Vestibular rehabilitation and Meniere’s disease

Vestibular rehabilitation is usually used with vertigo patients. The patient is evaluated with tests given by a therapist. Then a course of exercises are given to the patient who can do them at home. The purpose of these exercises is to train the balance system by repetition and that in turn will reduce the dizziness and prevent falls. The most common type of vertigo is BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) which is caused by head movements that disrupts your balance system. Vestibular rehabilitation is very effective as a cure for BPPV.

Of course Meniere’s disease has no cure. What causes the vertigo symptoms are not completely known the most common theory is the excess endolymphatic fluid in the endolymphatic sac. Of course this isn’t the only theory regarding what causes MD. Others believe that it is caused by a virus.

So why should vestibular rehabilitation be used with Meniere’s disease? Some MD patients have little or no problem with their balance between attacks but side effects from those attacks could benefit from therapy.

The side effects are visual dependency which is relying on visual input rather than vestibular information. Or neck stiffness which occurs because the MD patient slows down the speed of their head motion.

Right now I am in the middle of rehab. I think that it has helped with my balance but I know that I can still have a MD at any moment.

A terrific website with lots of information about this subject is
http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/index.html