Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) happens when the brain finds it hard to react to sensory signals in the surroundings. Sound, textures or cues involving balance can become overwhelming to people with sensory problems. One of the areas that are most affected by SPD in individuals is a vestibular system that regulates balance and space awareness along with coordination. A viable treatment approach such as vestibular physiotherapy in Edmonton assists a person with SPD to get control over their sensory responses especially when it comes to balancing sensations as well as promoting motor performance.
So what is Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)?
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a disorder that happens when the brain fails to process or react to the sensory input in the correct manner. Although sensation exists in the lives of all the individuals, individuals with SPD might be either hypersensitive or hyposensitive to sensory encounters. This may be visible in lack of coordination in duties, balance and integration. For example,
- Hypersensitivity may make a person get overwhelmed easily by the noises, touch, or motion.
- The former leads to the inability to sense where the body is or to require vigorous motion to feel more levels within the body.
The vestibular system is one of the most important systems that are affected by SPD. It coordinates the sense of balance and space. There is a possibility of problems with balance and movement due to the challenges that people with SPD might experience in processing this information.
The Determination of Vestibular Physiotherapy in SPD
Vestibular physiotherapy involves treatment of the vestibular system through giving exercises and methods that assist in improving balance, coordination and motor skills. It activates the vestibular system thus enabling the brain to receive and react better to the sensory information.
In people with SPD, the vestibular physiotherapy may assist by:
- Enhancement of Balance and Stability: Vestibular exercises enhance the brain processes involved in handling of information pertaining to balance which limits falls and enhances posture.
- Spatial Awareness: Physiotherapy enhances the capacity of an individual to know where they are and it is useful in the process of movement and coordination.
- Lessening Sensory Overload: Vestibular physiotherapy may allow people to endure and process sensations through re-training the brain to accept and respond to sensory stimuli.
- Improvement of Coordination: Repeated exercises of the vestibular systems lead to the coordination of the sensory systems, which enhances gross and fine motor actions.
- Reductions in Dizziness and Vertigo: Exercises can decrease the experiences of dizziness and vertigo, which are quite frequent among the population with SPD and usually caused by moving or a particular setting.
Helpful Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy Techniques of SPD
Some of the exercises in particular that a physiotherapist can incorporate to assist an individual with SPD through vestibular physiotherapy in Edmonton are listed below. These exercises will help the vestibular system to include the senses little by little as it will help the brain to process and integrate the stimuli better.
Exercises of Gaze Stabilization
Training the muscles that keep the eye focused in one position enables them to hold on to the al during head movements, the brain is thus able to process visual and vestibular information better during trainings. During a normal exercise, a person holds an object, a pen, in front of the eyes at their level and swings the head either side to side or up and down maintaining the focus of the object. The movement is slow and the speed gets quicker as the tolerance improves. To make it more difficult, the target may be moved farther, or a standing exercise or walking can be performed. The practice enhances the linkage between the eyes and the vestibular system and eliminates dizziness and control when there are movements of the head.
Postural control and body Balance Exercises
Patients with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) need to complete balance exercises in case they have a problem with coordination and stability. Such exercises assist the human body to get balanced in different positions and this body exercise starts with simpler activities such as balancing on one leg within 10-20 seconds. To add closing, an unstable surface, a foam pad can be added. Different exercises to make challenge sessions more dynamic can be to walk on one leg or to do squats on unsteady surface. These exercises enhance postural control and stability thus finding it easy to sustain daily activities.
Sensory Integration and Head Moveme Easier
Part of the sensory integration therapy also includes restricted movement of your head to assist in the effort of desensitizing the brain against movement-related sensory stimuli by promoting integration of the vestibular and visual systems. The sitting exercise involves sitting comfortably and using the head to turn side ways, up and down, as well as diagonal and also used to focus onto a fixed object. This assists in promoting visual following. The easier the exercise is, the more possible it will be to execute it either standing or walking or to enhance it with other movements, i.e. with the arms reaching. The exercises help people with SPD have a more effective response to movement, become less light-headed, and more coordinated.
Habituation Exercises
Gradually, habits lessons allow a person to get accustomed either to a movement or a circumstance that tends to produce the effect of dizziness, or sensory overload, and makes one less sensitive to it. It is a process of performing easy movements, as in tilting the head, turning the body, looking up and down and repeating the moves to desensitize the vestibular system. The intensity and the range of motion can be erected with time as one develops a tolerance. The activities promote the adjustment of the brain to external sensory inputs, minimizing the probability of being overwhelmed by them in real life.
Proprioceptive Training
Proprioceptive training activities improve body awareness, which may be impaired among people living with SPD. These are exercises that concentrate on the feedback by muscles and joints, so that the body has a clearer idea of where it is. Interior activities that improve body posture and awareness in movement should be easy to use and some of them include walking along a balance beam or one-leg posture to close your eyes and seek balance as you make your steps. To carry out the balance beam walk, take one foot in a direct forward position in front of the other on the beam with imbalance and posture. The balance can also be compounded by using unstable surfaces such as a wobbleboard. Proprioception training also prevents falls by improving posture and coordinates the individual to allow movement to be easily made.
Increasing Sensory Integration through Vestibular Physiotherapy Rehabilitation
A useable solution to people with Sensory Processing Disorder is vestibular physiotherapy in Edmonton. Through regular and customized exercises people empower people with SPD to experience assuring, in-sync, well-balanced living. Special vestibular physiotherapy assisting in dealing with Sensory Processing Disorder in personal needs is available with Turning Point Physiotherapy in Edmonton, in case you or a loved one is dealing with this disorder.
Reach out to us today to book an evaluation and start your improved sense of balance and improved sense of sensory integration.
