Alpine Offers Advanced Help for Vestibular, Balance, and Dizziness Challenges - by brent dodge

Alpine Physical Therapy proudly announces a new service specialty designed to help people with vestibular, dizziness, and balance problems.
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Alpine’s Brace Hayden, DPT, OCS, CSCS completed advanced certification in these needed areas. He finished the six days of coursework and passed the examinations in “Vestibular Rehabilitation: A Competency-Based Course,” which is taught in Atlanta, Georgia, by world renowned expert, Susan Herdman, PT, PhD.

Upon completion and passing of five competency tests, a video exam, and a final written exam, Brace attained the coveted “competency certificate” in vestibular rehabilitation.

The course involves six days of in-depth studies on the assessment of vestibular system pathologies (vertigo, balance disorders, spinal cord dysfunctions), along with  the current background evidence in research on the tests, measures, and the physical therapy related treatments of these conditions.

I asked Brace what made him want to achieve this specialty, to which he replied:  “As a primarily musculoskeletal-focused physical therapist I would see patients with vestibular, as well as orthopedic (i.e. neck pain, leg weakness) issues periodically. I’ve been taking courses in this area for the past eight years, as it has grown as a special area of interest.  The week long course at Emory is regarded as the consummate class taught by many of the masters in this field. Alpine PT will soon be offering the Missoula community a new specialty clinic in balance and dizziness management. This class has helped strengthen the knowledgeable backbone of this new vestibular physical therapy addition at Alpine Physical Therapy.”

Brace added that “many people have vestibular system (balance, dizziness, vertigo spells) issues that get more common as we get older. Physical therapy for these conditions has proven helpful to shorten the duration and severity of the condition, to reduce the risk of potential falls, and to help improve the over all function and fitness of people with balance, coordination, and dizziness issues.”
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For more information, please visit our webpage on this topic by clicking here, or contact Brace at our south clinic by calling 406-251-2323.