Vertigo and Dizziness Treatment in Edmonton: How Vestibular Physiotherapy Helps
What causes vertigo and BPPV, how vestibular physiotherapy treats it with repositioning manoeuvres, and what to expect at a first appointment in Edmonton.
If the room spins when you roll over in bed, tip your head back, or stand up quickly, the cause is often a treatable inner ear problem called BPPV, and physiotherapy is one of the first-line ways to address it. Vestibular physiotherapy uses specific repositioning and retraining techniques to settle vertigo and rebuild your balance.
At Coronation Physiotherapy in northwest Edmonton, assessment-led vestibular care is part of our practice, and our co-owner Gugan Dakshnamurthy is certified in assessing and treating benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
Key takeaways
- Vertigo is a false sense of spinning or movement, most commonly caused by BPPV, an inner ear condition.
- Vestibular physiotherapy assesses the cause and uses repositioning manoeuvres, gaze stabilisation and balance retraining to address it.
- Many people notice a meaningful change within a small number of sessions, though everyone responds differently.
- You do not need a doctor referral to see a physiotherapist for dizziness in Alberta.
What is vertigo, and how is it different from dizziness?
Dizziness is a broad word people use for feeling lightheaded, faint, unsteady or off. Vertigo is more specific: it is the false sensation that you or the room around you is spinning or moving when it is not. Vertigo usually points to a problem in the vestibular system, the balance organs of the inner ear and the nerves connecting them to the brain.
Because dizziness can come from many sources, the first job of a physiotherapist is a careful assessment to work out which type you have and where it is coming from. That is what allows treatment to be targeted rather than guessed.
What causes BPPV?
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is the most common cause of vertigo. Inside your inner ear are tiny calcium crystals that help sense head movement. In BPPV some of these crystals become dislodged and drift into one of the ear’s fluid-filled canals, where they send confusing signals to the brain during certain head positions.
That is why BPPV vertigo tends to be brief and position triggered: rolling over in bed, lying down, looking up, or bending forward. The spinning is often intense but usually lasts under a minute at a time. BPPV can follow a head injury or an inner ear infection, or simply appear with age, and it becomes more common after 50.
How does physiotherapy treat vertigo and BPPV?
Vestibular physiotherapy is a structured, evidence-based approach to dizziness and balance problems. After identifying the affected ear and canal through positional testing, your physiotherapist selects the appropriate technique. Common components include:
- Canalith repositioning manoeuvres, such as the Epley manoeuvre, to guide the displaced crystals back where they belong. This directly addresses classic BPPV.
- Gaze stabilisation exercises that retrain the reflex keeping your vision steady when your head moves.
- Habituation exercises that gradually reduce your system’s sensitivity to the movements that provoke symptoms.
- Balance and gait retraining to restore steadiness and confidence on your feet.
What happens at your first appointment
We start with your history: what provokes the symptoms, how long each episode lasts, and what else is going on. Then we perform positional testing. The Dix-Hallpike test identifies posterior canal involvement and a roll test checks the horizontal canal. The eye movement each test produces tells us which canal and which side is affected.
If the testing confirms BPPV, we usually treat it in the same appointment with a repositioning manoeuvre, then retest to check the response. You will get clear guidance on what to expect over the next day or two.
Positional testing can briefly provoke your symptoms, so some patients prefer not to drive straight afterwards. Bringing someone with you is sensible if your vertigo is strong or frequent.
When dizziness needs medical assessment first
Not all dizziness is BPPV. Seek medical assessment promptly if your dizziness is constant rather than positional, or if it comes with hearing loss, severe headache, double vision, slurred speech, or weakness. Tell us either way and we will point you to the right place rather than treating the wrong thing.
Booking vestibular physiotherapy in Edmonton
No referral is needed in Alberta. If the spinning is affecting your sleep, your driving or your confidence on stairs, a vestibular assessment is the fastest way to find out what is causing it and whether it can be repositioned.
