When a person suffers from problems with balance, it dramatically impacts life. Issues like difficulty concentrating and sleeping and the constant worry of falling can significantly disrupt someone’s way of living. Sometimes, it takes a toll on the body and mind, and an individual can respond emotionally to this health issue. Emotional responses to the condition include fear, panic, and anxiety.
Vestibular Disorders
These are connected or attributed to the changes in the position of the fluid inside your ear canals. A sensor in the ear sends out information to the brain that contributes to an individual’s sense of balance. Some things can affect the signals in the vestibular system, and these cause symptoms.
Dizziness and vertigo are the most common signs of a vestibular balance disorder. Tinnitus, a consistent ringing or swishing in the ear, is also a symptom. However, underlying factors are generally the culprit, and the disorder might only be secondary. It can affect anybody but is more common in adults.
Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness
What is PPPD? How does it severely affect one person? This chronic condition is typically described as a continuous sensation of floating or rocking without nausea. PPPD is triggered by complex visual environments, panic attacks, or standing up. It is challenging because PPPD can even last for months.
With PPPD, the brain’s ability to interpret space or motion following an alarming event like the ones mentioned above is jeopardized. Instead of calming down, the brain fails to reset, maintaining the abnormal perception, thus triggering the dizziness or rocking to continue.
Gentle Treatment Alternatives
Most patients go to vestibular audiologists for assistance. A battery of tests, including hearing, visual, and positional testing, might be performed to figure out if the issues are linked to the vestibular system. Patients are referred to other specialists if all tests are normal and non-vestibular. Abnormal results would lead to additional vestibular testing to determine the required treatment.
Some audiologists would recommend the usual medicines for vertigo. Prochlorperazine, like Stemetil, or antihistamines, is the most common prescription medication. In case you are wondering, how does Stemetil help vertigo? The answer is that these kinds of medication work as blockers of chemicals in the brain. However, a growing number of people are choosing other kinds of treatment to manage their condition.
Physical Therapy
A milder method to cope is through physical therapy. Therapists give patients walking and balancing exercises and carefully monitor each session. Aside from exercises, therapists may provide videos that stimulate real-life activities. Eventually, therapy will include everyday activities that are planned to prevent unneeded triggers. PT is usually done under medication if the case is more severe.
Diet Change
Modifications in a patient’s diet often assist with managing a vestibular disorder. A thoughtful diet can give an individual the appropriate nutrition that benefits cells, including those within the brain, inner ear, and muscles. If a vestibular diet is introduced, even metabolism can be improved to provide additional energy and heal dizziness or tinnitus.
Neuroplasticity
As the name suggests, neuroplasticity is a procedure that involves changes in the brain’s structure and function. The body’s nervous system is trained to react to stimuli with adaptation, habituation, and substitution. This treatment permits the brain to relearn to accept external factors, although distorted, and get used to them. The brain compensates and modifies function and receives the stimuli as correct.
Success Stories
Research studies and personal testimonies from patients that selected gentle treatments show improvement in a patient’s way of living. These types of interventions are becoming popular with word of mouth, and a growing number of health professionals are more open to these therapeutic solutions.
