Habituation Exercises

Habituation Exercises

 

Habituation exercises:

  • Help your brain become less sensitive to movements that make you dizzy. 
  • Slowly expose you to activities that cause your symptoms. 
  • Treat the dizziness you feel when you move or see things move. 

The exercises may cause a mild increase in dizziness at first. This increase helps your brain make changes to decrease dizziness long term.

Instructions

Complete each head or body movement as marked below. Your physical therapist will instruct you on the speed to do the exercises. 

The exercises should cause a mild to moderate increase in your dizziness. 

  • On a 0 to 10 point scale, where 0 is no dizziness and 10 is the worst dizziness you have ever felt, the exercises should cause no more than a 2 to 3 point increase in your symptoms. 

The dizziness should return to normal within 10 minutes. 

  • If your dizziness lasts longer than 10 minutes, decrease the number of repetitions by one or two for the rest of the movements, and talk with your physical therapist about how to improve your tolerance to these exercises.

Exercises

Head Movements

Options:

___ Side to side:  Shake your head “no” ___ times.

___ Up and down:  Shake your head “yes” ___ times.

___ Diagonal movements:  Move your head ___ times in each direction.

Do these movements:

Body position:

___ Sitting

___ Standing

___ Walking

Environmental:

___ Normal

___ Busy, such as at a store

Surface type:

___ Level floor

___ Uneven ground, such as standing on grass

Body Movements

Do ___ repetitions of each exercise marked, ___ times a day. Wait until the dizziness returns to your baseline plus 30 seconds, before you repeat the movement.

Options:

___ Lie on your back, and then sit up on the side of your bed.

___ Roll in bed to the right and left.

___ From a sitting position, stand up.

___ Bend forward with your head toward your knees:   while sitting   while standing

___ Turn 180 degrees:   while standing   while walking

 

© 2021 – May 17, 2021, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

This handout is for informational purposes only. Talk with your doctor or health care team if you have any questions about your care. For more health information, call the Library for Health Information at 614-293-3707 or email: health-info@osu.edu.