Hi Friends,
I wanted to give you an update on my appointment with the Certified Vestibular Therapist (CVT). First off, I should say that I should have been going to her initially. She started the appointment by asking about my surgery, asking me what types of symptoms I was still having and asking me what I've done thus far to try to correct it. She then went on to do some testing. I followed the pen with my eyes, but then she had me quickly move my eyes by telling me where to look...nose, pen, and then quick nose-pen-nose. No one has ever had me do that. I then sat in a chair about 10 feet from the wall. There was a chart taped to the wall. It was similar to an eye chart, but with many more lines. She asked me to read the smallest line that I could. It was the 3rd line up. Then she stood behind me, held my head in her hands and began to move it side to side. She asked me to start at the top and read the lines. I read the first line, but could only get the first letter of the second line. She stopped and told me it was no wonder I feel the way I do. A person with no vestibular deficits would normally only have two lines in-between what they read at rest and what they read while head is being moved side to side. I have ten lines in-between!!
The next test was wearing the goggles and watching my eyeballs after moving my head side to side. She said I had a small amount of Nystagmus. I then stood on a cushion with my arms crossed in front of me. Within seconds of telling me to close my eyes, I was falling over.
After the testing was complete and she had me show her what exercises I was doing, I discovered that I've been doing it all wrong!!
I don't need to look straight ahead and have my eyes follow an object. I am perfectly fine with that while my head is stationary. I do need to look at a target (letter on a piece of paper) and move my head side to side and up and down. However, I was doing it wrong! I was doing full head movement...shoulder to shoulder and ceiling to floor. These movements aren't supposed to be big movements. Instead, I am to move my head about the distance so that it seems my nose is lined up with each side of the paper. Start slow and progress to a faster speed as long as the letter remains in focus. You do each way for 60 seconds, 2 times per session and 4-5 sessions per day. As always, these eye exercises will provoke some dizziness. It lasts only about 10-15 seconds. She said to work through it, but slow down if that helps.
The next thing I was doing wrong was when I would walk up and down the hallway moving my head side to side. She said that I should walk five steps looking to the right, look ahead and then five steps looking to the left. I should repeat that sequence 10-30 times, one session per day. Do the same looking up and down. The CVT said that I should be able to focus in on what I'm walking past. If not, then I am going to feel out of sorts. She said to also do this while in the mall and grocery store.
Lastly, the only standing exercise that she prescribed was standing on a cushion or pillow in the corner of the room. Arms crossed, eyes closed for 30 seconds, repeat five times, one session per day.
I am sharing all of this with you because I know that there are those who cannot afford to go to a physical therapist or are not going to a "certified vestibular therapist". If you feel like you're not getting better, try these and see how you do. I will try to remember to update on this subject each week so you can see if it's working for me. I pray that I have finally found the answer.
I truly appreciate all the support I get from this forum.
Lisa
P.S. Sorry for the long post.
