Common Symptoms
Spinning Sensation
Feels like you or the room is moving.
Common triggers: turning, rolling in bed
Brief dizziness with head turns (BPPV-type)
Short bursts of vertigo with position changes.
Common triggers: lying down, looking up
Unsteadiness or veering
Off-balance when walking or on uneven ground.
Common triggers: crowds, low light
Headache with dizziness (migraine-type)
Dizziness with headache, light or sound sensitivity.
Common triggers: stress, poor sleep
Blurred vision when moving your head
Vision “jumps” during quick head movement.
Common triggers: walking, driving
Motion sensitivity
Dizziness with busy visual environments.
Common triggers: supermarkets, scrolling
Nausea with dizziness
Queasy feeling during dizzy episodes.
Common triggers: movement, car travel
Brain fog and fatigue
Mentally drained after dizzy spells or concentration.
Common triggers: long days, screen time
Infrared Video Goggles for BPPV and Dizziness Assessment
We use infrared (IR) video goggles to support more accurate assessment and treatment for BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) and other causes of dizziness. The goggles allow our vestibular physiotherapists to observe and record eye movements in real time, including subtle nystagmus that can be difficult to detect with the naked eye. This improves the precision of positional testing and helps confirm which inner-ear canal is involved, so treatment such as the Epley manoeuvre and other repositioning techniques can be matched more confidently to your findings.
For patients, this means a clearer, more objective assessment and a treatment plan guided by what we can see on screen. Video goggles also help us track changes over time, which is helpful when symptoms are recurring, complex, or when balance rehabilitation is part of your program.
What is Vestibular Physiotherapy
Vestibular physiotherapy treats dizziness, vertigo and balance problems caused by the inner ear (vestibular system). It uses specific assessment and exercises to retrain how your brain processes balance signals, helping reduce dizzy spells and improve steadiness in daily activities.
How the Vestibular system works
The vestibular system is a complex sensory organ within the inner ear. It includes three semicircular canals, which are filled with fluid. This fluid moves in response to our head movements and gravity, sending information back to our brain for interpretation via the vestibular nerve.
The utricle and saccule in the inner ear contain tiny hairs and crystals, which help to detect positioning of the head in relation to gravity. This system is essential for maintaining our balance, coordinating eye movements and sensing spatial orientation. It works together to help us to stay balanced, upright and moving smoothly and allows us to keep our eyes focused on a target as we move.
Dysfunction may occur anywhere along this pathway from inner ear to the brain (such as crystals/debris accumulating in the semicircular canal; or inflammation of the vestibular nerve) which can lead to dizziness/vertigo or unsteadiness.
Additionally, issues may arise when there is a mismatch of information from the vestibular system and information received from other organs in the body, including the eyes, muscles & tendons and joints.
How can Vestibular Physio help?
Vestibular physiotherapy can help by:
- Ease dizziness and vertigo symptoms caused by BPPV: Canalith repositioning techniques such as the Epley’s manoeuvre can be used to help reposition the inner ear crystals in conditions such as BPPV.
- Improve gaze stability: Exercises to improve the coordination of eye and head movements to reduce mismatch between the vestibular system and ocular system (eyes) to reduce dizziness/unsteadiness.
- Reduce falls risk: Exercises to improve balance and depth perception through incorporating different surfaces, visual backgrounds and challenging other senses. Stability and strengthening exercises can also help to prevent falls by improving reaction time and postural awareness.
- Reduce frequency and severity of migraine/vestibular migraine symptoms: Habituation exercises are prescribed to slowly and gradually challenge stability in various environments. Lifestyle and environmental modifications are also recommended to improve the threshold of migraine triggers and thereby reduce frequency of migraines. Habituation exercises can also be of benefit to people suffering from motion sickness and dizziness.
- Cervical spine assessment and treatment to reduce dizziness: Dizziness symptoms can sometimes originate from the cervical spine. Assessment and treatment through soft tissue management and exercises can improve posture and strength to reduce dizziness.
- Balance and stability exercises to improve function of the vestibular system in vestibular hypofunction: Specific exercises can help retrain the brain, inner ear and eyes to work together more efficiently in situations such as vestibular hypofunction (i.e. in Meniere’s Disease or following vestibular neuritis), thereby improving balance and stability.
- Improving confidence: Reducing severity and frequency of dizziness/unsteadiness episodes can greatly improve confidence to resume daily activities.
Our Treatment Approaches
Gaze stabilisation exercises
These exercises work by maintaining the stability of the head while tracking objects. This can also be reversed by moving the head while staying focused on an object.
Balance training
Improving balance and coordination in a variety of positions and environments. This may include tasks such as stability exercises, balancing on an unstable surfaces or performing tasks requiring coordination.
Cervical spine treatment
Often, the cervical spine can contribute to the dizzy symptoms a patient experiences. Gentle soft tissue release and exercises can help to reduce these symptoms.
Canalith repositioning exercises
Techniques used to help reposition displaced inner ear crystals. The Epley is commonly used to treat BPPV, however other techniques such as the Semont technique can also be used.
Habituation exercises
Through exposing the brain to a careful amount of stimuli that would normally trigger a dizzy spell, the brain is able to adapt and reduce the amount of dizziness felt by the patient. These exercises are progressed slowly to gradually increase a person’s threshold to when they experience dizziness.
Our Wynnum Vestibular Physiotherapists
Amie Rice Mooyman
Qualifications
Amie Graduated with a Masters of Physiotherapy at the University of Queensland in 2013. She is an AHPRA registered physiotherapist with 10+ years of clinical experience and has Advanced Practice in Vestibular Rehabilitation.
Why Vestibular Rehabilitation?
Amie has an advanced practice in vestibular physiotherapy, helping people with dizziness, vertigo, BPPV and balance problems that affect walking, driving and confidence day to day. She provides a thorough, calm assessment and uses targeted vestibular rehabilitation strategies such as repositioning manoeuvres, gaze stabilisation and balance retraining, with clear home exercises that are easy to follow. Amie’s goal is to reduce dizzy episodes, improve steadiness, and help you get back to normal activities with confidence.
Other Interests
When not working Amie is kept busy running around after her young family.