Procedure Exercises for Dizziness
Design The Right Exercise Program
Everyone’s lifestyle is different,
and different movements make different people dizzy. This page shows you how to
design an exercise program that will suit you.
The first vital step is to find a
good time to carry out the exercises. They take less than 10 minutes, and you must practice them every day even better, twice a day.
Decide now on two times when you will try to do them and write them times down.
Next, choose a place to do them
somewhere that you can sit down and walk about safely without tripping over
things or knocking on hard objects (e.g., besides your bed or the sofa).
Now you need to choose which
exercises to do this week, using the timed exercise scoring test. For this, you
may find it helpful to ask a relative or friend to help you time how fast you
do the exercises and to encourage you!
Timed Exercise Scoring Test
- First, carry out the shaking
exercise on the next page sitting down.
- After you have finished, wait 10
seconds and then write down how dizzy you feel on the exercise sheet, on the
line labeled shaking, under Week 1 using the following symptom scoring: 0
= none, 1 = very slight, 2 = mild, 3 = strong.
- Put an S by each score to show you did the exercise sitting down.
- Do the same for each of the 6 basic exercises below.
- Use the scores on your exercises sheet to decide which exercises to do for the next week:
- If you have written 0 by an exercise, you do not need to do it (as it causes no symptoms).
- If you have written 1 or 2 by an exercise, you need to practice it daily.
- If you have written 3 by an exercise, you need to practice it more slowly at first, every day.
- In week 3, this person will need to practice the nod exercises standing up and the shake exercises sitting down.
Basic Exercises for Dizziness
It helps to breathe slowly if you
feel dizzy no more than one breath every four to six seconds. To loosen up
before starting, gently shrug your shoulders and circle them around a few
times.
Shake: Turn your head from right to left
and back again 10 times in 10 seconds. Twist your head round as far as it will
go comfortably when you do this and look in the direction your head is
pointing. Wait 10 seconds after you have done 10 complete turns, then do 10
more.
Nod: Nod your head up and down and back
again 10 times in 10 seconds. Tip your head as far as it will go comfortably
when you do this and look in the direction your head is pointing. Wait 10
seconds after you have done 10 complete turns, then do 10 more.
Shake, eyes closed (EC): Carry out the shaking exercise with your eyes
closed. Wait 10 seconds after you have done 10 complete turns, then do 10 more.
Nod, eyes closed (EC): Carry out the nod
exercise with your eyes closed. Wait 10 seconds after you have done 10 complete
turns, then do 10 more.
Shake/stare: Hold your finger pointing
upwards in front of you and carry out the shaking exercise while staring at
your finger. Do not let your eyes move from your finger. Wait 10 seconds after
you have done 10 complete turns, then do 10 more.
Nod/stare: Hold your finger pointing
sideways in front of you and carry out the nod exercise while staring at your
finger. Do not let your eyes move from your finger. Wait 10 seconds after you
have done 10 complete turns, then do 10 more.
As well as these basic exercises, you
should choose some special exercises and general activities for your dizziness.
Changing Exercise Program to Suit Stage of Recovery
Increased dizziness is expected when
you first start carrying out the exercises. If the dizziness starts to
interfere with your daily activities, then do the exercises a little more
slowly at first, but do not skip them it is only with regular practice that
your balance system can recover.
Most people have good days and bad
days at first. It is quite normal to find that the dizziness gets worse for a
time when you are tired or stressed, or if you get a cold or flu. But after a
few weeks of regular daily practice, you will notice that the exercises are
starting to make you less dizzy. Then you should gradually do the exercises
more quickly until you can do them at full speed.
After a while, some exercises will no
longer make you dizzy, and you will not need to practice them anymore. You need
to check which exercises you need to do that the start of each week, by
repeating the timed exercise scoring test. If you score 0 for any of the
exercises (or if you score only 1 for several weeks), then you should make that
exercise more difficult as follows.
Making Exercises More Difficult (As
You Recover)
If you can do an exercise at full
speed with almost no dizziness while sitting down, then try doing it standing
up.
