Vestibular Rehab: BPPV, Post-Concussion Dizziness, and Motion Sensitivity
A clinician-led explainer of what vestibular rehabilitation actually treats — from the 60-second fix for BPPV to habituation training for stubborn motion sensitivity.
This clinician-led video guide is scripted and heading into production. In the meantime, our written guides cover the same ground, and our clinicians are the fastest path to a personalized plan.
What you'll learn
- Explain the three systems that keep you oriented and how vestibular problems arise.
- Distinguish BPPV from other causes of dizziness by history and provocation.
- Describe what a vestibular assessment involves and why the assessment shapes the plan.
- Explain how gaze stabilization, habituation, and balance training each work.
- Recognize when dizziness has cervical, ocular, or autonomic contributions and needs a broader plan.
What the video will cover
- Hook: "One of the most common vertigo diagnoses in the world — BPPV — can often be resolved in a single visit with a repositioning maneuver. Most people don't know that."
- Presenter positioning: AIM vestibular physio; treats dizziness from many causes.
- Who this is for: anyone dizzy, spinning, off-balance, or foggy — recent or persistent.
- Three systems: inner ear (vestibular), eyes (vision), and body sense (proprioception).
- Your brain integrates all three. When the signals conflict, the result is dizziness.
- Vestibular problems can come from any layer — the inner ear itself, the pathways into the brain, or the way the brain interprets them.
- Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo — brief, intense spinning triggered by head position changes (rolling over in bed, looking up, bending down).
- Caused by loose crystals (otoconia) drifting into the wrong canal in the inner ear.
- Diagnosed with position-provocation tests (e.g., Dix-Hallpike).
- Treated with a repositioning maneuver (e.g., Epley) — often 1–3 visits to resolution.
- This is the closest thing physiotherapy has to a "magic trick" — and it's just physics + anatomy.
- After an inner-ear infection, the vestibular signal on one side is often diminished.
- The brain has to re-calibrate — this is called central compensation.
- Rehab accelerates it: gaze stabilization exercises, balance training, graded head movement.
- Recovery timelines: weeks to months, but the trajectory is almost always upward.
- Very common after concussion — vestibular and ocular systems are frequently affected.
- Symptoms: dizziness with head movement, difficulty in busy environments, reading fatigue.
- Assessment sorts vestibular vs ocular vs cervical vs autonomic contributions.
- Treatment integrates with concussion care — see concussion rehab.
- Scrolling on your phone, driving in the passenger seat, walking through a busy grocery aisle — all provoke symptoms.
- Habituation training: controlled, repeated exposure to provoking movement.
- Some habituation exercises briefly worsen symptoms — that's how the brain learns tolerance.
- Progression is gradual, structured, and monitored.
- History — timing, triggers, associated symptoms.
- Oculomotor testing — smooth pursuit, saccades, gaze stability, positional testing.
- Cervical spine, balance, and gait screens.
- Autonomic screen if relevant (orthostatic changes, exercise intolerance).
- The assessment narrows the case; the plan targets what's found.
- Cervicogenic dizziness — neck-driven; treated with cervical work.
- Ocular / oculomotor — treated with vision-training exercises, sometimes co-managed with a neuro-optometrist.
- Autonomic dysregulation (post-concussion, POTS, etc.) — graded exercise protocols.
- Anxiety and PPPD (persistent postural-perceptual dizziness) — layered plan; not "in your head."
- Recap: dizziness has many causes and most are treatable. Assessment is the point of entry.
- Point to the vestibular article and companion PDF.
- CTAs: Book a vestibular assessment and Book Now. Covered by most extended health plans; also under MVA (DTPR) and WCB for accident- or work-related cases.
Companion resource
A patient-facing decision aid: describe your symptoms → likely category → what an assessment will look at → what treatment involves.
- "What kind of dizziness is this?" symptom-mapping table
- BPPV explainer with what to expect at first visit
- When dizziness came after a fall, MVA, or concussion
- Motion sensitivity vs true vertigo — how to tell them apart
- What to bring to your first vestibular assessment
- When to seek immediate medical care (red flags)
Related care & reading
Treatment for vertigo, dizziness, balance issues, and vestibular dysfunction.
Structured care for concussion recovery, symptom management, and return to activity.
General physiotherapy for pain, injury, mobility, and function.
BPPV, vestibular neuritis, and post-concussion dizziness — assessed and treated.
Mild traumatic brain injury needing structured recovery — not just rest.
Vestibular rehab covers more than vertigo. Here's a clear breakdown of what it treats — and how the assessment narrows down your case.
Concussion recovery isn't dark-room rest. Here's what current evidence says about activity, return-to-learn, and return-to-sport.
Ready to move from watching to doing?
Book an assessment with an AIM clinician — direct billing, WCB, and MVA support included.