Finding Vestibular Healthcare Providers
If you or a loved one has struggled with symptoms like dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance, you know how challenging it can be to find a healthcare professional with specialized training in vestibular dysfunction. This can lead to months or even years of misdiagnosis and lack of effective treatment, leaving you literally spinning and unable to perform simple daily tasks.
Getting connected to qualified vestibular healthcare providers early can reduce the time it takes you to get an accurate diagnosis and improve your quality of life. But how do you know what clinic or specialist to choose?
VeDA can guide you on this journey with three helpful resources:
- Healthcare specialty definitions
- How to choose a vestibular healthcare specialist
- Balance Center Definitions
Our healthcare specialty definitions explain the role each provider plays on a multidisciplinary team, from medical doctors (e.g. neurotologist), who provide a diagnosis, to audiologists, who perform testing, to physical therapists, who support the person’s recovery with rehabilitation and lifestyle modifications.
How to choose a vestibular specialist is a guide to the experience, training, and equipment that uniquely qualify a clinician in each specialty to be able to accurately assess, diagnose, and/or treat someone with dizziness and imbalance.
Our new balance center definitions explain the difference between a comprehensive balance center, where all specialists are accessible at one location, a testing center, where a person can go to receive a specialized battery of tests for vestibular function, and a rehabilitation center, dedicated to assessing a person’s functional impairment and developing a customized treatment plan.
For help navigating the complicated landscape of vestibular healthcare, contact VeDA’s Community Resource Coordinator for one-on-one support at [email protected] or by calling (800) 837-8428.
Healthcare professionals interested in qualifying for one of VeDA’s three Balance Centers of Excellence designations can submit an application here.
The following Balance Centers have met the VeDA Balance Center of Excellence criteria:
- Gaylord Specialty Healthcare (Rehabilitation)
- Toronto General Hospital (Comprehensive)
- Equlibrium Physical Therapy (Rehabilitation)
- NL Balance & Dizziness Centre (Rehabilitation)
- Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary (Comprehensive)
- Medical University of South Carolina (Comprehensive)
- University of San Francisco – Balance & Falls Center (Comprehensive)
- Better Balance in Life – Dr. Kimberly Bell, DPT (Rehabilitation)
- Washington University (Comprehensive)
- D’Iberville Dizziness & Balance Rehabilitation (Rehabilitation)