Dizziness and Vertigo in Edmonton: How Vestibular Physiotherapy Helps
Dizziness and vertigo in Edmonton: how BPPV is identified and treated, what other causes look like, and the red flags that need medical care first.
Dizziness that spins and changes with head position is usually a mechanical inner ear problem, and it often responds to a specific repositioning treatment rather than to medication. The most common cause, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, is identified with positional testing and treated with a manoeuvre that many people respond to within one to three visits.
Why balance is a three-part system
Steadiness depends on the inner ear, vision, and the position sense coming from joints and muscles. When those three agree, you feel stable. When one is disrupted or they conflict, you get dizziness, spinning, or unsteadiness. That is why dizziness can arise from the ear, the neck, the eyes, or blood pressure, and why the assessment works through those rather than assuming one.
BPPV and how it is treated
Small crystals that normally sit in one part of the inner ear become displaced into a semicircular canal. Head movement then shifts fluid the canal was not built to move, and the brain briefly receives a false signal of spinning.
The pattern is distinctive: short, intense spinning triggered by rolling over in bed, lying back, or tipping the head up, usually lasting under a minute. Positional testing identifies which canal and which side. A repositioning manoeuvre then guides the crystals back where they belong.
When it is something else
- Vestibular neuritis. Sudden, severe, lasting days, often after a viral illness, then weeks of unsteadiness that responds to graded retraining.
- Reduced function on one side. Trouble focusing when the head moves, treated with gaze stability work.
- Cervicogenic dizziness. Coming from the neck, common after whiplash, needing neck and sensorimotor work rather than repositioning.
- Blood pressure related lightheadedness on standing, a different mechanism entirely.
Red flags that need a doctor first
Seek prompt medical care if dizziness comes with sudden severe headache, double vision, difficulty speaking or swallowing, one-sided weakness or numbness, new hearing loss, or fainting.
What an assessment involves
About an hour. History carries real weight here: how long episodes last, what triggers them, whether it spins or sways, and what you have stopped doing. Testing covers eye movement, positional tests, gaze stability, and balance on different surfaces. Some tests briefly reproduce symptoms, which is how the problem is located.
Frequently asked questions
Can it come back?
BPPV can recur, which is why patients are taught to recognise the pattern early.
Do I need a referral?
No. Physiotherapy is directly accessible in Alberta. Some extended health plans require a referral for reimbursement.
Should I drive?
Not while having true vertigo episodes. Return to driving is discussed as part of the plan.
Beverly Physiotherapy, 4229 118 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5W 1A6. Call (825) 435-4600 or book at beverlyphysio.ca.