Has just PT helped anyone with balance issues not during after TIA ?
Has anyone been success curing balance issues while turning, going up steps, going down if feet are not in right spot on steps and on and on? I can walk 4 miles on rough ground with no problems ! I had physical therapy and passed the basic of standing up, etc. But otherwise it has only gotten worse. I have learned to save myself but I get so tired of doing that but also falling down. Just today saved myself 4 times but yesterday going down only down 2 steps into my son’s mud room when leaving the house I went down. What do I do next?
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I have similar issues. Both my neurologist and ENT suggested vestibular therapy. I just completed a month of therapy and am doing recommended exercises at home. It is not a magic bullet but does seem to have provided benefits. My wife said I'm not as "wobbly". It might be worth a try.
Have you had any diagnosis as to the cause of your problems?
I have had balance problems due to a golf ball sized subarachnoid cyst up against my cerebellum, that prevented it from reaching normal size. I went through 6 months of vestibular PT therapy and exercises and found this to be very beneficial.
No it came when I had
TIA and has not left. I have to go back to neurologist .
An MRI might be helpful. I've had 2 due to TIA and falling problems. I have CAD and the same mechanism that causes the stenosis is the coronary arteries can have a similar effect in the vessels in the brain. In my case, the MRI's show areas of the brain that have microvascular ischemia (white matter disease) and also revealed that I have had lacunar strokes which I wasn't even aware of. The area of the brain affected can determine what symptoms you may experience, and is the cause for my balance/gait problems.
I have had 3 mris since this TIA occurred. The one I just had in Sept showed a small cerebral aneurysm which is very small. I had a brain tumor removed 12 years ago that was benign and a meningioma the size of a small Orange that almost had my spinal fluid cut off. It was in my cerebellum but I needed no therapy or anything afterwards. My TIA did not show up 2 days later. I talked gibberish for awhile that day bc the doctors said they could not understand me, and then I started all this falling, and my writing was bad. The writing came back in a few days, the speech back in a few hours, but the balance issues continue. I can a lot save myself but it sometimes happens too quickly and I go down. My 95 year old mother who has never had anything but some blood pressure issues way later in her life but had a TIA and has not been able to walk for a year. She had no balance. But she is all of a sudden dementia is happening quickly partially from a couple really bad falls to the back of her head requiring staples etc. I don’t want to end up with that if I can help it. Her mother died of a stroke, her grandmother also, and my grandmothers brother died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 30. So strokes are definitely on Moms side.
PT did help my balance and more importantly my nausea from walking after a TIA. I still have issues with stairs, sharp turns, etc.., but I always hold onto a hand rail on stairs, for safety I would never go free hand down anything, I believe that will be permanent safety tool for me.
I can not speak to the TIA's, but had issues with balance as I began my Crossfit journey more than 14 years ago. I still have issues with dizziness and balance at times. My go to has been an incredible chiropractor who does vestibular manipulation. It might be a help.
My sister developed extreme, irreversible vertigo after Covid - and she did vestibular therapy 3x a week - tedious walking backwards, etc.
But she can now function- neuroplasticity I think it’s called when your brain finds new ways to do things.
At first she could only look straight ahead into a small square (iPhone) and now she’s traveled all over the world and went scuba diving, etc.
I forget she has this but there are things she can’t do like scan book or food aisles -
But her balance recovered
Learning to use things like bannisters and just caution is what I’m still working on after a ruptured brain aneurysm…
I did some PT but kept forgetting my appointment times and other post-SAH confusions.
In July I bounded down the stairs as I used to and crushed my wrist …
So I’m looking into going back to PT and being as careful as I can -
It’s hard but becomes a habit a little at a time.