Balance and Dizziness
Dr Simon Brice has a special interest and hundreds of hours of post graduate training in neurological assessment and treatment. He has a particular interest in balance and dizziness management. This includes people with overt signs of balance problems, such as dizziness, vertigo, feeling of spinning, a history of falls, and nausea.
It also includes people with more subtle signs of imbalance, such as chronic back pain and stiffness, calf or hamstring pain on both sides, feeling faint when 'getting up too quickly' from time to time, or feelings of anxiety or fatigue when going to places like shopping centres/supermarkets, or easily tiring eyes when reading or driving to name just a few.
To aide in your assessment, the clinic has a state-of-the-art computerised balance plate, used to measure your stability and your risk of falls. Used in conjunction with clinical tests, it gives us very specific information about your ability to maintain normal balance/stability, which is used to taylor a specific treatment plan for you. The balance plate has a safety harness attached, making it safe to test even the most unsteady patient (see pictures below). Balance plate assessment is also available as a stand alone assessment on referral from your GP or other practitioner - call and speak to our staff or Dr Simon if you have any questions about this.
Our balance testing equipment is also used for balance rehabilitation, providing computer based feedback training to promote muscle strength and co-ordination, and help prevent falls.
Dr Simon is also one of the few practitioners in the area with a good deal of experience performing what is known as the 'Epley's manouvre'. This is a series of positions that a patient is placed in to help relocate dislodged crystals in the inner ear, the cause of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), a very common cause of dizziness. Often, patients are given a simplified version of this to do at home (e.g. falling backwards onto your bed with your head turned) which is not always beneficial or efficient at reliving BPPV symptoms, and may sometimes make the patient feel worse. When performed correctly, the Epley's manouvre can bring rapid relief to BPPV sufferers. It is important that you are properly assessed for your suitability for this procedure, so call Dr Simon if you have any questions. The Epley's manouvre usually takes about 10 minutes to perform. We also have equipment that allows you perform the Epley's manouvre at home, the 'VertiGONE goggles and 'DizzyFix' device.
