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Have you ever experienced vertigo? What are the causes of dizziness?\nDr. Kimberley Bell, DPT\xa0has been a Physical Therapist for nearly 15 years, and she specializes in helping people with dizziness. \xa0She assesses and treats vertigo, dizziness, and imbalance in people of all ages. \xa0She also helps with other issues thought to be related to aging as well.\nI brought her on the show to talk about the causes of dizziness, and also some potential treatments that can help.\nWhat is Balance?\nYou might have heard of the five senses. These five senses are hearing, taste, sight, smell, and touch. \xa0But there is another sense that we don't talk about. That is the sense of balance. \xa0Without it, you wouldn't be able to sit or stand upright because you wouldn't be able to tell which way “up” was. \xa0And you couldn't tell where “here or “there” was. \xa0Without a sense of balance, gravity, wouldn't mean anything. \xa0It would be fair to say that without any sense of balance, life would be unimaginably disabling.1\nDr. Bell was a wealth of information, especially if you know someone, or you are personally experiences vertigo, equilibrium problems, or the like.\nShe told a story of a client who had experienced vertigo since she was 56 years old. \xa0This person had CT scans, MRIs, and cardiac testing to try to find the causes of dizziness.\nDr. Bell did an assessment and found crystals in her inner ear. \xa0BPPV, or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, occurs when a patient has crystals in her inner ear. \xa0It's the most common cause of vertigo, which is that feeling of spinning that some people get.\nThis feeling is not life-threatening (unless you fall and hit your head!). \xa0It comes on suddenly and is usually brief. \xa0You can trigger BPPV when you hold your head a certain way or move your head a certain way. \xa0And of course, its a type of vertigo, or a false sense of movement.\nOh, and by the way, it can sometimes be cured by the right therapist. As a matter of fact, Dr. Bell was able to solve her patient's problem (in the story above) in just a few visits.\nWhy can't my doctor find what my causes of dizziness are?\nMany physicians don't know how to diagnose it, and they are also not trained in how to solve the problem. \xa0Many don't know the causes of dizziness in their patients.\nThe difficulty of making the right vestibular diagnosis is reflected in the fact that in some populations, more than one-third of the patients with a vestibular disease consult more than one physician \u2013 in some cases up to more than fifteen.2\xa0\nNot only that but one recent large epidemiological study estimates that as many as 35% of adults aged 40 years or older in the United States\u2014approximately 69 million Americans\u2014have experienced some form of vestibular dysfunction\xa03\xa0\xa0\nDr. Bell shares a story in her blog: \xa0\nSince February 21,\xa0the medical care that I have personally received has caused me to experience vertigo anytime I chew solid food. This was never a problem before.\nObviously, I\u2019m not still working with that healthcare provider whose treatment worsened my symptoms, but recovering from the harmful results of the care that I received has taken me now over six weeks. My symptoms have been so bad that my husband has taken off work one or two days every week in order to take care of me.\nIf I didn\u2019t have him, I\u2019m sure I would\u2019ve had to hire a caregiver by now! I\u2019ve been living with mild to severe vertigo off and on since I was five years old, after my first childhood concussion.4\xa0\nDr. Bell shares a lot of information in the episode.