- Anybody in your family with
dizziness or balance problems?
- Balance disorders involve
many centers of the body.
Ears, eyes, joints, brain, or
the outputs through the spine.
So you can have dizziness
or a balance disorder
with a defect anywhere along that pathway.
It's important that the source
of the problem be identified
so that appropriate
treatments can be taken.
- At Penn Medicine's
Dizziness and Balance Center,
we see patients that
have a myriad of symptoms
that can range from true
spinning vertigo, lightheadedness
and a faint feeling,
unsteadiness, risk for falls,
and actual frequent falls.
It is very common for patients to come to
the Dizziness and Balance
Center here at Penn
and say, "Why am I having this testing?
"I've already been seen
at a balance center,
"I've already had this testing."
And then, shortly into
the diagnostic studies,
they'll admit, "I have never
had these tests before."
We have the most comprehensive
diagnostic equipment
which allows us to have a
better chance of coming up
with both diagnosis as well
as a path to treatment.
Video nystagmography,
rotational chair studies,
video head impulse testing,
computerized dynamic posturography.
In our region, we are
the only center that has
all of these diagnostic studies.
And because we have this
state-of-the-art equipment,
and because we have providers
with years and years
of experience, we are able to
get answers much better than
a lot of places that call
themselves balance centers
but really are doing a cursory look
at the vestibular system,
not a very thorough look,
which is what we're
able to do here at Penn.
When patients walk back
for the first time,
their immediate question
is whether they're going
to feel dizzy with this testing.
And it's very rare that
I don't have a patient
that can get through the entire battery.
- Most of the dizziness and
motions that may be provoked
during the testing are temporary.
Most patients walk out of our
appointments feeling just fine
and they're able to drive themselves home.
- Many treatments related
to dizziness and balance
actually come from our
physical therapy partners
that are trained in vestibular rehab.
Some treatments are
medical treatments that
our physician colleagues can
provide to these patients.
We are fortunate enough to
have a multidisciplinary team
that's working on each individual patient
that comes through the center.
We rely on the expertise
of not only audiologists
and neuro-otologists
but also neurologists,
neuro-ophthalmologists,
physical therapists,
and we meet regularly to
discuss treatment options,
to discuss our specific
patients, so that we're sure
that we are providing each patient
with an individualized assessment
as well as a path to recovery.
(gentle music)
