By Dr. Skye Lee, DScPT, OCS, FAAOMPT, CMTPT — a Fellowship-trained physical therapist (fewer than 1% of PTs hold these credentials) practicing one-on-one in Columbia, MD.
Vertigo — the false sense that you or the room is spinning — can make simple tasks feel unsafe. Vertigo treatment in Columbia, MD through vestibular rehabilitation can retrain your balance system and reduce dizziness, often dramatically.
What's behind your dizziness
Vertigo usually comes from the inner ear or the brain's balance pathways. Common, treatable causes include BPPV (dislodged inner-ear crystals) and vestibular hypofunction. Identifying the type is what makes treatment effective.
How I assess vertigo at SKYE
The first job is sorting which vertigo you have, because treatments don't transfer. Brief, intense spinning triggered by rolling over or looking up points to BPPV — loose crystals in a semicircular canal. Constant imbalance that worsens with head movement suggests vestibular hypofunction. Dizziness tied to neck pain and posture points cervicogenic. In your 80-minute evaluation I run positional testing (Dix-Hallpike and roll tests) to identify the affected canal, screen your oculomotor and balance systems, examine the neck, and — non-negotiable — screen for the red flags that need medical care rather than PT.
What treatment looks like, phase by phase
For BPPV — reposition. Canalith repositioning maneuvers (like the Epley, matched to your specific canal) are among the most effective treatments in all of physical therapy — many patients improve dramatically within one to three sessions. Precision matters: the right maneuver for the wrong canal does nothing.
For hypofunction — retrain. Gaze-stabilization exercises rebuild the reflex that keeps vision steady during head movement, progressed alongside balance work from stable floors to real-world conditions.
For cervicogenic dizziness — treat the neck. Manual therapy for the upper cervical spine plus sensorimotor retraining, since the neck's position sensors feed your balance system directly.
What the evidence shows
Vestibular rehabilitation is well supported for many causes of dizziness and imbalance, improving symptoms and confidence with movement.
Recovery timeline
BPPV often resolves in 1–3 visits; other vestibular issues improve over a few weeks of consistent exercises.
Why dizziness lingers — and what you can do today
BPPV recurs in a meaningful minority of people — annoying, but the fix works again, and I'll teach you the home version. The subtler trap is avoidance: moving less to avoid dizziness starves the balance system of the input it needs to recalibrate, so deconditioning stacks on top of the original problem.
Today: note exactly which positions set you off (it helps identify the canal), don't stop moving your head entirely, make the house fall-safe for the short term — night lights, clear walking paths — and skip driving on days symptoms are active.
Dizziness with sudden severe headache, double vision, slurred speech, numbness/weakness, or trouble walking needs urgent medical evaluation.
Related care at SKYE: Vertigo in Columbia, MD often responds well to manual physical therapy and craniosacral therapy. You may also find my guides on BPPV and whiplash helpful.