At any given moment, whether you are sitting, standing, running or climbing, your vestibular system is responsible for keeping you balanced. For most of us, it’s easy to forget that our bodies use this important system on a constant basis to keep us oriented and prevent us from falling over. However, for people with balance disorders, many of these tasks that we sometimes take for granted can become a major challenge. Fortunately, we offer vestibular therapy in Laurel that can help address these problems.

The vestibular system is the sensory system that provides the brain with the most important information regarding the body’s sense of balance and spatial orientation so that it can coordinate our movements smoothly. The system detects the motion of the head—mainly through the inner ear, eyes, muscles and joints—and from this, generates reflexes that are crucial for moving appropriately. Some of these essential tasks include stabilizing our visual gaze and maintaining the posture of our head and body.

When the vestibular system functions properly, most people don’t think twice about activities like walking on uneven surfaces or arising from our beds in the middle of the night. When certain disorders affect the vestibular system however, a number of symptoms can arise and make this very difficult. The most common symptoms of vestibular disorders are dizziness, vertigo and issues with balance problems, while some people also experience nausea, anxiety, fatigue, hearing changes or difficulty concentrating.

There are several causes of dizziness and vertigo, but two of the most common problems are benign paroxysmal vertigo disorder (BPPV) and vestibular neuritis and labyrinthitis. Both of these vestibular disorders occur due to different problems with the inner ear, and cause a change in the information being received by the brain from the vestibular system. For this reason, vestibular therapy is needed to address these issues and help the brain adapt to new signaling from the vestibular system.

At CAM Physical Therapy and Wellness Services, we can treat your balance issues with vestibular therapy in Laurel and help you move normally without complications again. Each program will be different depending on your balance disorder, but in general, most will consist of the following:

How we can treat your balance disorder with vestibular therapy

• First, a physical therapist will evaluate all parts of your body that affect balance—including the legs, ears, eyes and entire body—to determine how much your balance is impaired; the resulting program will be based on this evaluation
• Gaze stabilization exercises: these exercises are designed to keep vision steady while making rapid side-to-side head turns while focusing on an object, which will help the brain adapt to new signaling from the vestibular system
• Balance retraining exercises: these types of exercises will have you shift your body weight in various directions while standing to improve the way information is sent to the brain
• Home-exercise program: your physical therapist will also create a program to be performed at home that includes these exercises and possibly others

Any problems with the vestibular system can throw your whole world out of whack and complicate your life. At CAM Physical Therapy and Wellness Services, our vestibular therapy in Laurel, Hyattsville, Glenn Dale/Bowie and Parkville/Baltimore, MD can focus specifically on these issues and help your regain your balance and normal movement. Call us at 301-853-0093 for more information or to schedule an appointment.