Balance Center

The Balance Center at Southern Ocean Medical Center is designed to diagnose and treat balance or dizziness disorders such as dizziness, vertigo, difficulty judging distance and increased risk of falling.

A board certified audiologist performs a series of painless tests to diagnose patients and determine the best vestibular (balance) therapy treatment. Balance treatment helps prevent falls, serious injuries, and unnecessary hospital visits. People with a history of balance problems, chronic dizziness and an increased risk of falling can benefit from treatment.

The following balance disorder symptoms are treated at the Balance Center at Southern Ocean Medical Center:

• Dizziness
• Difficulty getting up from a chair or out of bed
• Numbness or loss of sensation in the legs
• Trouble walking up or down inclined surfaces
• Loss of balance when standing still, walking or both
• Needing to lean on something when walking
• Feeling unsteady

Balance testing is recommended for people who:

• Use a cane or walker
• Have fallen more than once in the last year
• Currently take three or more prescription medications
• Have had a stroke
• Have had any neck or head trauma
• Have blurred or double vision
• Have been knocked unconscious
• Have increased sensitivity to light and/or sound
• Have frequent migraines
• Experience ringing, buzzing or other sounds in their ears

What is Vestibular Therapy?

Southern Ocean Medical Center’s physical therapists are specially trained in vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT), an exercise-based program designed to promote central nervous system compensation for inner ear deficits. VRT can help with a variety of vestibular problems, including benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and the reduced inner ear function on one or both sides associated with Meniere’s disease, labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis. Even individuals with long-term, unresolved inner ear disorders may benefit from VRT. VRT can also help people with acute or abrupt loss of vestibular function following surgery for vestibular problems.

Learn more about common balance tests.