What if they already have a headache at baseline? Do you still progress fast?

Answer:

“You can. So what I usually will tell a patient, kids, I’m like, if you wake up and your headache is a zero and at the end of the day, having done your exercises, school, and whatever your headache is a three, if it resets by the next morning, if you wake up and it’s back to what it was, as long as they’re okay with that amount of challenge, that’s okay with me. But if day over day, their headache is only escalating, then I have to back down the intensity. So I’ll back off from that. So it just depends on how they’re responding, but headache is not necessarily a reason that I won’t work with a person. Like it’s not always a stop.”

RESOURCES & LINKS:

  • This Q&A is an excerpt from the Vestibular Health Summit Sessions
  • The Vestibular Health Summit Sessions are included with 360NeuroGO Enterprise

FACULTY:

Amy Alexander, PT

Amy is the primary vestibular physical therapist for Banner Sports Medicine and Concussion Specialists Clinic, a physician led multiple discipline clinic in Phoenix, AZ. Amy has been practicing physical therapy since 1988. She chose to specialize in vestibular physical therapy in 2003, completing the APTA competency course in 2006. She started working at the Banner Health concussion specialty clinic in August 2014, managing vestibular and balance disorders in the post injury population. In vestibular physical therapy, Amy’s interest is in assessing athletes in ways that more closely approximate sport related activity. Through her work with MMA fighters, Amy was part of a multiple discipline team that developed a sport specific return to play protocol for combat sports. She was also a part of the clinical research project assessing normative gaze stability in elite baseball players.  Sport specific exertion and gaze stability is a current project that has evolved from working with athletes experiencing post-concussion syndrome.

Bridgett Wallace, PT, DPT

Bridgett Wallace, PT, DPT, has a doctorate of physical therapy and holds competency-based certifications in vestibular rehabilitation and concussion management. Dr. Wallace has been treating patients with dizziness and balance disorders for more than 20 years and is the founder and President of 360 Balance & Dizziness – a specialty clinic for the evaluation and treatment of dizziness and balance disorders that includes both audiology and therapy services. She is also the co-founder and Director of Clinical Education for 360 Neuro Health Institute, which provides online, mobile, and live educational offerings for healthcare providers.