Great service and peaceful vibes. Clinic is managed professionally and is very clean. Banafsheh is skilled and attentive. Left feeling refreshed and relaxed. Highly recommend
If the room spins when you roll over in bed, or the ground feels unreliable every time you turn your head, the problem is usually in the balance system rather than anywhere you can point to. Vestibular rehabilitation is the branch of physiotherapy that assesses and treats that system directly, and for one of the most common causes it can resolve symptoms in a small number of visits. We provide it at our North York and Richmond Hill clinics. This page explains what actually causes dizziness, how the assessment tells one cause from another, and what treatment looks like for each.
A small number of causes of sudden vertigo are serious and need a physician rather than physiotherapy. Go to an emergency department or call 911 if vertigo or unsteadiness arrives alongside any of the following.
These point to causes that need imaging or medical treatment, not exercise. Once they have been ruled out, vestibular rehabilitation is a reasonable next step.
The word covers at least four different experiences, and telling them apart is most of the work. What you describe in the first ten minutes usually narrows the cause considerably.
| What it feels like | Common cause | Typical pattern |
|---|---|---|
| The room spins for under a minute, triggered by rolling over, lying down or looking up | BPPV | Sharp episodes with clear triggers, settled in between |
| Constant severe spinning for hours or days, then weeks of unsteadiness | Vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis | Often follows a viral illness, worst at the start then slowly improving |
| Unsteadiness rather than spinning, worse in the dark or on uneven ground | Age related balance loss, or reduced vestibular function on one side | Gradual onset, worse when tired |
| Light headedness on standing up quickly | Blood pressure or medication related | Tied to position change, often worse in the morning |
| Dizziness that comes with neck pain and stiffness | Cervicogenic dizziness | Follows neck movement or sustained postures |
| Daily fogginess and swaying, worse in shops and busy visual environments | Persistent postural perceptual dizziness | Constant background sensation, months rather than days |
The blood pressure and medication group is the one we most often refer back to a physician rather than treat, because the answer usually lies in a medication review.
If your dizziness began after a concussion, the assessment and the plan are different, and concussion rehabilitation is the page you want.
Where the cause is a reduced or unreliable vestibular signal rather than loose crystals, there is no single manoeuvre that fixes it. Treatment instead retrains the brain to rely on the remaining information, and it takes weeks rather than visits.
These exercises are meant to bring on mild symptoms. That is how the adaptation happens, and the skill is in setting a dose that provokes a little without wiping out your afternoon.
The structure is consistent even though the timeline varies with the cause.
What triggers it, how long an episode lasts, whether hearing is affected, what medication you take, and what you have stopped doing because of it.
Dix-Hallpike and related tests, head impulse testing, and eye movement assessment to separate a canal problem from a reduced vestibular signal.
Standing and walking tests, including with eyes closed and on a soft surface, plus a neck examination.
Immediate treatment where possible, If the finding is BPPV, the repositioning manoeuvre is performed in that same appointment.
Where retraining is needed, you leave with a small set of exercises at a specific dose, reviewed and advanced at each visit.
A mild flare after a step up is normal information, not a setback. It tells us the last increase was slightly too large, and the programme is adjusted accordingly.
A few practical things make the first visit considerably more useful, particularly because parts of the assessment depend on being able to provoke your symptoms.
Vestibular rehabilitation at both clinics is delivered by our registered physiotherapists, working alongside our physiotherapy assistant. Every physiotherapist in Ontario appears on the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario public register, where their current registration category and any controlled act authorisations are listed before you book.
Caseload centred on musculoskeletal assessment and graded exercise progression.
Treats at both clinics in English and Farsi. Certified in dry needling for post-concussion neck and upper trapezius tension.
You can request a specific therapist when you book, and you can ask to be treated in Farsi or Turkish. Verification is available on the CPO public register.
Both clinics run the same assessment and share one patient file, so you can start at one address and continue at the other without repeating your history. If your vertigo is currently triggered by head movement, choose the clinic closer to home and arrange a ride rather than driving to the one with the earlier appointment.
