We all know how isolating this condition can be and thank God forums like this exist. I had some free time today and spent some time on Youtube and was surprised by the amount of videos, both from patients and medical professionals alike on chronic dizziness. I had dipped in before but I think it can be unhealthy to focus too much on this condition. So I had a long break from looking up anything VM/ PPPD related.
There’s a lot of stuff on YT, from sucess stories, following people through their treatment journey. As well as in depth videos from doctors explaining the medical thinking behind the pathology of these conditions. Lots of VRT exercise ideas as well. A few of the professionals have vestibular programmes you can buy/ subscribe to. The Steady Coach aka Dr Yo, a vestibular audiologist offers a free programme as well.
I just wondered if anyone found these videos helpful?
I’ve watched several Steady Coach videos. What I found interesting about them was the absence of what you might call conventional VRT exercises and lots of emphasis on stress and self management - something I hadn’t really considered - whereas my own daily practice has been predominantly VRT based. Dr Yonit’s videos are a bit too long for my vestibular system to cope with - I tend to get symptoms after 5 minutes or so of screen time so I haven’t watched all of them.
Quite by chance I came across another channel which you may find helpful. It’s called Balance Your Life Now (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bpfj-azSA4&list=PLRyzqQaMNASI-I6z2Xfa7tNFlk1ysj_-k&index=7) where the presenter (Emma) describes how she used a property of the brain called neuroplasticity to cure her 3PD. Rather than take up space here describing what neuroplasticity is, there are loads of academic papers and articles online that may provide you with a better explanation than I can give you here. A note of caution: there is a lot of hype about it on the web made by unqualified people looking to make a fast buck from the science. I suggest you read peer reviewed articles or those published by reputable organisations where you can.
Perusing the comments on the Balance For Life Now channel, I came across a book called Rock Steady by an Australian audiologist called Joey Remenyi. In her book, Joey describes a complete treatment for 3PD and other vestibular disorders based on self-healing. I’ve found it very helpful so far and am definitely seeing some benefits. It is still early days though. One of the points she makes chimes with your comment about not focusing too much on the condition. She even goes so far as to recommend quitting online dizziness forums like this! Jesting aside, the book contains lots of advice and practical exercises you can start to use right away. Most of the exercises are very different from the VRT work I’ve been doing so far. On reflection, a lot of what she says coincides with Dr. Yonit.
I did think of writing a review of the book for the forum and may do so in future. Disclaimer here. I haven’t checked the forum for other references to the book. At the moment, though, I am more focused on dealing with my symptoms. If you have any doubts about whether it may be suitable for you, you can always download a sample from Amazon.
I hope this helps and good luck on your journey if you decide to proceed!
I’d certainly agree you about those people hawking their latest book or course. But there are a lot of patient videos from people with VM and 3PD. I find those the most interesting, especially when they do a diary style video, detailing symptoms, triggers, treatments they’ve tried etc.
No different from the personal diaries on here except they are a vlog, not a post. Plus the recovery stories are always a nice reminder that hope is out there. Something I certainly struggle with.
3PD especially is a relatively recent entry on the medical scene so there isnt a huge amount of research or scientific papers on it. Which is frustrating when you are trying to work out what’s going on.