Is Vestibular Therapy the Missing Link in Treating Motion Sensitivity?

Feeling dizzy, unsteady, or overly sensitive to motion can be more than just inconvenient. It can disrupt daily life. Many people struggle with unexplained imbalance, spinning sensations, blurred vision during head movement, or a general feeling of disorientation. If these symptoms sound familiar, you’re not alone. According to the National Institute of Health, up to 70% of people will experience dizziness in their lifetime. One treatment approach that is changing lives is vestibular therapy.

Our vestibular system, located in the inner ear, plays a critical role in keeping us balanced and oriented. When something goes wrong in this system, even simple activities like walking, turning your head, or riding in a car can trigger symptoms. The good news? With the right diagnosis and treatment plan, you can retrain your brain and body to adapt, reducing or even eliminating your symptoms.

Why Motion Sensitivity Happens

Motion sensitivity is often tied to a disruption in the vestibular system. This complex sensory system works with your eyes and muscles to help you maintain balance and understand where your body is in space. When it isn’t working properly, your brain receives mixed signals, which can make movement feel overwhelming or disorienting.

Common causes include:

• Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV): Often triggered by changes in head position, BPPV can cause sudden spinning sensations that last for seconds at a time.

• Vestibular Neuritis: A viral infection affecting the nerve that connects to the vestibular system, leading to intense vertigo lasting hours to days.

• Labyrinthitis: Similar to vestibular neuritis, but also involves hearing loss in the affected ear.

• Meniere’s Disease: Caused by fluid buildup in the inner ear, leading to episodes of vertigo, hearing changes, tinnitus, and ear fullness.

• Vestibular Migraine: A type of migraine that causes dizziness or vertigo, with or without a headache.

• General Imbalance: Especially in older adults, imbalance increases the risk of falls and injury.

Each of these conditions can be accurately diagnosed with advanced testing, which is essential before starting vestibular therapy.

How Vestibular Therapy Works

Vestibular therapy is a specialized form of rehabilitation designed to treat dizziness, imbalance, and motion sensitivity. It uses targeted exercises to help your brain adapt to changes or damage in the vestibular system.

At Hearing & Balance Specialists of Kansas City, we use state-of-the-art diagnostic tools to pinpoint the exact cause of your symptoms. These may include:

• Gans Sensory Organizational Performance Test: Measures balance and fall risk.

• Computerized Dynamic Visual Acuity Testing (CD-VAT): Evaluates how your vestibular system responds to head movement.

• Video Head Impulse Test (vHIT): Tracks rapid eye movements to assess reflexes.

• Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential (VEMP): Analyzes the inner ear’s balance organs.

• Videonystagmography (VNG): Helps determine whether dizziness comes from the ear or brain.

• Rotational Chair Assessment: Tests the vestibulo-ocular reflex, crucial for clear vision during motion.

Once we know what’s wrong, we create a personalized vestibular therapy plan.

The Benefits of Vestibular Therapy

Vestibular therapy aims to retrain your brain and body to compensate for vestibular dysfunction. This can mean:

• Reduced dizziness and vertigo episodes

• Improved balance and coordination

• Greater confidence during movement

• Reduced motion sensitivity when riding in cars, turning your head, or walking in busy environments

• Better overall quality of life

Many patients notice improvement within just a few weeks of consistent therapy. Some require longer, depending on the severity and cause of their symptoms, but the results are often life-changing.

Vestibular Therapy and Motion Sensitivity

Motion sensitivity can make daily life frustrating. You may avoid certain activities, like riding in an elevator, reading in a moving vehicle, or even walking in a grocery store, because the movement triggers dizziness. Through carefully designed exercises, vestibular therapy can gradually desensitize your system, making these activities comfortable again.

Our team has seen countless success stories. Patients who once avoided car rides or public places can return to these activities with confidence. This is because vestibular therapy doesn’t just mask symptoms. It helps correct the underlying issue whenever possible.

Why Choose Hearing & Balance Specialists of Kansas City

Not all clinics have the expertise or equipment to address complex vestibular disorders. We are one of the few specialty centers in the Kansas City area focused solely on hearing and balance issues. Our audiologists are highly trained in vestibular assessment and rehabilitation and use only scientifically proven treatment methods.

Accurate diagnosis is the most important part of successful treatment. Many of our patients come to us after months or years of frustration because their condition was misdiagnosed or inadequately treated elsewhere. Progress often follows quickly when we get to the root cause and provide the right vestibular therapy plan.

Our advanced testing ensures we can pinpoint whether your symptoms are coming from your inner ear, your brain, or a combination. That allows us to target therapy more effectively and avoid unnecessary treatments.

Living Without Limits

You don’t have to live with dizziness, vertigo, or motion sensitivity forever. Whether your symptoms have lasted days or years, vestibular therapy offers a pathway toward recovery. We’ve helped patients of all ages regain their balance, return to favorite activities, and feel like themselves again.

If motion sensitivity is holding you back, now is the time to take the first step. The sooner the underlying cause is identified and treated, the better your chances of a full recovery. And if your issue falls outside our treatment scope, we’ll connect you with the right specialists so you can get the help you need without delay.

Contact Us Today

Take control of your balance and motion sensitivity challenges. Our team at Hearing & Balance Specialists of Kansas City is ready to provide expert care and advanced testing to help you feel steady and confident again. Whether you’re in Missouri or Kansas, we have convenient locations to serve you. If you are in the Lee’s Summit, MO, area, contact our team at (816) 507-8885. For those of you in Overland Park, KS, call (913) 521-9090, and those in the Kansas City Northland area, call our team at (816) 800-8020. Click here to schedule an appointment and let us help you get back to living life without dizziness.