Dizziness has many causes, and they are not all the same problem.
"Dizzy" covers several different experiences. Light-headedness, as though you might faint. Vertigo, a false sense that you or the room is turning. Or a general unsteadiness that is the hardest to describe and the easiest to feel. These can come from the inner ear, from blood pressure, from medication, from the neck, from vision, or from several of those at once.
Working out which one you have is a medical question, and it belongs with your physician. What is squarely a physical therapy question is the part we can see and measure: what the dizziness has done to your balance, your walking, and your willingness to move around. That part responds well to training, and it is the part that decides whether an episode puts you on the floor.
What people mean when they say they are dizzy.
Describing it accurately helps your physician and your therapist more than almost anything else you can do. Sudden severe vertigo alongside a bad headache, double vision, slurred speech, weakness or numbness on one side, trouble swallowing, chest pain or fainting is an emergency: call 911 or go to an emergency department rather than waiting for an appointment.
A Spinning Sensation
A distinct feeling that you or the room is turning, often set off by rolling over in bed or tipping your head back.
Light-Headed on Standing
The grey, faint, faraway feeling that arrives in the first few seconds after you get up out of a chair or out of bed.
Unsteadiness Without Spinning
No spin at all, just a constant sense that the floor is less reliable than it used to be and that you have to concentrate to walk.
Worse With Head Movement
Symptoms that spike when you turn your head quickly, look up at a high shelf, or scan along a supermarket aisle.
Busy Places Set It Off
Crowds, patterned floors or moving traffic that leave you woozy and wanting to fix your eyes on the ground.
Walking Wide or Holding On
A broader, slower, more careful walking pattern, or a hand on the wall, developed to cope with feeling off balance.
We work on what the dizziness has done to your movement.
Being straight with you about scope matters here. We do not diagnose the cause of dizziness, and this page is not where you will find out what is behind yours. If it has not been investigated yet, start with your physician, who can properly sort through the inner ear, blood pressure, medication and neurological questions. Where a specific inner ear cause needs its own specific treatment, that referral should come from them.
What we do is the movement side, and it is not a small part. Your licensed physical therapist looks at how steady you are standing, turning and walking, how much your legs and trunk are contributing, and how much of your caution has hardened into habit. From there it is balance retraining on the open floor with cones and balance discs, gait work, and Pilates-based hip and trunk strengthening, progressed at a pace that does not leave you feeling worse. Falling is the risk that dizziness carries, and reducing it is the goal.
If the cause of your dizziness has not been looked into yet, see your physician first. We are in-network with six major carriers, and most patients are seen within 48 business hours or less.
Request Your Visit
In Texas you can see a licensed physical therapist without a doctor's referral for up to 10 consecutive business days. We are in-network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, Medicare Part B, Tricare and United Healthcare.
Tell us how the dizziness affects your day, and what your physician has said so far. We call back to confirm a time and check your benefits before you arrive, usually within 48 business hours.
You’re all set.
We’ll reach out within one business day to confirm your appointment. If you need to speak with us sooner, call us directly.