BALANCE & DIZZINESS · SOUTH SURREY
Vestibular Physiotherapy in South Surrey
If the room spins when you roll over in bed, or a walk through the grocery store leaves you feeling unsteady, that is not something you have to wait out. Vestibular physiotherapy looks for the actual cause of your dizziness and retrains the systems behind your balance, so you can move through your day without second guessing every step.
What Is Vestibular Physiotherapy?
Your vestibular system is the partnership between your inner ear and your brain that keeps you upright and oriented. It tells you which way is up, keeps your vision steady while your head moves, and lets you walk across a room without thinking about it. When something interferes with that system, ordinary movements like rolling over, looking up at a shelf, or bending to tie a shoe can suddenly bring on spinning, nausea, or a floaty, off balance feeling.
Vestibular physiotherapy is a focused area of physiotherapy that assesses what is actually driving those symptoms and treats it directly. Depending on what the assessment finds, that might mean repositioning manoeuvres, gaze and balance retraining, or gradual exposure to the movements that set you off.
The goal is to retrain how your brain reads balance information, not just to help you avoid the things that trigger it.
What Vestibular Physiotherapy Can Help With
If any of this sounds like your last few months, this is the right place to start.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
The most common cause of vertigo. Tiny crystals in your inner ear shift out of place, and short bursts of spinning follow certain head movements. It responds well to repositioning manoeuvres, and for many people it resolves in one or two visits.
Vestibular Neuritis and Labyrinthitis
Inflammation of the inner ear or the vestibular nerve, often after a virus. It can bring on sudden dizziness, nausea, and real difficulty walking. Rehabilitation helps your brain recalibrate as things settle.
Vestibular Migraine
Some migraines show up as dizziness and imbalance rather than headache. Vestibular rehabilitation can reduce how often symptoms hit and how much they take out of you, alongside medical management from your doctor.
Post-Concussion Dizziness
Dizziness, blurred vision, and balance trouble often linger long after the concussion itself. Targeted vestibular work is one of the most useful pieces of concussion recovery, and it is a common reason people are referred here after a car accident or a sport injury.
Balance Problems and Fall Prevention
Balance quietly changes with age, and after a stumble or two people start avoiding stairs, uneven ground, or going out alone. Retraining builds real stability, and with it the confidence to stop planning around it.
Motion Sensitivity
Busy grocery aisles, scrolling on your phone, car rides, or turning your head quickly. If movement leaves you queasy or foggy, habituation exercises gradually turn the volume down.
Ménière's Disease and Other Vestibular Disorders
Some conditions are managed rather than resolved. Treatment focuses on steadying your balance, reducing how much dizziness disrupts your day, and giving you tools to handle symptoms when they flare.
Your First Appointment, Without the Mystery
Booking when you already feel unsteady can be its own hurdle. Here is exactly how the first visit goes.
Wear comfortable clothes you can move in and supportive shoes. The assessment involves walking, head movement, and balance testing, so a heel is not your friend that day.
We Talk First
Your appointment starts with a conversation. When the dizziness started, what sets it off, how long it lasts, what you have already tried, and what it is stopping you from doing. That history does a lot of the diagnostic work on its own.
A Thorough Assessment
Your physiotherapist looks at eye movement, head and neck mobility, balance, walking, and how your symptoms respond to specific positions. Some of these tests can briefly bring on dizziness, which is expected and part of finding the cause. Everything is explained before it happens, and you set the pace.
A Plan That Makes Sense
You leave your first visit understanding what is going on and why, with a treatment plan built around your symptoms and your goals. If what we find needs a doctor rather than a physiotherapist, we will tell you that plainly and help you take the next step.
Progress You Can Feel
Follow-up sessions build on the plan with hands-on treatment, exercises, and a home program you can actually keep up with. Home practice is where a lot of the progress happens, and we make sure you know exactly what to do between visits.
Meet Harleen Kaur, Physiotherapist
Vestibular physiotherapy at Refined is provided by Harleen Kaur, a Physiotherapist with additional training in vestibular rehabilitation. Harleen started her career as a Kinesiologist before completing her MSc in Physiotherapy in Scotland, which is a background that shows up in how she treats. She combines hands-on manual therapy with an individualized exercise program aimed at the root cause of your symptoms, not just the symptom itself.
