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I have been referred a 13 year old otherwise fit girl who has had dizziness since a faint and fall about 6 months ago. She has been diagnosed with vestibular disturbance and advised Cawthorne Cooksey exercises. Does anyone have a template of assessment for dizziness and how long would you expect it would take to see some improvement with exercises?
I recommend you this book :Vestibular Rehabilitation, 3rd Edition (Contemporary Perspectives in Rehabilitation) Susan Herdman F.A. Davis Company; (April 3, 2007)
You will be find in this book :evaluation and exercices, including Cawthorne Cooksey exercises but also others exercices for improving postural stability, head and body movements with eye exercises...
The time to see an improvement its going to depend on the kind of vestibular disorder. For instance for a patient with vestibular neuritis, it could take from 3 weeks to 3 or 4 months (on average) to see an improvement in symptoms.
I agree that the Herdman book is an excellent resource. Who diagnosed her with a vestibular problem? They are not that common in 13 year olds. Cooksey cawthorne exercises are very generic and a bit old but maybe vaguely useful if you are not sure of the problem. the following article gives an overview of a reasonable vestibular examination. As Fisio says, recovery can vary with the pathology. You need to get them to work hard to accomodate or compensate. Knowing the cause would help with prognosis.
http://www.siumed.edu/surgery/clerks...%20Handout.pdf
It is true that vestibular problems are relatively rare in teenagers, the most frequent aetiologies for dizziness in childrens and teenagers would be migraine equivalent. However vestibular disorders may occur after : labyrinthitis, cholesteatoma, semicircular canal dehiscence...
Vestibular disorders in children. [Int J Audiol. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI
Cochleovestibular anomalies in children with ch... [Laryngoscope. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI
Prevalence of radiographic semicircular canal... [Pediatr Radiol. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI