Vestibular Group Fit is a comprehensive program designed to take a holistic approach to managing your vestibular disorder. Chronic vestibular symptoms do get better, and can be treated, always. That being said, there are many things that you may need to do or change in order to get there. Vestibular Group Fit (VGF) takes all of these facts into consideration and creates you custom programming based on your needs, diagnoses, and symptoms. Then, we start with The Basics. The Basics are the main focuses of VGF to really get down before moving forward with treatment. You will learn how to eat and hydrate, sleep better, change your mindset to break the dizzy-anxious-dizzy cycle, and more. All of this from the comfort of your own home, without any of the triggering head movements. Returning to function and getting your life back doesn’t have to be triggering, it can be gentle and consistent in order to be most effective.

All you need to do is bring yourself! As you start with the strength training, you may need weights, but you may always use household items such as cans, bags loaded with subjectively heavy objects, or anything else you can find around the house.

No, you do not need Facebook to participate in VGFit. All exercises, information and resources included in VGFit are available on both The Vertigo Doctor website and on Facebook, within the VGFit group.

The only difference between the platforms is access to VGFit Community Discussion Group, which is only available on Facebook. While we encourage joining the FB community group to connect and share with other VGFit members, participation is completely optional.

No, Vestibular Group Fit (VGFit) is not the same as Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT). They are different approaches but can complement each other in managing dizziness.

VGFit focuses on foundational exercises to help you feel better quickly, enabling you to participate in a VRT clinic and perform specific exercises without worsening your condition. VRT is a medical physical therapy practice involving exercises such as VORx1 or VORcX, which involve shaking or spinning your head or body.

As a vestibular therapist, Dr. Madison prescribes these VRT exercises, but they are not her first line of treatment for vestibular migraine. It is important to build a foundation by regulating your nervous system, balancing your blood sugar, and work on your mindset and more. By taking these steps first, you create a foundation that allows VRT to be more effective. Without this initial preparation, VRT might not be as successful or might not work at all.

This is completely up to you!

While you do not need a formal diagnosis to join VGFit, you should get clearance from your doctor before starting any new activity or exercise program. Before joining, we recommend being cleared for exercise, meditation, breathing exercises, and participating in a new program for your dizziness.

No you do not, similar to the above, while you do not need a formal diagnosis to join VGFit, you should get clearance from your doctor before starting any new activity or exercise program. Before joining, we recommend being cleared for exercise, meditation, breathing exercises, and participating in a new program for your dizziness.

The overarching treatment strategies used in VGFit are beneficial for various vestibular disorders. While the educational content on the platform may vary based on your diagnosis, you will still engage in the same fundamental exercises and supportive content designed to help you feel better, regardless of your specific condition.

A Vestibular disorder is a dysfunction of your vestibular system. First we need to back up, though. The vestibular system is your inner ear’s system of balance. You have 3 systems of balance, your vestibular system, the visual system, and proprioception. These 3 systems work together to provide optimal balance and equilibrium. Your vestibular system is deep within your inner ear and attached to the cochlea, which is your hearing organ. Just like with any other organ or bodily system, things can go wrong in the vestibular system. Learn more about how the system functions generally here.

There are 2 main factors that define vestibular disorders. The first is a peripheral vestibular disorder, which you can learn more about here, and is a disorder that occurs in the actual vestibular system itself. Then there are central vestibular disorders, click here to learn more, which occur in the brain but cause vestibular symptoms.

Vestibular migraine is a neurological disorder due to migraine!
Someone always says to me ‘but i don’t get migraines’ by way of meaning they don’t’ get head pain. Migraine is NOT a headache. One of the symptoms of migraine disorder is head pain, but it’s a much broader issue than just head pain.

Migraine is a full body neurological disorder that can impact your entire nervous system. Another piece of understanding migraine is understanding that migraine causes many many different symptoms depending on the person. For you, you may have vestibular migraine without head pain at all, and you’d be in good company with at least 40% of the vestibular migraine population. Yes that’s correct, many people with VM do not have any head pain.

In short, vestibular migraine is a neurological disorder that causes dizziness, imbalance and vertigo because of migraine itself. Head pain is not required.

To learn more about vestibular migraine, please head to this link for the free masterclass.

