Services · Balance & Dizziness · Sandy Bay, Hobart

BPPV, Vertigo & Dizziness

For vertigo and dizziness appointments, we recommend booking with Ross Matton or Isabelle Warner.

Dizziness is one of those symptoms that sounds minor until you have it. It affects getting out of bed, driving, working, and for older patients especially, it raises the very real fear of falling. At AllCare, Ross and Isabelle treat vestibular conditions as a clinical focus, and the results are often faster than patients expect.

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Understanding your symptoms

Vertigo vs dizziness, what's the difference?

Patients often use these words interchangeably, which is understandable, but clinically they point in different directions.

Vertigo is a specific sensation: the room is spinning, or you are spinning, when nothing is actually moving. Dizziness is a broader term, covering unsteadiness, light-headedness, or simply feeling "off", and can arise from the inner ear, the neck, the cardiovascular system, or vision. Getting that distinction right at the start of an assessment is often what determines whether treatment works quickly or not.

Do any of these sound familiar?

Common symptoms

Vestibular conditions present differently for everyone. Patients come to us with:

 Room spinning
 Dizziness on movement
 Unsteadiness
 Nausea
 Spinning in bed
 Visual disturbance
 Feeling floaty
 Dizziness looking up
 Falls or near-falls
 Headaches & dizziness
 Ear fullness or ringing
 Difficulty concentrating

Conditions we treat

Most dizziness has a specific, treatable cause

Most common

BPPV, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

The most common cause of vertigo. Tiny calcium crystals in the inner ear shift into the wrong canal causing brief but intense spinning with head movements. Rolling over in bed, looking up, or tipping the head back are classic triggers. A repositioning technique called the Epley manoeuvre resolves it in most people within one to three sessions.

Inner ear inflammation

Vestibular neuritis & labyrinthitis

Usually triggered by a viral infection, causing sudden severe dizziness that settles over weeks. Vestibular rehabilitation exercises help the brain compensate for the damaged inner ear signal and significantly speed up recovery.

episodic condition

Meniere's disease

Episodes of intense vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus, and ear fullness that come on unpredictably. Physiotherapy doesn't address the underlying cause, but plays a genuine role in improving balance and function between episodes and reducing how much each attack disrupts daily life.

Chronic dizziness

PPPD, Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness

Very common, frequently misdiagnosed. Develops after an initial vestibular event and persists because the nervous system becomes sensitised to movement and visual stimulation. Patients describe a constant sense of being "off." It is not imagined and it is not permanent.

Headache-associated

Vestibular migraine

The most under-diagnosed cause of recurring vertigo in adults. Produces episodes of dizziness often without the expected headache, and is confused with other vestibular conditions for years in some patients.

Post-injury

Post-concussion dizziness

Often has several overlapping causes including BPPV, neck-driven dizziness, and central balance disruption. Sorting out which is which matters because each needs different treatment.

What to expect

What happens at your appointment

The assessment is thorough but not uncomfortable. Ross and Isabelle will spend time on your history, including when symptoms started, what triggers them, whether they are constant or episodic, and what makes them better or worse.

ASSESSMENT INCLUDES

- Eye movement testing

- Positional testing for BPPV

- Balance and walking assessment

- Neck mobility and joint testing

- Visual stability and gaze testing

- Symptom provocation testing

TREATMENT MAY INCLUDE

- Epley manoeuvre (BPPV)

- Vestibular rehab exercises

- Gaze stabilisation training

- Balance and gait retraining

- Neck treatment if relevant

- Graded exposure for PPPD

A note on BPPV. If your dizziness came on suddenly and is triggered by rolling over in bed, looking up, or tipping your head, this pattern is classic BPPV. It is the most common vestibular condition we see and also the most straightforward to treat.

Many people who have been dizzy for months assume they simply have to live with it. In our experience, that is rarely true.

Common questions

Questions we hear most

Will BPPV go away on its own?

It can, but it often takes weeks to months with no way to predict when. A repositioning manoeuvre resolves it in most people in one to three sessions. There is not much reason to wait.

Can dizziness be caused by my neck?

Yes. Cervicogenic dizziness, driven by the upper neck, is often mistaken for an inner ear problem. The treatment is neck physiotherapy, not vestibular rehab, so getting the diagnosis right matters. Our assessment is designed to tell the two apart.

My GP said to just wait and see. Should I still come in?

That advice is appropriate for very mild, very recent symptoms. For anything affecting day-to-day life or going on more than a couple of weeks, an assessment is worthwhile. For some conditions like PPPD, delay actually makes things harder to treat.

Do I need a referral?

No. Book directly with Ross or Isabelle. If you have relevant results such as an MRI or hearing test, bring them along, but they are not required to get started.

Our team

Book with our vestibular team

Ross and Isabelle both have dedicated vestibular training and see these conditions as a genuine area of clinical focus.

Ross Matton
Senior Physiotherapist, Vestibular
Ross returned to AllCare specifically to develop vestibular physiotherapy. His passion is dizziness and balance disorders from the inner ear, neck, and post-concussion.

Isabelle Warner
Physiotherapist, Vestibular & Concussion
Advanced vestibular training through Vestibular Education Australia. Also works at the Royal Hobart Hospital, giving her broad exposure to complex presentations.

Ready to get answers?
Not sure if your symptoms are vestibular? Call us on (03) 6224 9777. Ross and Isabelle are happy to have a quick conversation before you commit to an appointment.

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