Vestibular Rehabilitation After Concussion: How Vertigo Treatment in Edmonton Addresses Post-Concussion Symptoms
If you've suffered a concussion and are still experiencing dizziness, vertigo, or balance problems weeks or months later, you might feel frustrated and concerned about why these symptoms persist. Many people don't realize that concussions often affect the vestibular system—the complex network in your inner ear and brain that controls balance and spatial orientation. Understanding how vestibular rehabilitation therapy Edmonton services address post-concussion vestibular dysfunction might help you recognize that effective treatment exists for the symptoms that have been disrupting your daily life.
Understanding the Vestibular-Concussion Connection
Concussions are brain injuries caused by impact or rapid acceleration and deceleration forces. While most people associate concussions with headaches and cognitive symptoms like confusion or memory problems, vestibular symptoms are extremely common yet often overlooked or misunderstood.
Your vestibular system involves delicate structures in your inner ear that detect head movement and position, combined with brain centers that process this information and coordinate it with visual input and body position sense. Concussion disrupts these systems in several ways including direct damage to inner ear structures from impact forces, brain injury affecting how vestibular information is processed, disrupted communication between vestibular, visual, and proprioceptive systems, and altered blood flow or inflammation affecting vestibular function.
These disruptions create the dizziness, vertigo, and balance problems that significantly impact your ability to work, drive, exercise, or perform daily activities comfortably. Many concussion patients describe feeling like they're on a boat, experiencing spinning sensations, or feeling unsteady and off-balance. These symptoms aren't "in your head"—they reflect real dysfunction in your vestibular system that responds to appropriate treatment.
Common Post-Concussion Vestibular Symptoms
Recognizing vestibular symptoms after concussion helps you understand when seeking vertigo treatment Edmonton services becomes appropriate. Post-concussion vestibular dysfunction manifests in various ways.
Dizziness represents one of the most common complaints, often described as lightheadedness, a floating sensation, or general unsteadiness that worsens with head movements or busy visual environments. This dizziness might be constant or triggered by specific activities like turning your head quickly, bending over, or walking through crowded spaces.
Vertigo involves a spinning or whirling sensation, either feeling like you're spinning or like your surroundings are moving around you. Post-concussion vertigo might occur with certain head positions, when rolling over in bed, or when looking up or down. Unlike general dizziness, vertigo has a distinct rotational quality that many people find particularly distressing.
Balance problems make you feel unsteady on your feet, particularly in challenging situations like walking in the dark, on uneven surfaces, or in crowded environments where visual input is complex. You might notice yourself reaching for walls or furniture for support, or feeling particularly unsteady when closing your eyes.
Visual disturbances associated with vestibular dysfunction include difficulty focusing when moving, blurred vision with head movements, sensitivity to busy visual patterns, and problems with depth perception. These visual symptoms occur because your vestibular system normally works closely with your visual system to stabilize your gaze during head movements.
Motion sensitivity develops when riding in cars, watching moving objects, or being in environments with lots of visual motion causes increased dizziness or nausea. This sensitivity often leads to avoidance of activities that were previously enjoyable.
How Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy Works
Vestibular rehabilitation therapy Edmonton providers use evidence-based approaches specifically designed to address post-concussion vestibular dysfunction. Understanding these treatment methods helps you recognize how therapy might support your recovery.
Comprehensive assessment forms the foundation of effective treatment. Your therapist evaluates your vestibular function through various tests examining eye movements and gaze stability, balance under different sensory conditions, positional testing for specific types of vertigo, neck function as it relates to dizziness, and how vestibular symptoms affect your daily activities. This thorough assessment identifies which aspects of your vestibular system are affected and guides treatment selection.
Gaze stabilization exercises help retrain the connection between your vestibular system and eye movements. These exercises involve focusing on targets while moving your head in various directions, gradually increasing speed and complexity as your tolerance improves. Gaze stabilization is crucial for reducing the blurred vision and dizziness that occur with head movements.
Balance training progressively challenges your balance system under various conditions including different surfaces, reduced visual input, and dual-task situations where you perform cognitive or physical tasks while maintaining balance. This training helps your brain relearn how to integrate vestibular, visual, and proprioceptive information effectively.
Habituation exercises expose you to movements or positions that provoke your symptoms in a controlled, gradual manner. Repeated exposure helps your brain adapt to these triggers, reducing the intensity of symptoms over time. While this might seem counterintuitive, controlled symptom provocation is an important component of vestibular rehabilitation.
Canalith repositioning procedures address specific types of positional vertigo where small crystals in your inner ear become displaced. If assessment reveals this type of vertigo, your vertigo treatment Edmonton provider performs specific head and body movements that guide these crystals back to their proper location, often providing dramatic symptom relief.
What to Expect During Recovery
Understanding the recovery process through vestibular rehabilitation therapy helps you approach treatment with realistic expectations and patience during what might be a gradual improvement process.
Initial sessions focus on thorough assessment and education about your vestibular dysfunction, beginning gentle exercises appropriate for your current tolerance, and teaching you strategies for managing symptoms during daily activities. Your therapist provides a home exercise program that's crucial for recovery, as consistent practice between sessions drives improvement.
As treatment progresses, exercises become more challenging and more closely mimic real-world activities that have been difficult for you. Your therapist monitors your response carefully, advancing the program based on your tolerance and improvement rather than following a predetermined timeline.
Recovery timelines vary considerably depending on concussion severity, how long symptoms have been present before starting treatment, your overall health and age, and your consistency with home exercises. Some people notice improvement within a few weeks, while others require several months of treatment. Your vestibular rehabilitation therapy Edmonton provider tracks your progress through reassessment of your symptoms and functional abilities.
Many people experience temporary increases in symptoms when beginning vestibular exercises or advancing to more challenging activities. This is normal and expected. Your therapist teaches you how to distinguish between acceptable symptom provocation during exercises and signs that you're overdoing activities.
When to Seek Vestibular Rehabilitation
You should consider contacting a vertigo treatment Edmonton provider if you're experiencing persistent dizziness, vertigo, or balance problems more than a few weeks after concussion, if symptoms are interfering with your ability to work, drive, or perform daily activities, if you're avoiding activities due to fear of triggering symptoms, or if your healthcare provider has told you to "wait and see" but symptoms aren't improving.
Early intervention often leads to faster recovery, but vestibular rehabilitation helps even when symptoms have been present for months or years. It's never too late to seek treatment for post-concussion vestibular dysfunction.
Moving Forward With Confidence
Post-concussion vestibular symptoms might be frustrating and disruptive, but they respond well to appropriate treatment through vestibular rehabilitation therapy. Understanding that your dizziness, vertigo, and balance problems have a treatable cause empowers you to seek the care that addresses these symptoms rather than simply hoping they'll eventually resolve on their own.
If you're experiencing persistent vestibular symptoms after concussion, reaching out to vestibular rehabilitation therapy Edmonton providers who understand post-concussion dysfunction might support your recovery and help you regain the stability and confidence you've been missing since your injury.
