Virtual reality therapy helps South Carolina woman overcome severe vertigo

GREER, S.C. (Aging Untold) — Simple daily tasks like going to the grocery store or walking through the park can make the room spin for people with severe vertigo.

While vertigo symptoms typically clear up in weeks, some patients have struggled with symptoms for years.

Lisa McCully, a South Carolina woman, is one of them.

She was diagnosed with BPPV 10 years ago.

“I got up one morning and I got off the couch to go get the coffee and the spinning, I literally was thrown against the furniture down onto the ground,” McCully said. “The television fell on top of me. I lacerated my eye here. I broke my nose. There was blood everywhere.”

That was just one occasion. She fell several more times, suffering two concussions.

“Extremely anxiety producing,” McCully said. “Once you’ve had a fall like that, that’s all you think about.”

Previous treatments never helped much until she discovered immersive virtual reality in Greer.

Amy Muncy, a physical therapist, said it allows therapists to place targets that patients can see and immerse them in different environments, like a park, a boardwalk or a car.

Therapists can then measure a patient’s balance, vision and senses and make improvements.

“This is a nightmare for dizzy people,” McCully said during a VR session simulating a store environment. “It’s just so much visual stimulation.”

“Stores are really problematic for vestibular patients,” Muncy said.

The therapy prepares patients for scenarios like hitting a rug that isn’t secure on the floor or encountering a dip in the sidewalk.

“Between the medicine and the therapy, I’m almost normal,” McCully said.

She said the treatment is allowing her to have her life back.

“On my birthday, July 26, I rode my horse for the first time in three years, and I’ve done it four times since then,” McCully said. “I thought I was never going to be able to ride a horse again. And I mean, it was just life changing.”

Read more about Lisa and the treatment here.