Her approach is patient centred, which in practice means she wants to know what you are trying to get back to, whether that is driving again, coaching your kid, or simply getting through a workday without the room tilting. Harleen speaks English, Hindi, and Punjabi.
You Do Not Have to Wait for It to Pass
Dizziness has a way of shrinking your world one activity at a time. An assessment takes an hour and tells you what you are actually dealing with.
Balance Care With a Whole Team Behind It
Dizziness rarely travels alone. Neck tension, headaches, jaw pain, and deconditioning after weeks of moving carefully all feed into how you feel. At Refined, your physiotherapist works under the same roof as registered massage therapists, acupuncturists, and a kinesiologist, so when another discipline can support your recovery, that conversation happens in house instead of turning into a referral you have to chase.
One Coordinated Plan
Your practitioners talk to each other, so your care actually connects.
Everything Under One Roof
Physiotherapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, and kinesiology in one South Surrey clinic.
Care Built Around You
Evidence-based treatment shaped by your goals, your symptoms, and your timeline.
Covered Under Physiotherapy in Most Extended Health Plans
Vestibular physiotherapy is billed as physiotherapy, which most extended health plans cover. We direct bill to most major providers so you are not paying out of pocket and waiting on reimbursement. ICBC and WCB claims are also covered under physiotherapy, which matters if your dizziness started after a car accident or a workplace injury.
ICBC and WCB appointments are arranged by phone or email rather than through online booking. Call us at (604) 606-7519 or email [email protected] and we will take it from there.
Serving South Surrey and the Surrounding Communities
Our clinic is at 2121 160 St #305 in South Surrey, minutes from Grandview Corners, and we welcome patients from across the surrounding areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a doctor's referral for vestibular physiotherapy in BC?
No. Physiotherapy is direct access in British Columbia, so you can book with us right away. One thing to check: some extended health plans still want a referral on file for reimbursement, so a quick call to your provider is worth it.
How many treatments will I need?
It depends entirely on what is causing your symptoms. BPPV often clears in one or two visits. Concussion related dizziness and longer standing vestibular conditions usually need several sessions plus a home exercise program. Your physiotherapist will give you a realistic sense of your timeline after the first assessment.
Will the treatment make me dizzy?
Sometimes, briefly. Certain tests and exercises are designed to provoke your symptoms so we can see exactly what is happening, and mild dizziness afterward is a normal part of your brain adapting. Your physiotherapist works at your pace and will tell you before anything that might bring symptoms on.
Can vestibular physiotherapy get rid of my vertigo?
It depends on the cause. BPPV responds very well to repositioning manoeuvres and often resolves completely. Other vestibular conditions may not disappear entirely, but treatment can meaningfully reduce dizziness, steady your balance, and get you back to normal activity.
What is BPPV?
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is the most common cause of vertigo. Tiny calcium crystals called otoconia shift out of place inside the inner ear and trigger short spinning episodes with certain head movements, like rolling over in bed or looking up. It is very treatable with specific repositioning manoeuvres.
Can it help after a concussion?
Yes. Dizziness, blurred vision, and balance problems are some of the most persistent symptoms after a concussion, and vestibular rehabilitation is a well established part of concussion recovery. It helps restore balance, coordination, and visual stability.
Is this useful for older adults worried about falling?
Very much so. Balance systems become less efficient with age, and vestibular rehabilitation improves stability, reduces fall risk, and rebuilds confidence with walking and stairs. Staying independent longer is a completely reasonable goal to bring to your first appointment.
When should I see a doctor instead?
Most dizziness is vestibular, but not all of it. Sudden dizziness alongside severe headache, chest pain, trouble speaking, facial drooping, weakness or numbness, double vision, or fainting needs medical attention right away, not a physiotherapy appointment. If you are unsure which one you need, call us and we will point you in the right direction.
Ready When You Are
Book your vestibular physiotherapy assessment online, email us at [email protected], or call (604) 606-7519 if you would rather talk it through first. Whichever is easiest, we are glad you are here.
