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Vestibular Adaptation Exercises

According to the official website of the Atlanta Ear Clinic, vertigo, imbalance, disequilibrium or visual-motor disturbances can be treated with an approach that includes vestibular adaptation exercises. After a patient's balance, neuromuscular function, visual motor skills and vertigo symptoms are assessed, a regimen of vestibular exercise is often prescribed. Under the direction of a physical therapist, patients make specific movements known to alleviate symptoms.

  1. Targeted Gaze Stability Exercises

    • During gaze stability exercises, physical therapists require patients to focus on a target while making small head movements. These exercises help reduce a retinal slip that causes an error signal to the brain resulting in loss of balance, dizziness and fatigue. Other variations of the exercise include using more than one target, raising or lowering the targets, changing positions, adding arm movements, adding complex backgrounds and increasing the speed of head movements.

    Vertigo Habituation Exercises

    • In order to help reduce the symptoms of vertigo, including dizziness, physical therapists often prescribe a regimen of exercises performed to deliberately provoke the vertigo. During these exercises, patients are repeatedly exposed to these movements as well as periods of rest so that vertigo suppression is learned. These exercises typically lead to a decline in dizziness that occurs in specific stages over weeks and months.

    Motion Sensitivity Exercises

    • Patients with vestibular symptoms sometimes have increased sensitivity to motion in certain environments. During sensitivity exercises, therapists require patients to sit in busy environments such as malls or train stations while performing specific head movements. They may also require patients to walk both with foot traffic and against it to gain stability and balance.

    Postural Stability Training Exercises

    • In postural stability training exercises, therapists require patients to perform balancing exercises on a variety of both stable and unstable surfaces. Some of the surfaces include support or stabilization bars while others do not. Later, balance is further challenged by having patients move their heads, track their eye movements or catch objects while balancing on a surface. Performing these exercises requires patients to alter use of their own sensory inputs to help them maintain balance.

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