Anyone complete Vestibular therapy?

[mjan]

My MS neuro ordered vestibular therapy since I am having positional vertigo mostly when I move my eyes, up or down, sometimes sideways or when I move my head.

The tech is doing exercises with me to try and get the brain, inner ear and bottom of feet to "communicate" better and improve my balance issues/dizziness.

She did not promise I would improve 100% due to MS, so I wonder if anyone here ever tried it and was it successful or helpful at all?

Thanks Jan

[lusciousleaves]

Jan, I don't know if this will help, but thought I'd chime in. The original neuro I saw was a dizziness and balance specialist. He did mention, as well as his audiologist, that the vestibular system is very amenable to treatment. I didn't have severe dizziness, so didn't pursue treatment, and it cleared up on it's own within a year. I mostly lost balance in the dark, and sometimes still do when I turn my head quickly, but that's been with me for about 15 years now. I hope you see full recovery.

[Thinkimjob]

My grandma has bouts of terrible vertigo, (due to an inner ear problem, so I don't know whether this might help in your case, or not).

Her dr has her lie on one side for half an hour, then slowly, slowly, slowly roll onto her other side and lie there for another half hour.

Apparently the fluid smoothes out the tiny hairs lining your ears. She says it works and it also helps her tinnitus. She has to do it every day, and even then it's not a perfect cure.

[Andy75]

I tried it to help with mild vertigo when reading. Even the tech admitted that she wasn't sure if it would help alleviate the vertigo due to MS (cerebellum lesions). My test results improved some weeks and then declined the next week. I didn't feel like it helped that much.

I hope it works for you.

[nurcindy3]

Dizziness and Vertigo

I was dx'd 18 years ago. Dizziness was my first symptom and has never, ever, gone away completely. I've heard of vestibular training and not sure if it helps folks with MS.

Recently I have been practicing Yoga with Baron Baptiste (a free yoga video offered by Biogen.) After doing the Downward facing Dog, High Plank, tree pose,etc...I find that it is very much like vestibular training. I did not do well at first, falling with almost every pose, but with continued practice I have found that it does help somewhat with my balance issues.

I suggest you give it a try, but remember it takes practice and use a chair or wall for balance so you don't fall.

[mjan]

I was dx'd 18 years ago. Dizziness was my first symptom and has never, ever, gone away completely. I've heard of vestibular training and not sure if it helps folks with MS.

Recently I have been practicing Yoga with Baron Baptiste (a free yoga video offered by Biogen.) After doing the Downward facing Dog, High Plank, tree pose,etc...I find that it is very much like vestibular training. I did not do well at first, falling with almost every pose, but with continued practice I have found that it does help somewhat with my balance issues.

I suggest you give it a try, but remember it takes practice and use a chair or wall for balance so you don't fall.

Well thanks for that news. I DO have a yoga video for MS and never tried it because I DO fall when I move my head down. I think the Vestibular therapy is helping a little. She warned me it would may not correct it completely.

But tell me, what is your dizziness like. You said you have had it all this time. Would you describe it more please?

Thanks, Jan

[Leeaura]

Jan,

I've been plagued w dizziness, balance issues, etc for 25+ years. I've been to ENT's and docs (not therapy) to no avail.

I just found out that there is a sub-specialty doc called a neurotologist! Supposed to b an ENT that specializes in ENT problems AS THEY RELATE TO THE BRAIN! This sounds like it could b an MSer's dream. It will def b my next stop....

[mjan]

Leeaura, I have never ever heard of a Neurotologist. I bet there are few and far between.

What this PT therapist told me is that she is trained to help the brain-ear (vestibular system) and bottom of feet all comunicate together to assist balance and correct dizziness.

I DO seem some improvement, but had a horrible attack turning my head for traffice right before seeing her last week and it spoiled the whole session. I thought I would vomit, and was soo spacey. It ruined the whole day, putting me back in bed.

I wonder how many sessions will help. ANY improvement would improve this imbalance/dizzies I'll accept

Jan

[lusciousleaves]

Oh, how miserable. I kind of know that feeling, as I've had a couple of experiences in the past when I had to lie down and not move my head at all, or I'd toss cookies. Thankfully, they were short lived and didn't linger more than a few hours.

Leeaura reminded me. There is a neuro-otologist at Northwestern U in Chicago. Timothy Hein is his name, IIRC. He's got a lot of info online. I'm not sure if it's too far of a drive, but it's probably not more than an hour from your location?

[mjan]

A-ha! Turns out there are two Neurotologists in Milwaukee, one is just down teh street from me!

They have 3 specialties in ear, nose throat, head&neck, including vestibular. I'll keep that in my back pocket.

Jan

[nurcindy3]

Well thanks for that news. I DO have a yoga video for MS and never tried it because I DO fall when I move my head down. I think the Vestibular therapy is helping a little. She warned me it would may not correct it completely.

But tell me, what is your dizziness like. You said you have had it all this time. Would you describe it more please?

Thanks, Jan

Sure. My dizziness feels like my head is spinning all the time. I "wall walk" a lot and I do use a cane. When doing a lot of bending and moving my head there are times that I experience vertigo that makes it difficult to stand at all. Probably why I fell when trying to do the "downward facing dog" LOL. Still I think it has helped me some.

[deb46]

I have suffered from this for years and lately it is getting worse. My neuro just raised my dose of clonazepam and I take antivert which used to help a lot, but doesn't seem to help as much anymore.

This is about to drive me crazy and I am thinking I may have to start using a walker to help with balance.