Success stories from Dynamic Sports Physical Therapy in New York City: Tom Wong recovers from dizziness disorder after just two physical therapy sessions

physical therapy in new york city concussions

We’d like to bring another success story to you about one of our patients, Tom Wong, who was suffering from a disorder that caused dizziness and recovered after just two sessions at Dynamic Sports Physical Therapy in New York City.

Six weeks before coming into our office for an evaluation, Tom was exercising when the resistance band he was using snapped and struck his head. He didn’t lose consciousness after this happened, but started having regular headaches and experienced dizziness as a result of the injury. Tom eventually decided to see a neurologist, who evaluated his condition and diagnosed him with a concussion.

When Tom came in to our practice, he explained that feelings of dizziness and imbalance from his injury were getting in the way of his graduate degree studies. His goal was to no longer feel dizzy and imbalanced, and to return to his studies without this disturbance.

Upon evaluating Tom, we found that all balance testing and movement screen—a screening system designed to assess patients’ functioning—was normal for his upper spine and shoulders. He did, however, test positive for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) based on results from a Dix-Hallpike test. BPPV is one of the most common causes of vertigo, which is the sensation that the world around you—or your own body—is spinning when in actuality it’s not. This was determined based on Tom’s irregular eye movements when using infrared goggles, and it was established that BPPV was most likely causing his persistent dizziness rather than his concussion.

With the BPPV diagnosis, we treated Tom with something called canalith repositioning maneuver, a form of vestibular (balance-related) rehabilitation therapy that utilizes a series of head position changes to improve balance and reduce dizziness. This treatment was repeated three times on his first visit, and when Tom returned one week later, his symptoms had improved by 90% and he was experiencing minimal dizziness. The same maneuver was repeated two more times on his second visit, and Tom has reported that he’s been completely symptom-free since then.

One month after treatment, Tom informed us that he was able to return to his studies without any complaints of dizziness. We were happy to see that Tom’s condition improved after just two sessions of physical therapy, though this is fairly common for patients that receive BPPV treatment.

At Dynamic Sports Physical Therapy in New York City, BPPV is one of many conditions we can effectively treat and help you return to your life with fewer disturbances. If you’re suffering from dizziness or any other aches or pains, we can help. Call us at 212-317-8303 for more information or to schedule an appointment.