The Intermountain Healthcare Hearing and Balance Center in Salt Lake City can assess and manage a wide range of balance disorders in patients of all ages.
Videonystagmography / Electronystagmography (VNG/ENG)
VNG/ENG provides a quantitative measurement of eye movements related to dizziness. It forms the basis of many vestibular tests and provides objective documentation of the function of the inner ear, eye movements, and related neural pathways.
Rotational Vestibular Testing (RVT)
The Hearing and Balance Center, use of the Rotary Chair is unique to the state. This test greatly increases our ability to detect subtle vestibular abnormalities and vestibular healing by utilizing a wide range of frequencies and acceleration rates. It also allows vestibular assessment of all ages.
Computerized Dynamic Posturography (CDP)
CDP was developed to evaluate the functional capacity and coordinated integration of all components: eyes (vision), inner ear (vestibular), and muscles and joints (somatosensory) involved in maintaining balance. CDP can determine whether one or more of the three systems is abnormal.
CDP is a non-invasive procedure using sensors and computer monitoring to record body movement while the patient maintains balance in a variety of standing test conditions. It helps to determine a patient's fall risk, appropriate timing of balance responses, and under what environments a patient will have difficulty.
Vestibular & Balance Therapy
Vestibular and Balance Rehabilitation is the exercise-based approach to lessening the severity of dizziness, balance problems, and associated limitations. Patients undergo comprehensive physical therapy assessments of strength, dynamic balance skills, and movement tolerance to determine an individualized and customized exercise program.
Research has shown these specialized exercises to be very effective at lessening the severity symptoms and improving function in all ages, which may include anyone from children to the elderly, athletes and professionals. Treatment frequency and duration varies according to initial findings but typically averages one treatment session each week for 8-10 visits.
Positional Vertigo
There are many causes of vertigo, dizziness and/or loss of balance. One of the most common of these is Positional Vertigo. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is often discovered with diagnostic testing. People with this disorder complain of dizziness or spinning when they look up or down, bend over, lie down, get up from lying down, or when turning their head or body from side to side.
The dizziness or vertigo is generally brief, lasing less than one minute, but it can be very strong and can cause disorientation, nausea and dysequilibrium.
BPPV has a number of known causes, including head injury, but sometimes just occurs spontaneously. The good news about this significant disorder is that it is very treatable. Our research shows that 93 percent of patients with BPPV can be cleared with one or two treatment sessions.
For more information about our services, or to schedule an appointment, contact us at:
Intermountain Healthcare
Hearing and Balance Center
230 South 500 East, Suite 150
Salt Lake City, Utah 84102
Phone: (801) 595-1700
Email: hearing&balance@imail.org