Vestibular neuritis is a form of unilateral vestibular hypofunction caused by an inner ear infection. When the nerve connecting to the inner ear, the vestibulocochlear nerve, gets infected then the function of that nerve will reduce and you will be left with a decrease in function (hypofunction) in that ear. The infection generally can only happen one time, but it can result in leaving you with more symptoms.

The typical presentation is 24-72 hours of room spinning vertigo, which slowly stops and then begins to feel better over time. The symptoms could continue in the form of gaze instability (bouncing vision), imbalance, difficulty walking at night, and more. Luckily, Vestibular Rehabiliatiton Therapy is amazing for the treatment of VN itself.

If you are having new or worsening symptoms, sometimes VN can lead to Vestibular Migraine or PPPD, so if you feel you’re having those symptoms please talk to your doctor and join us in VGFit for help with those, too!

To learn more about VN, listen to this podcast.

Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness is a perceptual disorder that is from a large combination of factors. When you get a primary vestibular disorder, you can develop PPPD, which is a secondary vestibular disorder – this means it comes from something else. After an acute vestibular event or if you have a chronic vestibular disorder (or another medical diagnosis) you can be diagnosed with PPPD.

Stress and anxiety about your symptoms, and generally, are predisposing factors to PPPD. Additionally, there are brain changes involved, maladaptive behavior responses, sensory mismatches, and more that go into this.

If you want to learn more about PPPD:

Listen to this podcast.
Watch this Masterclass.

BPPV is a benign disorder that is a dislocation of your ear crystals (yes, there are crystals inside your ears) from the otoconia where you live, to the semi-circular canals where only fluid should be. To treat it, we use something called a Canalith Repositioning Maneuver to dump the crystals out of the canal and into the place where they belong, to be reabsorbed by something called the Dark Cells.

Because your ears determine the stability of your eyes, when this system is amiss, it causes positional vertigo. BPPV only happens in specific positions and movements to/from those dependent positions (usually lying down!), and not again until the position is changed.

If you want to learn more about BPPV and what to do about it, click here.

You have 3 systems of balance, your vision, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems. The 3 of them should work together in tandem to keep you upright, help you understand what’s in your surroundings, and more. However, when one is not working – your vestibular system, for example – the others take over. This makes it super difficult to walk in the dark or on uneven surfaces.

When your vestibular system isn’t at 100% capacity, it also doesn’t work as a check for the system of checks and balances, so visual vertigo also happens because your vestibular system isn’t keeping your vision in check! There’s so much more to this, so, if you want to learn more about this, click here to listen to the podcast!

Dizziness comes from many different places and sources, the most common being a vestibular disorder. There are two groups that we can generally put dizziness and vertigo diagnosis into. The first are central disorders (brain and spinal cord) and the second are peripheral disorders (in the actual vestibular system). The most common central vestibular disorder is vestibular migraine, and the most common peripheral vestibular disorder is BPPV.

The best treatment for BPPV is a canalith repositioning maneuver, such as the Epley or BBQ Roll. The best treatment for Vestibular Migraine is a larger treatment plan that focused on lifestyle, mindset, movement, and more. That is precisely what we do in Vestibular Group Fit, provide you with everything you need to know about living with dizziness, from which doctors to see to how to move your body safely again.

Dizziness and vertigo are not the same. Dizziness is an umbrella term for all vestibular symptoms, and is non specific, while vertigo has a specific definition. Vertigo is, by definition, the incorrect perception that you or the room around you is moving, sliding or spinning. You can have internal vertigo, which is when you feel like you or your brain are moving, or you can have external vertigo, where you feel like the room around you is spinning or moving. However, dizziness be imbalance, heavy headedness, lightheadedness, just feeling off, and more.

Sometimes yes, and other times no. Vestibular disorders are based in the inner ear, which houses the cochlea and the vestibular system. The vestibular system is for balance and equilibrium, which the cochlea is for responsible for receiving hearing signals in the form of vibration and sending them to the brain to be understood. Hearing can be interrupted in a few different ways.

In Vestibular Labyrinthitis, your vestibulocochlear nerve gets an infection and it’s in both branches of the nerve (different than neuritis, where the hearing is left alone). This causes hearing loss which is sustained.

In Meniere’s Disease, you may have fluctuating hearing loss that is progressive and sustained over time. The hearing loss in Meniere’s disease is specifically in low frequencies.

