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Virtual Reality Vestibular Rehabilitation

Virtual Reality Vestibular RehabilitationRecent technological advances are changing lifestyles and communications. Technologies like computers, internet and Email, available in many households have also had a great impact in many areas of healthcare. This has led to a new rapidly expanding field called “cyber therapy” which involves the use of Virtual Reality Vestibular Rehabilitationcomputer generated environments to improve healthcare.

Virtual reality (VR) consists in creating scenery in which the user is present in a graphic environment in which he can interact. VR has been in use in many fields to train personnel in different environments for example pilot training and the entertainment industry.Virtual Reality Vestibular Rehabilitation VR is being used in different areas of healthcare like the treatment of phobias and anxiety, stroke rehabilitation and as a distraction device during painful procedures. It has also begun to be used in people with dizziness and balance disorders.

Balance is maintained thanks to the input from the visual, vestibular and propioceptive systems.

These three systems interact giving our brain continuous references Virtual Reality Vestibular Rehabilitationabout our orientation with respect to our surroundings allowing our posture and eye movements to adapt.

Connections between different systems are complex and involve circuits between the retina, the inner ear and the cerebellum.

When a vestibular system injury occurs our central nervous Virtual Reality Vestibular Rehabilitationsystem needs to modify its circuity in order to compensate. This is the purpose of vestibular rehabilitation.

VR lets us selectively treat each patient by placing him in different environments where we can selectively modify visual and vestibular input, for example we can control the speed at which the scenery moves when a patient turns his head allowing control Virtual Reality Vestibular Rehabilitationof the patient’s dizziness in these situations. There is scientific evidence for the use of this type of therapy to augment the effectiveness of vestibular rehabilitation.

In conclusion VR vestibular rehabilitation allows a more precise control of the training environment permitting different situations, and velocities where the physical therapist can rehabilitate the patient to achieve symptom relief and independence.