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Rehabilitation Program to Relieve Vertigo |
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From: The Daily News, July 6, 2002 - By ALYSSA HARVEY
Georgia McClard felt like she was literally floating through life about two years ago.
It wasn't a good sensation for the Lafayette, Tenn., woman. She had severe dizziness that caused her to
fall without warning. "I never knew when it would happen," she said. "I have fallen all over this house, the garage, the bathroom. I had a new shower built because I was afraid to climb over in the bathtub."
McClard's falls weren't limited to her home. She recalls becoming ill during a visit to Phoenix.
"I went to Phoenix about three years ago and fell back and got deathly sick," she remembered.
"I stayed in bed most of the next day."
A more severe fall made 84-year-old McClard pay more attention to her plight. "I fell in my gravel drive," she said.
"I had to get five stitches."
McClard visited a doctor who diagnosed her with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, a feeling of spinning
that may be mild or violent. The illness is thought to be caused by dislodged salt crystals in the fluid
of the inner ear.
Rather than prescribing more drugs, which can make the user drowsy, the doctor suggested
McClard try Graves-Gilbert Clinic's vertigo rehabilitation program, which uses a series of head exercise
movements to move the crystals to a position that doesn't affect balance, said Linda Pillow,
a physical therapist and co-director of Graves-Gilbert Clinic's physical therapy division.
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"We have treated quite a few people for this disorder," she said "Three is the number of times most patients need to come. Sometimes it's more. We have a nearly 80 percent cure rate."
The average patient for vertigo rehab is over 40 years old, is taking medication for vertigo and has
been having problems for three months to two years. The illness occurs more often in women than men
and generally debilitates the patient, Pillow said. |
"They need help around the house and keep activities mainly at the home," she said.
"A lot of people have had to quit driving. They lose their independence."
After a few sessions, patients are often back to their normal lives, she said.
"A lot of our patients have come in with a cane and leave without one," she said.
McClard believes that the program is a good one. Her daughter, Susan Jones of Bowling Green, would
accompany her to the clinic where Pillow would put McClard through the paces.
The sensation of being treated was disconcerting for McClard at first.
"It was awful," she recalled. "I got so dizzy that I thought I was going to float away."
After about six sessions, McClard was doing much better, Jones said. "Her quality of life has gotten better," she said.
Her mother agreed.
"It's a wonderful thing that she does," McClard said of Pillow.
Now McClard rarely has dizziness and is driving and working a part-time job.
"I got cured," she said. "I hope nobody has what I had. I didn't know what was happening to me."
For more information about Graves-Gilbert Clinic's vertigo rehabilitation program, contact the clinic at (270) 780-0552.
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