How Apex Clinic Cleared Emily’s Vertigo!
17-year-old Emily Rennie from Bangor began suffering from severe vertigo that left her unable to attend school and struggling to leave the house. After trying various medications without success, she visited Apex Headache Clinic in search of relief. Here, she shares how the clinic’s specialist manual physiotherapy treatment for vertigo, The Nelson Vertigo Approach™, helped clear her symptoms, allowing her to live life to the full.
Emily, when did your vertigo symptoms begin?
About 2 years ago I began experiencing severe dizziness and a feeling of being off balance. It got so bad I was taken to urgent care and at one stage I was hospitalised for a week. During my stay in hospital, I had many tests including a brain MRI scan, a brain CT scan, tests on my heart and they checked my bloods for everything as well. Thankfully everything came back normal, but we were still no closer to having an answer as to why I was feeling dizzy all the time and so off balance. I was given lots of different nasal sprays to try but nothing really seemed to be helping me.
How did vertigo affect your life?
I couldn’t walk without being helped by someone else and in the house I would have to hold onto the walls to move around. I missed a lot of school and I was really unable to leave the house. The most exciting thing for me at this time was when my parents would take me for a drive in the car to get out of the house for a while. I missed being able to go for walks and go out with my friends like other teenagers my age did.
What led you to Apex Headache Clinic?
My mum bumped into a previous work colleague who asked her how I was getting on and when she told them that I had been suffering so badly with vertigo, she told my mum that her husband had been to Apex and his symptoms were now gone. My mum then looked up the Apex Clinic website and she was very interested as other places specifically talked about inner ear vertigo but Apex was taking a different approach, specifically mentioning their treatment of neck driven vertigo. All the information and symptoms sounded very like what I was suffering with. At that stage my mum made an appointment for me to attend Apex Headache Clinic for an initial consultation with one of their specialist physiotherapists.
How has your life changed since having treatment?
I haven’t had an episode of vertigo in around 7 months! This has been fantastic for me. I’m never in the house now, always seeing my friends and I love going for walks as this is something I really missed when my vertigo was at its worst. I was able to get back to school fully and I am currently sitting my A-Levels. I have been able to follow my physio’s advice while studying, mainly to keep good posture. I didn’t realise how important good posture was before but now I know how important it is to keep my vertigo away and this is something I can do myself outside of my physiotherapy sessions. My specialist physiotherapist was great, she made me feel relaxed and I could be honest with how I was feeling. I have now been seeing her for maintenance treatment once a month throughout my exams and we are planning to keep spacing these appointments out further.
What advice would you offer someone suffering from vertigo?
I would say don’t give up, as Apex Headache Clinic’s treatment for vertigo may help you like it has for me! If the prescribed medications aren’t working there is a different approach available that really could work.
To book an appointment at Apex Headache Clinic, call 028 9048 4153. No GP referral is necessary.