Francy Miller is independent, personable and a constant stream of bright sunshine.
For years she was a Muscatine, Iowa-based business owner, operating a yarn shop vital to the creative needs of her community. Even in retirement, the ever-upbeat and always-on-the-go Miller meets weekly with many of her yarn shop friends.
“They were never customers, they were always family to me,” Miller said of the group.
Recently, Miller woke one morning with vertigo, a sensation that you or the room is moving or spinning. She was dizzy, had trouble focusing (her eyes), had ringing in her ears and serious balance issues.
So dizzy was Miller that she had to hold onto walls, doors, and anything she could resourcefully get her hands on to guide her as she attempted to walk. She then found a walker used after prior surgeries, guided herself to the car and received a ride to consult with her family physician. All the while, the dizziness and the ringing in her ears persisted.
Upon examination, Miller’s family physician recommended physical therapy, specifically Rock Valley Physical Therapy. The hope was to treat her vertigo by addressing the underlying cause of the condition and retraining the brain and body to regain balance.
The referral was a relief to Miller, who joked that she was a “frequent flier,” having benefited from Rock Valley Physical Therapy’s Muscatine, Iowa-based Cedarwood Clinic’s ability to better her life after surgeries on her shoulders and her knees.
“I cannot say enough about how everyone there has helped me through the years,” Miller said. “It has been amazing, and I have great trust in everyone. It was a relief to know I could get help at Rock Valley.’’
This time Miller was placed in the trusted care of Rock Valley’s Tyler Reid PT, DPT, a gifted therapist and an expert in vestibular issues – which in Miller’s case – was benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).
“Vertigo can be intense and horrific for anyone, especially someone experiencing it for the first time,” Reid said, explaining the difficulty Miller was experiencing before she made her way to Cedarwood. “The symptoms can be as severe as anything and most people do not know what they are dealing with. For me, it is great to have this treatment tool (expertise in vestibular issues) available and to be able to treat a population that can be overlooked.’’
Reid says Miller’s BPPV was affecting her posterior (ear) canal, noting issues arise when otoconia gets ‘loose’ in one of the inner ear canals that are responsible for balance, eye coordination, and information on how the head is moving. Then, when the head is moved to certain positions, a response is triggered and causes vertigo.
“How I explain it to people is that crystals can get loose in their inner ear canal and when they move their head the wrong way, they experience dizziness,” Reid shared. “This causes room-spinning sensations and can affect balance intensely. When the vertigo response is triggered, their eyes are bouncing and spinning. The fix is that we roll the crystals back to where they belong using different maneuvers for each canal. Vertigo is a tricky thing to learn, but once you know what you are doing, it is one of the easiest things to fix.’’
Rarely does someone as razor-sharp as Miller get caught off guard. She had a firm grasp on her missions when rehabbing her shoulders and knees with Rock Valley, and Miller is even up to speed with her husband, Henry’s, edema (leg swelling) being tended to by a Rock Valley therapist.
But vertigo caught her by surprise.
“I didn’t even know we had crystals in our ears,” Miller said with a chuckle. “But I know Tyler and I know Rock Valley. I knew Tyler would have a plan and I put my trust in him. I had total confidence in his ability and loved his personality. He simply made things better for me and I am grateful.’’
Reid and Miller worked together for four visits, with Reid using several maneuvers to roll the canal-based crystals back to where they belong.
“On average, four-to-six visits should be enough, but there are times when it can be fixed with one,” Reid said. “If someone has had this, they are more likely than the average person to experience it again. Some people have it frequently, some people have it seasonally, some people I see once and never again. The freedom that I must treat this is great. Having a good environment (Cedarwood) makes it easier to get patients with vertigo in and allows me to screen other provider’s patients that are having symptoms, too.’’
Reid, and his willingness to better his practice and meet the needs of vestibular patients, is not lost on those who stand beside hm each day.
“Tyler is loved by his work family and clients alike,” said Amanda ‘Mandy’ Crouch, PT, DPT, Clinic Manager/Cedarwood. “He knows how to develop and sustain a personal connection with every individual he encounters. He has a knack for fixing a patient’s dizziness or orthopedic ailment while discussing houseplants or hunting deer. Tyler makes you feel at ease with his relaxed personality, but do not let that fool you he is crazy smart. We are incredibly lucky to have Tyler as part of the Cedarwood family.’’
It must be noted, Reid marvels at Miller’s ability to adapt, adjust and her willingness to follow a well-constructed plan to get her better.
“Working with Francy was great; she is as sweet as they come,” he said. “The treatment for this can be uncomfortable, but she was a trooper. She came in with a smile on her face no matter how bad she felt or what else she was dealing with each day.’’
The bonus for Miller is she can now recognize what she is dealing with when it comes to BPPV, and help is just a phone call away.
“I was amazed that as soon as I explained what the issue was, Tyler had a fix for me,” Miller explained. “And there is a plan in place if it happens again. It is great to be back at being busy and understanding a lot more about vertigo.’’
By: Johnny Marx, Rock Valley Physical Therapy Storyteller