“Vertigo”, generally known as “dizziness and balance disorder”, is actually a symptom that can be experienced due to many underlying causes. Neurology Specialist Associate Professor Burcu Örmeci explained that vertigo, which cannot be treated with drugs, becomes chronic and whose cause is unknown, can be treated with the “Vestibular rehabilitation” method, in which the perception of balance in the brain is re-modulated.
The problem can be of different severity from simple and short-term attacks of dizziness to prevent the person from continuing his/her daily life. Treatment is performed depending on the cause in 30% of the public, which can be due to many reasons such as positional vertigo, anemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, brain tumors due to the movement of crystals in the ear. However, an exact cause cannot be determined in almost 70% of cases. Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital Neurology Specialist Associate Professor Burcu Örmeci said that with the vestibular rehabilitation (Neurorehabilitation) method applied in very few centers, they achieved successful results especially in chronic vertigo patients whose exact cause could not be found clearly. However, she pointed out that in order for the method to be applied, the possible causes of dizziness should be investigated and evaluated.
Stating that no human being is in 100 percent balance against gravity, Associate Professor Doctor Burcu Örmeci said, “As gravity pulls us left and right, our brain subconsciously corrects the body, which actually causes us to oscillate constantly. We do this without realizing it. However, when a person starts to listen to himself too much, the brain begins to perceive these oscillations that it should not have. This causes a false perception in the form of constant dizziness and balance disorder. This situation creates a constant desire to lie down in patients, and the patients begin to fear standing up and walking. In the vestibular rehabilitation (Neurorehabilitation) method, the threshold for the patients to perceive the natural oscillation is increased, thus making these oscillations that should not be perceived again not perceiving, the patient learns what to do against gravity ”.
The patient is first evaluated in terms of neurological and ENT. The balance system in both the ear and the brain is being examined. After examinations, patients who are found to be orthopedic or a problem related to the middle ear are referred to the relevant physician. Although the MR imaging and laboratory results are normal, patients who have no structural problems and who have functional impairments are included in the Vestibular Rehabilitation (Neurorehabilitation) program. However, this method can also be used in patients who have received medication for a certain period of time, but did not respond.
Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital Neurology Specialist Associate Professor Doctor Burcu Örmeci gives the following information about this personal vestibular rehabilitation (Neurorehabilitation) method, which aims to perceive and correct one’s own balance more accurately; “In fact, it is possible to compare this process to physical therapy. Just as a person whose arm muscle is not working learns to re-work the arm muscles after physical therapy, we start vestibular rehabilitation by first determining in which areas and how bad the patient’s balance is. The personalized rehabilitation program consists of computer-aided programs that last about 30-40 minutes three times a week. The whole program takes four weeks. Its effect usually lasts long, but rehabilitation can be repeated in cases where the vestibular system (balance system) is disturbed again, such as the aging of the patient and the emergence of different diseases.
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