Being doing my 'eye' exercises for a month now and while they do have a very clear effect on me I don't know if it's one for the better or not, weird. Was very disappointed in the paucity of the exercises the therapist suggested, simply that I use a newspaper headline or book title as my focus, moving eyes up, down, left, right, diagonal etc., eyes focused on the words while keeping head still. Said a few minutes was all that was needed and should know in a month if it has helped or not. Didn't seem like much to me so I have been spending more time on them. Using book title idea for focus have been doing the full range of eye exercises repeating each set 15 times, do this 3 times a day. In additional I do some standing exercises, (got them of a website somebody here suggested) swaying left, right, back, front, then the circular swaying while keeping eyes focused on a particular point, then walking exercise turning head left & right as though going down a supermarket aisle. Again 15 sets of each 3 times a day. I don't find any of it at all difficult or challenging but they do have a definite effect with a sort of 'tightening' effect of this continual movement in the head, also seems to be moving swifter & smoother and a very strong pull felt on internal ear area into brainstrem and behind nose. No sign of sensations stopping, but I feel better in myself than I've felt in a long time. I can't fathom it, I really cann't. Anybody know of more 'advanced' exercises? Or how long they persevered for before getting a positive result. I mean I'd seriously doubt the diagnosis expcept I keep coming across comments and descriptions of symptoms from people with vestibular disorders that seem to correspond to my head symptoms.

hi nina,

i did the c.c. excersises for about 2 mnths and felt improvement in the fact that i could go out again, i was housebound for about 3 horrendous months, i felt it slightly improved the motion feeling in my head but never got rid of it, it gave me confidence, my physio told me that after the time i had been doing them there was not going to be any more improvement which really depressed me again, but i have been told by ilia that on her visit to a neuro oto they said it could take upto a year for some.. so stick with it.......my physio said that the more u can get out and walk, looking around at the scenery this is a form of vrt as well........i have been redoing the eye exercises, but still not rid of the 24/7 moving in the head feeling.......im sure its stuck at this level for me.....like u say we might need more advanced excersises

bye for now

lorr

Hi there,

I was given 25 exercises to do, I'm still not through them all and have been doing them for 5 months. I have definitely seen big improvements, but this stuff is slow. I do think your VRt therapist might be a bit off in terms of suggesting one month - I've heard a lot of times that the length of time you've suffered with this the longer it takes for VRT to work. Your brain has got in to bad habits over many years, I guess they figure it'll take longer to unlearn those habits. In terms of the exercises you've been given. This is a tricky one, as I had problems with vertigo, the 26 initial exercises focus on balance. I've been told that I will move on to the eye exercises when those are done. Although there were a couple of eye type exercises way back at the beginning of my list. It may be that they are focusing on the eye stuff with you as it's more appropriate to what you're experiencing. I do know that there is one eye exercise mentioned again and again - it's something like focus on one object, close your eyes, go to another object, open them. To get a proper description of this exercise, put Subs30 in to word search, I know Subs has posted a full description of it a few times. Maybe if you try eye exercises in word search as well, it'll bring it up. This exercise does seem to be handed out again and again. If you want to a more comprehensive list of other type of VRt exercises, putting Cawthorne Cooksey in to a search engine should bring up a whole load.

What I would say is that from what you describe, just feeling a bit better in yourself over all, a weird lifting of something - this mimics what I have experienced, along with remission of some of my dizzy symptoms. Like you, my feeling about it is - hmmmm - weird. If you are experiencing something that you can call improvement, I would persevere. I think this stuff goes sooo slowly it's hard to judge the tiny shifts day by day.

Thanks Brina & Hbep, just being able to voice the frustrations and have somebody with understanding of the situation acknowledge it helps a lot. I will keep at it of course and it's not that I expect miracles, especially in a month, but oh it's been so long and the years have slipped by and well I just feel so stagnant, just one day after another and nothing to show for it. At the very least I'd like to be sure that I'm doing the most beneficial exercises for this particular problem so will look for the information suggested. Honest I'm really sorry each of you have this problem, and I think Brina does sound exactly like me, but at the same time it's some comfort to know that there are others contending with what I'm contending with and understand how I feel. Ta again.

Hi Nina, I must say a month is nothing in terms of VRT, neither is 2 months or even 3. Like Hbep says you have to persevere with VRT, results will not be seen for a while. I am guessing Nina seeing astho youve had your prob for so long, it could take even longer for you. They told Ilia in London that it would take a year of VRT to be ok again.

I too have been doing my eye exercises for 1 month. Just come down with a fluid filled ear so am majorly dizzy and deaf and am writing to ENT to have grommets in asap. I have slight ETD as a result of Lab. But in terms of VRT Im not sure I am seeing any improvements yet but am not expecting to. Waiting for my blimin referal to VRT so they will guide me more hopefully but in the meantime I am going on with the eye exercises. What I have found is that they still make me v dizzy after doing them, this does not seem to have lessened. But Ive had this now for 16mths so it may take quite a while.

Hope this helps xxx