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Wheeling Hospital opens balance center

WHEELIING – Wheeling Hospital’s new Center for Dizziness and Balance offers a multi-disciplinary, comprehensive approach to preventing falls and improving patients’ quality of life.

Hospital officials on Tuesday said the center is designed to focus on diagnosis, education and prevention. The center’s staff consists of physicians and physical therapists with specialists from neurology, pharmacy, ophthalmology, otolaryngology and other fields.

Audiologist Dr. Brandon Lichtman and physical therapist Dr. Thomas McFadden developed the center concept at Wheeling Hospital.

Lichtman said a multi-disciplinary approach has been successful in treating people who experience dizziness or difficulty in maintaining balance.

“We saw a need for a dedicated center to get all that treatment and management in one locale,” he said.

Dr. John DeBlasis, hospital vice president and director of physical therapy, said a collaborative approach to these issues gives patients different options for treatment and allows them to resolve issues with a minimal number of visits.

Lichtman said, “There are many causes of dizziness and poor balance. By bringing together medical specialists who deal with each of these causes, we can better educate and help patients suffering from these issues. The group approach enhances the diagnosis and care options. Through evaluation and testing, the center’s team will diagnose the problem and develop an appropriate treatment plan. Constant communication is maintained between the center and the patient’s primary care physician.”

McFadden said dizziness and balance problems can occur any age, but affect the elderly primarily. One-third of all senior citizens fall each year, but appropriate rehabilitation can reduce the risk significantly, he said.

Dizziness has many possible causes, including motion sickness, inner ear disturbance, neurological conditions, medication side effects, anxiety, low iron levels, low blood sugar, overheating, cardiac disease and dehydration. It also may be caused by underlying health conditions such as poor circulation, injury or infection.

Balance issues, which can lead to falls, may be caused by, but not limited to, viral or bacterial infection in the ear, head injury, medications, skeletal problems, cardiac disease, visual problems or circulation disorders that affect the inner ear or brain.

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