This clinic sees a higher proportion of older patients, where dizziness and falls risk are usually part of the same conversation rather than separate problems. Patients come from Langstaff, Bayview Hill, Doncrest, Crosby, Mill Pond, Oak Ridges and north Thornhill.
9555 Yonge St, Unit 307, Richmond Hill, ON L4C 9M5
Great service and peaceful vibes. Clinic is managed professionally and is very clean. Banafsheh is skilled and attentive. Left feeling refreshed and relaxed. Highly recommend
Just to start off, I am amazed by their work at Wellness Toronto, even though it was my first time going, I purchased a 5 time package and I truly look forward to it. I am very picky when it…comes to an area being clean and the over all service and I can simply say there was nothing for me to fault at. 100% recommended!
Tina, the manager, was very helpful in booking my appointment and guiding me through the services. The physiotherapy sessions were excellent, and I’d definitely recommend this place to friends and family.
Great place to get professional and relaxing massage. Yang did an amazing job with his massage…
A truly excellent and caring physiotherapy clinic that I can always recommend.”
Amazing service and very friendly staff. I had physio there several times and had great experience and my pain was gone. Highly recommended
My spouse took me here for the 1st time... Great clean place to get your wellness services from Tina & crew, they're polite & experience! Especially best massage session I ever had by Nicoya, it was a extremely muscle relief…experience. Thank You so much & hope to book you again soon.
I went here for both massage and physio and had a great experience. The clinic is clean, and the service is excellent.My masseuse, Banafshe, was fantastic, she listened to my concerns, focused on exactly what I needed, and I…felt a big improvement right away.Highly recommend. I’ll definitely be coming back on a regular basis.
Great physiotherapy clinic! Very professional and caring. I feel bettet after the sessions. Nicoya is the best. Mahdieh is nice and helpful.
The team is super friendly and made me feel comfortable from day one. Therapist was incredibly knowledgeable and supportive through my recovery. Thank you.
I had an accident and I came to the clinic with lots of pain in neck and wrist. The treatment was perfect and I am really satisfied. The staff are super nice and friendly.
I love this clinic and I’m very happy with their customer service.
Sunday hours matter more here than for most services, since a BPPV episode that starts on a Saturday night otherwise waits until Monday. Patients travel in from Downsview, Bathurst Manor, Clanton Park, Willowdale, Bayview Village and York Mills.
951 Wilson Ave, Unit 15, North York, ON M3K 2A7
I can’t recommend Negar my Pilates instructor highly enough! Her teaching style is the perfect balance of encouraging, knowledgeable, and attentive. Every session feels thoughtfully planned, challenging without being overwhelming, and tailored to my individual needs. She explains movements clearly,…offer helpful corrections, and create such a positive, motivating atmosphere that I actually look forward to each class.Since training with her, I’ve noticed huge improvements in my strength, posture, and body awareness. If you’re looking for an instructor who truly cares about your progress and makes Pilates both enjoyable and effective, look no further
For BPPV, commonly one to three. For vestibular retraining after neuritis or a one-sided loss, expect several weeks with most of the progress coming from the daily home exercises rather than the appointments themselves.
Briefly, yes, and that is deliberate. Positional testing has to provoke the response in order to identify which canal is involved. It settles within about a minute, and we tell you before each position what to expect.
Not to book a physiotherapy assessment. BPPV is diagnosed by positional testing rather than imaging, so a scan is usually not required. Some benefits plans ask for a referral before reimbursing, so check your policy if you intend to claim.
It is possible, but the manoeuvre depends entirely on which canal is affected, and performing the wrong one can move the crystals into a different canal and make things worse. The value of the appointment is the testing that comes before the manoeuvre.
Sometimes, and the assessment tests for it specifically. Cervicogenic dizziness usually presents as unsteadiness with neck pain and stiffness rather than true spinning, and it responds to neck treatment combined with balance work.
Very common. Once the acute episode resolves, the balance system often stays under-confident and the habit of moving carefully persists. That residual unsteadiness responds well to graded balance and habituation work.
Yes. Mention it when you book and we will schedule you with a therapist who speaks it.