'Dizzy attacks left me spinning'

By Jane Elliott
Health reporter, BBC News

Sally had terrible motion sickness

Feeling a little queasy on a ferry or during a long car journey is one thing, but when even a trip to the supermarket induces full-blown travel sickness the time has come to take action.

Sally Williams had come to dread any journey, but when she hit 40 her motion illness took a dramatic turn for the worse.

"Suddenly I was not only motion sick myself, but other people's motion would make me sick," said 45-year-old Sally.

"Just walking through the station on the way to work would make me sick.

Speedy diagnosis

"It started getting really bad and affecting my life.

"I felt unwell all the time. Even a busy supermarket could leave me feeling sick."

By the seventh session I was spinning round and round throwing and catching balls - stuff I had seen other people doing and felt sick just watching Sally Williams

Luckily, Sally's GP referred her to the new one-stop balance clinic at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London.

Previously, a patient like Sally would have been referred to an ENT (ear, nose and throat) consultant and then potentially a neurologist. This could mean that it would take up to 30 weeks to come up with a diagnosis.

But the balance clinic is designed to deliver a diagnosis within four weeks of receiving a referral.

Sally had to learn how to focus

Consultant ENT surgeon Mr Rahul Kanegaonkar said: "This clinic makes a real difference to patients who may otherwise spend long periods of time coping with their dizziness without specialist help."

Physiotherapist Gareth Jones said there were numerous benefits.

"Unnecessary scans are avoided and consultants' time is not wasted assessing patients that they don't need to see.

"In patient satisfaction surveys we have found people attending the new clinic are less anxious about their condition because they feel they are being listened to and getting a diagnosis more quickly."

He added that seeing patients more quickly could even increase the chance of a positive outcome.

"There is a big link between how chronic, or how long people have the problems for, and what the outcome is," he explained.

After just seven physiotherapy rehabilitation sessions at the clinic at Guy's and St Thomas', Sally reported her symptoms were almost non-existent.

She was seen by both a physiotherapist and an audiologist during a two-hour appointment.

Visual stimulation

Within a week, an ENT consultant with specialist knowledge and skills in dizziness met the physiotherapist and audiologist to discuss the case and the team decided the best treatment options for Sally.

A few weeks later she was signed up for her first physiotherapy session to treat her dizziness.

DIZZINESS Dizziness and balance problems are very common, affecting 30% of the UK population before the age of 65 Visual vertigo is a type of dizziness that can develop as the result of inner ear problems It can be triggered by repetitive or complex visual backgrounds and it might be the reason why recovery from dizziness is delayed in many people

"The physiotherapist and audiologist explained I had visual vertigo which was affecting my balance," she said.

"It was made worse in public places and when travelling because there is so much visual stimulation.

"I was so relieved to be given a diagnosis and to be told there was something they could do to help because I was starting to worry they would either think I was mad or tell me it was something I would just have to live with.

"I was amazed that something as simple as physiotherapy could make a difference and I was glad I wouldn't have to rely on medication for the rest of my life.

"Now I feel 90% better," said Sally, from London.

Balancing skills can improve visual vertigo

"I was amazed by the techniques they used and how they taught me to focus.

"The first week they had me looking at chequered boards to try and focus. They had me marching on the spot moving my head while lights were moving round me as if a train was moving.

"I was so sick afterwards I had to get tablets from the doctor, but by the seventh session I was spinning round and round throwing and catching balls - stuff I had seen other people doing and felt sick just watching.

"I have not had one bad bout since. Now I focus and if I am in the car I just don't look at the bushes passing and that helps."