If you can do an exercise at full
speed with almost no dizziness while standing up, then try doing it while
walking a few paces backward and forwards (you will probably find turning most
tricky!).
Once you can do the exercises at full
speed while walking backward and forwards your balance system has had all the
practice it needs you can tick this exercise off and do not need to do it
anymore.
Adding General Activities to Exercise Program
Physical activity as part of your
daily life also helps your balance system to recover. It is especially
important to practice any activities you may have given up because of
dizziness. Read through the tips for choosing physical activity below, and then
write down an activity you will practice each week on the exercise sheet.
1. Ball Games
Catching a ball gives your balance
system very good practice with a quick eye, head, and body movements.
Get a softball, and practice throwing it above your head and then catching
it. Like the basic exercises, you can start by doing this while sitting down,
then standing up, and finally while walking.
2. Walking
If you have poor balance, then simply
walking for five to ten minutes a day will help it to improve. If you have no
problems walking on a flat surface, you may still need to practice walking over
rough ground, or up and down slopes or stairs.
If walking around a busy town center
makes you dizzy, then practice in gradual stages. You could start by walking
down to the end of your street and back for the first week. The following week,
walk to the nearest busy road and watch the moving traffic until it does not
make you dizzy. The next week walk along the busy road to the nearest shop and
back – until eventually, you are ready to practice walking in
a place with lots of moving crowds and traffic.
3. Sport, Dance & Exercise
Once your dizziness is nearly better, then
sport, dance, or exercise (e.g., yoga or keeping fit) can help your balance system to
return to
normal.
4. Travel
You may have found that you become
dizzy when traveling by car, bus, train, or boat, or on a lift or an escalator.
The only way to get over this dizziness is with practice! Start by practicing short trips as often as
possible, e.g., traveling one or two stops on the bus, or a
short car trip. Gradually practice longer trips as your dizziness gets less
bad.
Adding Special Exercises to the Exercise Program
Since different movements make
different people dizzy, there may be some activities that you already know make you
dizzy. If so, write them down as special exercises on the exercise sheet, and
practice them daily.
The special exercises listed below
can help with the problem listed.
1. Unsteadiness, Poor Balance
If you have problems walking in a
straight line or tend to lose balance and fall over, then you need extra
practice with balancing. Once you can do the basic exercises while walking, you
may find it helpful to carry them out while standing on one leg (stand by a
sofa or bed, so you have something soft to lean on if you start to fall!). You
could also practice them standing with your feet heel to toe this is very
difficult.
2. If Turning Over in Bed
Causes Dizziness
This is a very common problem that results from little
particles floating into the wrong part of the balance organ. To help float the
particles back out again, sit on the edge of the bed with your feet hanging
down. Lie down as fast as you can on the side which makes you dizzy. Wait for
30 seconds, then sit up quickly and stay upright for 30 seconds. Now repeat
this on the other side. If you do this exercise 10 times every day you will be
very dizzy at first, but the dizziness should clear up in a few weeks.
3. Reaching
If you find that reaching up or down
or behind you makes you dizzy, sit in a chair and practice looking at and
touching places on the floor, above you, and behind you. (Do not practice this
exercise if it makes you feel faint or as if you will lose consciousness).
4. Dizziness is
caused
by striped surfaces or moving objects, lights, etc.
You may find you are made dizzy by
vision – for example, when looking at stripes or scrolling computer screens,
watching films, or looking at moving traffic or lights. If so, then stick a
sheet of bright striped paper on the wall close to you, and practice carrying
out the shake, nod, shake/stare, and nod/stare exercises while facing this
sheet of paper (sitting and then standing). Whenever possible, you should also
practice the real-life situation which makes you dizzy – for example,
deliberately staring at moving traffic or the scrolling computer screen.
Author: Professor Lucy Yardley, produced by the University of Southampton with funding provided by the Ménière’s Society. It is recommended for use only after a qualified medical doctor has confirmed that the exercises are safe and appropriate for the individual who will carry them out.