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Center Keeps Patients Balanced...
We've all played an occasional game of "Ring Around the Rosie," and felt a little dizzy after we all fell down. While most of us quickly recover from our short-term dizziness within minutes, 90 million Americans are not as fortunate. For these individuals, dizziness is not part of a game, but a condition that affects their lives daily. The McLaren Balance Center was created to address common balance and vertigo issues that develop as a result of medical conditions such as stroke, head trauma, and ear infections.
Normal balance requires coordination of three sense: Visual (perception of your body at rest and in motion); auditory (sensory signals received from the middle and inner ear and transmitted to the outer ear); and the proprioceptive system (sensations from the skin, muscles and joints). When two or more of these systems are not in harmony, individuals can experience difficulties walking, bending over, reaching up, and reading.
At McLaren Balance Center, we treat both balance and vestibular problems. We focus on fall prevention and work on functional activities that patients are not able to do safely at home. Many people will lose their balance when they turn around or have to change directions. We will provide individualized written home programs for each patient. The information provided will also include fall prevention tips.
We treat a wide variety of patients from patients with stroke, Ataxia (inability to coordinate movement), Dehabilitation, labyrinthitis (inflammation or disfunction of the canals within the inner ear), general dizziness, and many more. Computerized balance testing is also available. We have over a 90% success rate with patients with BPPV (benign Parozysmal Positional Vertigo). Often these patients have been suffering with dizziness for several weeks or even months. Within 1 to 2 treatment sessions, we are able to eliminate their dizziness. In other cases, patients may be seen for a month or two to help resolve their dizziness.
Physical Therapist Karen Humphrey has advanced training and extensive experience in treating patients with vestibular issues. "Vestibular rehab exercises are designed to desensitize the balance system to movements which provoke, symptoms, and to facilitate the natural process of compensation of vestibular injury. What's most important is to recognize and treat balance problems, so patients know how to prevent falls, and they can walk, turn, sit and stand with confidence", states Humphrey.
National studies have found that approximately 75 to 80 percent of people with balance problems are good candidates for balance therapy, with 80 to 90 percent of them having significant reduction in balance disability and symptoms following treatment.
For more information about the McLaren Balance Center, please call the Rehabilitation Center at the Bristol Road site at (810) 342-5350 .
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