Penn Audiology collaborates with the Penn Dizziness and Balance Center diagnosing and treating more than 100 patients per month – more than any other center in the region. Experience counts when dealing with the complexity of the balance system. Our audiology team diagnoses and treats even the most complex vestibular problems using a multidisciplinary approach. Patients struggling with dizziness or balance disorders are evaluated through an array of tests using leading-edge diagnostic tools that appraise a patient’s functional balance ability as well as the integrity of the vestibular system (inner ear). Diagnostic testing aims to evaluate compensation status so treatment plans can be individualized for each patient's unique needs.
Treatment for dizziness and balance disorders depend on the patient's unique diagnosis and may include:
- Lifestyle changes may be recommended, including nutritional counseling, diet changes, increased hydration and exercise.
- Medications that help control severe vertigo with nausea and vomiting caused by disorders of the inner ear or to control symptoms associated with vestibular migraine may be prescribed.
- Surgical intervention may be necessary when dizziness is caused by acoustic neuromas or vestibular schwannomas. These benign tumors of the inner ear are often treated with stereotactic surgery or gamma knife instead of traditional surgery.
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation performed by therapists with specialized training in vestibular rehabilitation may create a customized treatment plan to retrain your balance system and facilitate the compensation process to eliminate dizziness.
- Injections in the ear to deliver steroids or antibiotics may be recommended if a diagnosis of Meniere's Disease is found.
- Particle repositioning procedures or an Epley maneuver may be utilized to treat benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo (BPPV). This non-invasive treatment is intended to clear particles in the inner ear, eliminating position-provoked dizziness or vertigo.