October is Physical Therapy Month. Did you know most physical therapists have subspecialties? We celebrate, this month and always, the diverse subspecialties of our therapists in areas such as wound care, cancer, geriatrics, pediatrics, women's health and so many more.
At the Clinic and Specialty Center and at several of our community clinics at Hennepin Healthcare we have several physical therapists who have special training in treating dizziness and balance disorders. Between 30% and 65% of people with traumatic brain injury experience dizziness as a symptom. Balance disorders can be caused by diabetes, as an example. This type of physical therapy is called vestibular rehabilitation.
If you have dizziness, you will be evaluated in the clinic using technology like the infrared goggles (seen in the picture on this page) and other high-quality tests to find the cause. Depending on what is causing your dizziness, sometimes it can be resolved in 1-2 visits. Some patients even say the treatment is "magical" because they feel so much better so quickly! Other times it takes several visits to learn exercises which can retrain the brain so that certain movements do not produce dizziness anymore.
If you have been experiencing new dizziness talk to your doctor and see if they think a physical therapy evaluation would be helpful. Your doctor can put in a referral for you to get an assessment from a physical therapist.
