What is the difference and does Physiotherapy help?
Have you ever felt the room spin when you stand up? Maybe your vision is affected or you feel a buzzing feeling behind your eyes? You could be experiencing dizziness or vertigo and it can be hard to differentiate sometimes!
Read further for information on how to identify between the two, learn what is happening in your body, and what to do about it:
Definitions:
Dizziness is a common occurrence however mostly unaccounted for. It is an umbrella term for many different sensations and there are many different causes and types. Vertigo is one of those terms under dizziness and refers to a spinning sensation. Vertigo originates in the vestibular system in the ear and can be associated with hearing issues, balance impairments, and ear pain. Other types of dizziness include pre-syncope, lightheadedness, and disequilibrium.
Vertigo can be intermittent, caused by change in physical position such as going from lying to standing, and it feels like either the room is spinning or you are spinning in the room. It can be a severe sensation that dramatically affects your quality of life. However physiotherapy has high success in identifying the cause and treating vertigo!
Main causes of Dizziness:
- Blood pressure – hypotension
- Diet – Low blood sugar
- Headaches – Migraines
- Neurological disorders – Cranial nerve dysfunction
- Ear (Vestibular) Issues – BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo)
- Recent Head trauma – Concussion or whiplash
- Infection – recent flu or virus
- Allergies – food or pollen
While diet and blood pressure are managed by your GP, physiotherapy has very good effect for headaches and vestibular issues.
When to seek treatment:
You should seek treatment when your dizziness or vertigo has started affecting your day to day life; not gone away or keeps coming back; or if there’s a new, sudden onset associated with a headache. Generally, dizziness alone is not cause for concern. However there are a few other key red flags to look out for, that if accompanied with dizziness, could be something serious. If you do experiences any of these, see a GP or the emergency department.
Red flags:
These red flags are signs of loss of blood flow to the brain (via the vertebral basilar artery) and could result in a stroke.
What about headaches?
Dizziness is a common symptom that accompanies migraine and tension-type headaches. This sort of dizziness often cannot be treated without addressing the underlying cause: the headache. See our blog post about treating migraines here:
https://www.physicocityphysio.com.au/is-my-migraine-from-my-neck-how-could-physio-help-2/
Treatments:
At home:
- Stop moving to avoid risk of fainting
- Sit down and take even breathes
- Have some water and food
- Assess what might have caused it and take the necessary steps
During physiotherapy
- Take a thorough history to identify the causes and triggers
- Physical assessment of neck and shoulder movements
- Manual therapy of the neck to assess the joints
- Test vestibular function
- Create a management plan to reduce triggers/stressors and manage the symptoms until full recovery
- Exercise prescription based on neck strength and/or blood pressure
We will also assess for BPPV via the Epley’s Maneuver and treat accordingly. This can be an intense test as the aim is to reproduce your vertigo. However it has high success rates and can provide immediate relief.
For more on BPPV see here: https://www.physiopedia.com/Benign_Positional_Paroxysmal_Vertigo_(BPPV)
Hopefully this has helped you understand that dizziness is very broad and can be triggered by many different things!
To treat your dizziness or vertigo today, book in and see us at PhysiCo City!