can cause dizziness. These problems are unrelated to vestibular issues such as BPPV vertigo. Vestibular problems and non-vestibular problems may co-occur in the same patient, so a comprehensive assessment is important for...
Blood Pressure and Vertigo: The Link
Blood Pressure and Vertigo People who have problems such as hypertension or hypotension may experience dizziness from the blood pressure itself. We may also find that there is a link between blood pressure and vertigo or dizziness, related to the vestibular system....
Anxiety Related Dizziness
Dizziness and Anxiety Most patients with dizziness tend to show symptoms of stress. For some patients, dizziness and vertigo can trigger clinically diagnosable anxiety symptoms. We often think of dizziness or vertigo causing anxiety, due to the stress. Yet some people...
Lightheadedness and Presyncope
Lightheadedness and Presyncope When a patient complains of "dizziness," it may not always be a vestibular issue. There are many non-vestibular causes of dizziness. Lightheadedness and Presyncope are two symptoms that patients may be experiencing when they say they...
Reflux and Vertigo: What Is The Link?
Many people suffer from reflux and vertigo. Heartburn is another term for reflux. If reflux gets to be a chronic problem, it can eventually lead to GERD. That stands for gastro-esophageal reflux disease. What is the Link between Reflux and Vertigo? Refluxed food...
Dizziness After Cancer Treatment: Five Reasons
Dizziness after cancer treatment is a common complaint. In my experience, there are five reasons why people experience dizziness after cancer treatment. 1. Tumor Location The location of the tumor can cause dizziness. Tumors in the brain or ears can contribute to...
Foot Neuropathy Questions Answered By Dr. Kim Bell, DPT
Dr Kim Bell, DPT answers some of your Foot Neuropathy Questions Q: What are the treatment options for feet numbness due to spinal stenosis? I suggest that you find a physical therapist who specializes in and treats the spine. These physical therapists are called...
Blood Pressure and Foot Neuropathy: The Relationship
Who has Foot Neuropathy? A lot of people I’ve met actually have foot neuropathy but they’ve never been diagnosed by a doctor. Why do you think that is? It’s because doctors don’t usually look at your feet! Your doctor may check your blood pressure and your heart rate....
Occupational Therapy vs. Physical Therapy: What Is the Difference?
I believe it is important to make a distinction between occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT), as it seems that those two professions are sometimes lumped together. Both PT and OT are Rehab Services Physical therapy and occupational therapy are basically...
What Is A Vestibular Physical Therapist?
As a Vestibular Physical Therapist, I am a physical therapist that specializes in helping people with dizziness, vertigo, balance problems, and falls. A Vestibular Physical Therapist Will Look for the Root Cause When I get a dizzy patient, I look at the symptoms and...
Causes of Foot Neuropathy: How To Understand Them
The term neuropathy actually means “nerve disease.” Foot neuropathy is often caused by a reduced blood flow to the feet. This reduced blood flow may be caused by normal aging or there may be other risk factors. I will discuss three of these risk factors and causes of...
How Incontinence Contributes to Falls
It may surprise you to learn that incontinence contributes to falls. As a clinician since 2002 and working in home health since 2004, I have observed quite a few ways this can happen. How Incontinence Contributes to Falls Slip and Fall Accident One way that...
Maintaining Mobility In Retirement
One of the myths people think about retiring is that they are going to get to relax. That is a bit of a myth because although you won’t be working at a full-time job with an employer, your full-time job now is maintaining mobility in retirement, including muscle...
Vision and Fall Risk: How to Reduce Falls
Vision and Fall Risk Normal Aging When we look at vision and fall risk, there are a couple of things to consider. First of all, we have normal aging of the eyes. Normal aging of the eyes is going to affect everybody. No matter if you have an eye problem or not, as you...
Brain Fog: Five Tips for Better Brain Health
Brain fog is a common complaint from my patients with dizziness and vertigo. Very often the brain fog will clear up as I successfully resolve their complaints of dizziness or vertigo with vestibular physical therapy. However, this does not happen in all cases....
Explaining Dizziness & Vertigo to your Doctor
This blog describes how to create your short and concise summary for explaining your dizziness and vertigo to a healthcare provider. I hope this saves you time during your visit! A lot of patients have difficulty describing their symptoms. This leads to confusion for...
The Gut and Vertigo
Did you know that there can be a correlation between dizzy spells and eating? Turns out that the gut and vertigo go hand in hand! There are a few ways that digestion, or your gut, can affect symptoms of dizziness and vertigo. Dizzy spells correlated with eating can be...
Prepare for a Healthcare Visit: What To Know
This blog covers the information that you will need to gather to best prepare for a healthcare visit. Gather all Diagnostic Testing and Lab Work If you have gotten an MRI or a CT scan or any other diagnostic testing, including lab work or vestibular testing, I suggest...
Vestibular Therapy: 7 Reasons It Doesn’t Work
Vestibular Therapy is Effective For people with dizziness, vertigo, imbalance, and falls, I highly recommend Vestibular Therapy, also called VRT, Vestibular Rehab, Vestibular Rehabilitation, and Vestibular Physical Therapy. There is a very large and growing body of...
Help! I Get Dizzy at the Dentist
Are you afraid of getting dizzy at the dentist? I meet a lot of people who have felt dizziness in the dental chair and are now afraid to go back! Dental care is important to maintain healthy teeth and gums. In this blog, I will share three tips to help if you are...
Is Meclizine Dangerous for treating Vertigo?
Meclizine is commonly prescribed for people with dizziness and vertigo, including older adults. In some cases, it may be needed but in other cases it is dangerous. Older adults are often frequently told that there’s nothing they can do about the vertigo because they...
Childhood Vertigo: General Information
I can imagine that it must be very scary to witness your little one having childhood vertigo, especially while searching for answers. This blog is a discussion of childhood vertigo. Most Common Known Causes Five common sources of dizziness in children include:...
What Is Dizziness?
What is dizziness? Dizziness is the general term that most people use for all related symptoms in this category. Dizziness is what you will most commonly hear people call it when they feel "off." People that know what vertigo is are people who have had some further...
Dizzy When Gardening
I have treated a few patients lately who felt dizzy when gardening. Their stories made me realize that many other people likely feel dizzy when gardening, especially when spring and summer roll around. In this blog, I share some common gardening tasks that might make...
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