If you have an acoustic neuroma/vestibular schwannoma then you could also have hearing loss. This is because the benign tumor is pressing on the nerve, which can cause hearing loss. Additionally post-surgically, you may have complete hearing loss.

You also may experience tinnitus as well, which is a very common symptom of vestibular disorders overall.

All of that being said, not all vestibular disorders are going to have hearing loss or hearing issues involved!

Diet absolutely matters in managing your vestibular disorder, because your gut is

directly connected to your brain via the gut-brain-axis. The gut brain axis matters as the gut houses your immune system, makes many neurotransmitters for your brain, and so much more! Many people with VM and other vestibular disorders go on to try and use elimination diets during their treatment journey. This can be helpful when done properly (never more than 90-100 days before the reintroduction period) and then going back to eating a well rounded diet.

In Vestibular Group Fit, we talk about what it takes to eat many different foods, how to balance your blood sugar, eat enough protein, and more!

Stress can absolutely impact your vestibular disorder. High levels of stress make coping more difficult because of how much it depletes your mental wellness resources. It can also be related to sleep disruption, physiological changes like neck tension and higher cortisol levels which both impact dizziness, and so much more. Stress reduction and nervous system regulation are going to be big for vestibular disorder treatment, and it’s something we focus a LOT on in Vestibular Group Fit.

When you live with a vestibular disorder, you probably already know that dizziness and vertigo attacks can seemingly come out of nowhere. Nothing is worse or more disruptive than that, am I right?!

Because there aren’t cures (no matter what anyone tells you – they’re not right, scientifically) we need a way to both prevent attacks and manage them when they’re here. The best way to reduce anxiety and return to functioning is to be prepared. So, if you have a sudden onset of vertigo, you simply take out your toolkit – which is both mental and physical – and use it. That way, you know EXACTLY what to do if and when you have dizziness.

If you don’t have a toolkit, that’s okay. That’s where we come in! In Vestibular Group Fit we will help you build a toolkit so you know exactly what to do when you feel dizzy so you can treat it right, the first time!

If you are dealing with a vestibular disorder and have family who wants to help, or if you are a family member/friend who is reading this, we have a whole class on this!

Here’s the class on how to support a vestibular warrior.

If you suspect you have a vestibular disorder, I first want you to know that you are in the right place! WE take care of everyone with dizziness, no matter your diagnosis.

If you are looking for a diagnosis, you are going to want your doctor to refer you to a vestibular specialist. Vestibular specialists are different for everyone, but I mostly recommend the following:

If you think you might have Vestibular Migraine: see a headache specialist

If you think you have any other vestibular disorder: see a neuro-otologist or vestibular ENT!

Additionally, in VGFit, there is a list of many many trusted providers available to you who others in VGFit have gone to and gotten good advice and treatment!

Lifestyle changes are some of the best, if not the best, things that you can do to manage your dizziness. Many different factors, from stress to diet and hydration affect your dizziness. My job and my mission in life is to help you change your lifestyle in a way that suits your lifestyle.

In Vestibular Group Fit, you will learn about slow and sustainable changes that will get you there. From movement and exercise to diet and mindset, you will learn how to manage your disorder through our comprehensive education system and holistic process so you will get back to feeling like you, again.

This really depends on SO many factors. There is no one answer or singular answer to this question which can make this so difficult.

Typically, after you get a diagnosis, it takes about a year of trial and error to get the things that work for you in order. Of course, that timeline can be much shorter or much longer depending on your lifestyle, sensitivities to medications, environmental factors, anxiety, stress, and more.

Putting yourself on a timeline will not help recovery, in fact, I find that it often hinders recovery rather than helps it. In Vestibular Group Fit, we will give you all the information and guidance you need to thrive with a vestibular disorder, and work slowly towards dizzy free days! You can absolutely get there, you just need the right toolkit!

YES! Heck yes! Vestibular disorders are incredibly manageable and although it takes time, changes, and effort, you can always get there. I have seen people go from homebound to driving to town again, from being managed out of jobs to working full time in a huge office again. I have seen moms and dads go from bedbound to dancing and spinning with their kids again. And so much more.

Vestibular Disorders need to be treated and managed using a multidisciplinary approach that consists of lifestyle changes, mindset shifts, breathing techniques, exercise and movement, medical involvement, balance improvements, and so much more. I am here to help you thrive, not just survive, with your vestibular disorder.

I can’t wait to see you there and see all you accomplish!