190: Why All Of Your Neuro Clients Need Vestibular Therapy And How To Address It With Christina Garrity, PT, DPT, NCS

Vestibular screening and treatment doesn’t have to be only for vestibular specialists!  On today’s show we interviewed Dr. Christina Garrity, PT, DPT, NCS about the gaps that exist in vestibular care. All humans have vestibular systems and they can be negatively impacted by neurologic diagnoses, but how do you know if they aren’t reporting dizziness?  How do you build treatments into your plan of care when you have so many other things to focus on for “non-vestibular patients” or when you don’t have goggles? We tackle these issues and more to help the neurologic therapist understand why and how to implement easy ways to reduce client falls. 

The other issue in working with people with vestibular conditions is that they are all so different and after you take the course you may not know how to problem solve through the case.  Where can you get mentorship and what could it look like?

Christina believes therapists should integrate these pillars into any neuro client treatment plan of care: 1) Visual stabilization, 2) sensory integration, 3) habituation. Additionally, research shows that 25% of people could have BPPV even without the classic symptoms, so you should be screening for BPPV in anyone at a fall risk!  Screening doesn’t have to be complicated because you can do the modified side lying test vs the Dix-Hallpike.

Her go to screening tests for all balance clients are: HIT, modified side lying test, dynamic visual acuity, modified CTSIB, FGA.

Learn more about Christina:

Labyrinth Physical Therapy & Wellness  www.LabyrinthPT.com

Instagram: @vestibular_neuro_pt

Website: www.LabyrinthPT.com and courses: https://labyrinthpt.com/courses