The room is not spinning. Your balance system is misreading it.
Inside each inner ear sits the vestibular system: semicircular canals that sense rotation, and otolithic organs that sense gravity and straight-line movement. They send your brain the signals it uses to know where you are in space. An inner ear infection, a virus, a head injury, or simple aging can scramble that traffic. The brain then overreads the movement and tells you that you are tilting or whirling while your body is standing still.
Vestibular therapy retrains that system. Your brain can reorganize its own pathways, and targeted exercise is how you make it do so, one controlled exposure at a time. Dr. Matthew Nelson and Dr. Jessica Bauerkemper both hold AIB Cert-VR, the vestibular rehabilitation certification from the American Institute of Balance. Dr. Anika Jansen works in vestibular, balance and concussion care.
Think of it as taking your balance to the gym.
Find the Fault
Your first visit is about an hour with your Doctor of Physical Therapy. We test positional triggers, eye movement, visual accuracy and standing balance to work out which part of the system is sending the bad signal.
Reposition or Retrain
If loose crystals in a semicircular canal are driving the vertigo, canalith repositioning maneuvers like the Epley move them. If the problem is a signal mismatch, we use gaze stabilization, habituation training and adaptation exercises instead.
Rebuild the Ground Under You
Balance retraining on different surfaces, dynamic visual acuity work, and sensory organization drills. Repetition is the mechanism, the same way it is with weights, so the load goes up as you get steadier.
Schedule Your Appointment
No referral needed. Utah has direct access to physical therapy. Most insurances accepted.
Your first visit is about an hour with your Doctor of Physical Therapy, start to finish. Tell us when the room started moving, and leave with a plan.
You’re all set.
We’ll reach out within one business day to confirm your appointment. If you need to speak with us sooner, call us directly.