0 voters
Note that Iāve purposefully limited this poll to Trust Level 2 members only who will likely have had more experience with a vestibular condition.
Iāve consistently walked for up to 3 miles a day and it actually helps my symptoms. Itās not a crazy fast as I can go walk, and I usually have my cane just in case.
Studies show that walking 30 minutes a day helps prevent cardiovascular disease, dementia and a host of other ailments. Walking 60-90 minutes actually extends life expectancy.
When Iām having a particularly bad episode, I will walk on the treadmill since it gives me two bars to hold on to.
Having said all that, you canāt just recommend a walking regimen in general to everyone. Everyoneās MAV is different. You can recommend walking, but how long depends on the person.
I believe that for some people, 15 minutes might be a stretch goal. For others, they might be able to walk for hours on end.
Right after my bypass surgery, I could only manage a walk to the end of my driveway and back. Thatās about 50 feet for you metric folks, thatās just over 15 meters. A year later I was walking 4 miles a day and could have walked further if I had the time.
Once the MAV set in, I let it be an excuse for not walking. The next thing I knew, walking at a slow pace for 30 minutes was a struggle. But, I pushed myself and now Iām back to being able to walk as far as I have the time.
This is truly a mileage may vary issue.
Iād argue you should walk as much as you feasibly can. Follow the simple rule of slowing down when your symptoms are 20% worse than when you started. If you recover quickly, keep going. If not, come back tomorrow. Dance the line and youāll expand your limits.
I followed this advice from my VRT and found my hard limits increased almost exponentially.
I went chronic in 2017. Today I walked a 3.5 mile alpine loop with 600ā elevation gain. MAV wasnāt a limiting factor, though Iāll give Botox credit where itās due. We could have gone for miles more if the arthritis in my hips was calmer. You can reclaim your life but not without braving a little discomfort and being persistent.
Iām with Flutters on this one, Iād say walk as far as is comfortable for you. The duration will increase if you do it regularly, without causing too much fatigue/triggering.
Personally, I canāt even look at my hubby on the treadmill without feeling dizzy - but then Iām not an āathleticā person!
Same old song - āEveryone is differentā!!
I try to do 3 - 5 miles a day most days because it is the activity which helps the most. I think of it as mild Vestibular Therapy. BUT, walking in the deep woods where there is no horizon makes me sometimes worse. Try and find open meadows, walk along water, anywhere you can see a flat horizon helps, just as it does for seasickness.
Still in a bit of a relapse but getting better daily, thanks in part to walking.
@shazam What is the App you posted? Iāve been looking for something that would track my walking. I assume it uses the accelerometers imbedded in our smartphones.
I wish so much I could walk further. Before my latest relapse I was doing 10-14k steps each day for a month. I think that may have contributed to the relapse. Now walking is the biggest trigger and Iāve started getting weird sensations in my legs, like theyāre really heavy. I can manage 30min to 1hour on a good day. On a bad day, a short walk round the block. Always best in the morning, when I go in the evening I often feel terrible.
Fitbit Inspire. Finally a Fitbit app that works! Iāve been struggling with them for 8 years!
I donāt go very fast.
I was hoping it was something that worked directly with an iPhone without a third part device.
Whatās wrong with the native Health app? Any reasonably modern iPhone captures steps out of the box and the steps are shown in the integral Health app.
I need to capture calories burned and the native app doesnāt do that.
So yesterday was a hard day for my husband (who is a āthru-hikerā walking sometimes on trail 25 miles a day.) And he just crashed and we spent the day reading instead of our usual getting out into the woods for 1.5 - 3 hrs. And by evening I was relapsed. Walking is the same as medicine for me: absolutely essential to recovery. Itās not an issue when Iām stable (like eating anything, drinking wine, etc.) But when Iām relapsed, Itās crucial to recovery.
I think there are so many benefits to walking.
Not only is it tuning your vestibular system and calming any anxiety itās time away from screens! (put that 
away!)
I do notice after a day of walking I feel much better. The dizziness is very mild, and my anxiety is gone. Something about the fresh air and change of scenery makes you feel healthier. I also sleep more soundly! Itās also a way to reconnect with the spouse. We both use this computer too much.
I donāt keep track of how many miles or how long we walk. Just keep walking as long as it is comfortable for you.
My only recommendation is to say that you should walk while you feel comfortable doing so but you have to remember that wherever you go you need to walk the same distance to get back to where you started. Donāt walk until it becomes too uncomfortable because then youāll struggle too much to get home!
I always found walking was most uncomfortable to begin with and then after 45 minutes things were still uncomfortable, if a little less so, but you get used to the sensation somewhat and can continue.
Cycling always gets rid of my vestibular symptoms until I get off the bike to walk again 
Three years after my initial response to this question I find myself seriously grappling with balance issues again. I am afraid to leave my house and walk anywhere alone, for fear that I may fall and injure myself severely enough that I not only cannot get up, but that I cannot call for help.
A few years back this happened to me, or at least very nearly happened to me. I was scattering ice melt on my driveway after a particularly nasty ice storm and stepped on a patch of black ice that I thought I had already treated. My feet flew out from under me, and I slid down the driveway and out into the middle of the untreated street. I could not get back up because of the ice. I could not gain any purchase with my hands or feet to push or pull against. During the fall, I struck the back of my head and I had no idea if I was okay or going to pass out at any time. I scanned the neighbor from my prone position and didnāt see a soul. I had the unfortunate bad judgement to leave my cell phone inside on the charger, so I couldnāt call for help. I felt in my pockets and found I had one item that might help, my house keys. I retrieved the keys and carefully used them lik a claw to pull myself toward the curb. I figured if I could make it to the curb, I could climb up into the yard which should be relatively soft. About 45 minutes later, I was back inside my warm home calling emergency services.
They took me to the Emergency Room and did a CAT scan. The scan revealed a fractured skull, but no hematoma. The doctor said the skin was broken open, but not enough to staple. He let me go home after promising to stay inside and not get back out on the ice streets.
While I was 69 at the time of that incident and Iām now 72, one might think there is no comparison between dry ground and icy ground. When you suffer from vestibular disorders and your balance is so bad that your iPhones health app warns you that you are in danger of falling, then the dry ground becomes a concern.
I limit my walking to when someone is with me, and if I canāt get someone to go along, I use the treadmill with the understanding that they will check on me.
