Article Summary
During vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT), doing exercises at home is important. A physical therapist (PT) or occupational therapist (OT) will create a personalized exercise plan for you. It’s not recommended to do these exercises without a diagnosis and plan from a vestibular expert. Remember to check with a doctor before starting these exercises to make sure they’re right for you! These exercises can be helpful, but they don’t work for everyone. These exercises can take time to kick in and might make your balance or dizziness feel worse at first.
The Vestibular Disorders Association is not responsible for any results from doing these exercises.
Can balance retraining exercises help with dizziness?
Balance retraining is a type of therapy that can help you feel better if you’re dealing with long-lasting dizziness. However, it’s important to know the difference between two types of dizziness:
Vertigo is a strong spinning feeling that comes on suddenly, lasts for hours, and can make you feel sick. These attacks usually happen when there are changes in the inner ear. Balance exercises won’t stop these attacks, but they also won’t cause them. If you are having these attacks often (like every six weeks or more), these exercises won’t help you right now because recovery takes time.
After a vertigo attack, your brain needs to adjust to the changes in the balance signals and can feel long-lasting dizziness and imbalance. These exercises CAN help speed up this recovery. Even after feeling better, you might have another vertigo attack, and you can start over with the exercises to recover more quickly. Many people with chronic dizziness find that these exercises help them feel more confident about managing their symptoms.
What Causes Dizziness and imbalance?
Many medical issues can affect your balance. If your dizziness comes from your inner ear, it may be called vertigo or vestibular imbalance. This can happen due to a virus, ear infection, or just normal aging. Sometimes doctors can’t find the cause, but exercises can help you feel better. Dizziness often happens with quick movements, like looking behind you or being in crowded places.
Is Dizziness Dangerous?
Dizziness rarely means a severe health problem, but it can be scary and lead to issues like nausea and lack of concentration. People may avoid moving around, which can lead to other problems, like stiff necks or not being physically fit. Staying active and maintaining good balance is important as you age.
How Can I Get Better?
Unfortunately, there’s no medicine that can fix balance problems, but your doctor might give you medications to help with dizziness and nausea. Sometimes dizziness improves on its own in a month or two if you stay active. You can also do specific exercises to speed up recovery.
How Do Balance Exercises Help?
Recovering from dizziness is like getting used to being on a boat. At first, it feels unstable, but with time, your body learns to adjust. By practicing balance exercises, you can help your system learn to cope and feel better.
How Do I Know If These Exercises Are Right for Me?
Studies show that about 75-80% of people who try these exercises feel better in a few months. To see if they help, give them a try. If they make you dizzy, that’s a good sign; your body needs that practice!
Are These Exercises Safe?
These exercises are safe since they mimic normal movements you do every day. If you feel more dizzy at first, it means the exercises are working, but you can start slowly. Avoid doing these exercises if you experience: sharp, severe or prolonged pain in your neck, head or ear; a feeling of fullness in the ear; deafness or noises in the ear; fainting with loss of consciousness or blacking out; double vision; numbness, weakness or tingling in your arms and legs.
HOW TO DESIGN THE RIGHT EXERCISE PROGRAM FOR YOU
Everyone has different lifestyles, and what works for one person may not work for another. This guide will help you create an exercise program that fits you.
Step 1: Find a Good Time** Pick two times during the day to do your exercises, and write them down. Aim to practice daily, or even twice a day. Each session will take less than 10 minutes.
Step 2: Choose a Safe Place** Find a space where you can sit and move around safely, like next to your bed or sofa.
Step 3: Select Your Exercises** Try the timed exercise scoring test to see which exercises to practice this week. You may want a friend or family member to help time you.
Exercise Scores Help You Decide
After you finish, wait for 10 seconds and then rate your dizziness from 0 (none) to 3 (strong). Mark this score with an “S” for sitting.
- 0: No need to do the exercise.
- 1 or 2: Practice every day.
- 3: Do it slowly at first.
BASIC EXERCISES FOR DIZZINESS
- Shake: Turn your head side to side 10 times in 10 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds, then repeat.
- Nod: Move your head up and down 10 times in 10 seconds. Rest, then repeat.
- Shake, Eyes Closed: Do the shake exercise with your eyes closed. Rest, then repeat.
- Nod, Eyes Closed: Nod your head with eyes closed. Rest, then repeat.
- Shake/Stare: Shake your head while staring at your finger pointing up. Rest, then repeat.
- Nod/Stare: Nod while looking at your finger pointing sideways. Rest, then repeat.
ADJUSTING YOUR EXERCISE PROGRAM
When starting, you may feel more dizzy, but don’t skip your exercises! Regular practice is key to recovery. Some days will be better than others, which is normal. After a few weeks of daily practice, you’ll likely feel less dizzy. Eventually, you can do the exercises faster.
Once certain exercises don’t make you dizzy anymore, you can make them harder:
- If you can do an exercise easily while sitting, try it standing.
- If you can do it standing, try doing it while walking back and forth.
Once you can do all the exercises at full speed and with good balance, you can stop doing that specific exercise.
Adding Activities to Your Exercise Routine
Getting more physical activity in your daily life helps improve your balance, especially if you’ve stopped doing things because of dizziness. Here are some activities you can try each week:
- Ball Games: Catching a soft ball is great for your balance. Start by sitting down and throwing it above your head to catch it. As you get better, try it while standing and then while walking.
- Walking: If you struggle with balance, walking for just five to ten minutes daily can help. Start on flat surfaces, then practice walking on rough ground or slopes. If busy places make you dizzy, take small steps. For example, walk to the end of your street this week and then a little farther next week.
- Sports, Dance, and Exercise: Once your dizziness improves, try sports or dance, like yoga or aerobics, to help get your balance back to normal.
- Traveling: If you feel dizzy while traveling, practice with short trips, like going one or two stops on a bus or taking a quick car ride. Gradually extend the trips as you feel better.
Special Exercises for Dizziness
- Balance: If you have a hard time walking straight, practice balancing. You can try standing on one leg or putting your feet heel to toe.
- Dizziness in Bed: If turning in bed makes you dizzy, sit on the edge, lie down quickly on the side that makes you dizzy, and wait 30 seconds. Sit up quickly, then repeat on the other side. Do this 10 times a day to help!
- Reaching: If reaching up or down makes you dizzy, sit in a chair and practice looking and touching things on the floor, above you, and behind you.
- Vision Dizziness: If stripes or moving lights make you dizzy, put a striped paper on the wall. Practice exercises while focusing on the stripes and try situations that make you dizzy, like watching moving traffic.
Other Resources
Learn more about Vestibular Rehabilitation Exercises from Vestibular Expert, Dr. Timothy Hain,
