If you are experiencing any form of dizziness, disequilibrium, vertigo, or imbalance, and have yet to receive a definitive answer as to what’s causing it, or what can be done about it, then the clinic is right for you. Full stop. This includes if you were given some sort of tentative or speculative diagnosis, but you don’t feel like it adequately explains what you’re experiencing, and/or the recommended treatment has not worked. This often occurs due to a troubling lack of awareness about the vast array of different issues that may be causing/contributing to these types of symptoms, and misdiagnoses are incredibly common, unfortunately. There is a wide a range of different ways in which dizziness and imbalance symptoms might present, and an equally wide range of different potential causes. Regardless of the exact nature of your dizziness/imbalance symptoms, we can help determine what is (or is not) causing them, and get you on the right path to meaningful recovery. Our clinic is 100% dedicated to dizziness/vertigo/imbalance issues. It’s not just one aspect of a broader general practice – it’s all we do, and we do it very well. We have an extensive suite of advanced diagnostic equipment that is extraordinarily rare to find at any single private clinic in Canada, along with an exceptional level of knowledge, expertise, and clinical experience in this unique field. Did we mention we’re also incredibly passionate about what we do?
Yes, but you must book a phone consult with the audiologist. We do not have in-clinic administrative staff to answer calls. We utilize remote administrative support, who do monitor web inquiries, and will respond to questions if the answers are not located anywhere on the website, but they do not answer phones or make calls on our behalf. Administrative staff are not qualified to assess your symptoms and history, or provide any personal medical/audiologic advice in any case, whether that’s over the phone or via email. If you would like to discuss your case with someone, you must book an appointment with the audiologist, which can be done by clicking any of the “Book Appointment” tabs located throughout the website. If you have questions that don’t require a consult with the audiologist, there is a high likelihood that the answers can be found on this FAQ page, or on one of the other detailed pages on the website. If you still can’t find the answer you’re looking for, you can submit a web inquiry via our contact form on the “Location & Contact” page (located in the drop-down menu of “FAQs & Contact)
NO. All appointments must be booked online. Please click any of the “Book Appointment” tabs located throughout the website to view all appointment offerings and the full schedule of availabilities.
NO. You do not require a referral to book an assessment and are welcome to book your own appointment at any time using the “Book Appointment” tab at the top-right of the screen. Please also note that getting a referral from your doctor does NOT change the cost of our services, nor does it result in the cost being covered by AHS (read more about that below).
NO. Our services are NOT currently covered by Alberta Health. There is a public neurovestibular unit at South Health Campus in Calgary that offers similar testing, which is covered by your provincial health plan. You can request a referral from your family doctor or audiologist, but our personal experience from having previously referred patients there for 10+ years, and from speaking to current patients at our clinic who have been referred there more recently, is that wait times are now in excess of 2 years in many cases – if they are accepted at all.
We reached out to AHS in an attempt to initiate discussions on whether/how we might be able to help with their excessive backlog by contracting our services and having your assessment covered by your provincial health plan. Unfortunately, they indicated that is not something they are interested in pursuing or discussing any further at this time. Officially, they claim that there is no excessive wait time for neurovestibular testing and that it is offered at multiple locations throughout the province. We are not aware of any AHS facilities other than South Health Campus and the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton that have dedicated neurovestibular units offering the same level of advanced diagnostic testing as our facility, and we continue to hear from patients every week that they are facing 2+ year wait times, or that their family doctor is not even able to get a referral to South Health Neurovestibular Clinic accepted.
Please know that we are just as frustrated as anyone that people are suffering for so long without answers to their life-altering balance and dizziness problems, and that this is such a neglected area of health care, which was exactly the motivation behind opening this clinic in the first place. While we would love for our services to be covered by AHS, the only way we are able to offer them currently is through private pay.
Possibly, but you will need to check with your provider. Some insurance providers are beginning to recognize that audiology is more than just hearing aids, and includes vestibular services as well, but we cannot get pre-determination of coverage on your behalf, so you must contact your insurance provider directly yourself. Some insurers are still confused about what vestibular services are, because they only associate audiology with hearing aids, but it is a legitimate sub-specialty that is entirely within the scope of audiology. Sometimes it’s easier just to let them know that you are seeking coverage for audiology services that are being provided by a qualified audiologist, who is registered with the provincial regulatory college and fully licensed to practice all audiology services without restriction. Here is a link to their listing in the public registry, if required: https://acslpa.alinityapp.com/client/publicdirectory
NO. We are not able to direct-bill your insurance provider at this time, so you will have to pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement. You will be provided with a detailed invoice/receipt containing all of the necessary information for reimbursement.
NO. We do not direct-bill or invoice any 3rd parties, including law firms. All appointments must be paid for out-of-pocket.
While we genuinely want nothing more than for our services to be accessible, there are a number of reasons why we have to charge what we do. The bottom line is that it is the only way we can sustainably operate the clinic and continue offering the much needed services that we provide. Our primary purpose is to help people who are suffering from a wide range of vestibular disorders by providing world-class diagnostic testing that is woefully lacking/not reasonably accessible publicly, and there are substantial costs associated with doing that, including:
We recognize that the cost of assessment is substantial, but we believe there is tremendous value in what we provide and that it is a very worthwhile investment in your overall health and well-being. We greatly appreciate you putting your trust in us to help you get to the bottom of your balance and dizziness problems, and hope to be able continue serving patients for many years to come.
A helpful analogy that many people may be able to relate to is this: Paying for a private neurovestibular assessment at our clinic is like paying for a private MRI. While MRIs are covered by AHS, you may have to wait a very long time to get one. In the meantime, you may be needlessly suffering and unsure as to what treatment path to pursue because you can’t get an accurate diagnosis until you have the MRI. So, you pay out-of-pocket to get one done quickly in order to get yourself on the most appropriate treatment path as soon as possible. Our comprehensive assessment is priced similarly to a private MRI, and can actually give you far more valuable information about the overall function of your entire vestibular system. As with private MRIs, there is very little wait for our services and we can typically see you within 1-2 weeks.
Specific treatment recommendations are highly individualized. They are based upon your personal case history and the findings from our extensive diagnostic testing. The reality is, treatment plans and modalities vary widely depending on what’s actually causing your symptoms. There is no such thing as a universal treatment that addresses all vestibular issues equally, not to mention the fact that there are often multiple other contributing factors. Having said that, some sort of vestibular rehabilitatoin therapy (VRT) protocol is often one component of a person’s overall treatment plan. VRT protocols also vary quite widely, because they must be tailored to your specific issues. While the specific details vary, the most common VRT protocol we prescribe involves 3 in-clinic sessions spaced approximately 1 month apart, with a detailed home-based plan that you complete between sessions. We offer that protocol as a pre-paid package at a cost of $450, which includes various carefully selected functional assessments and formal outcome measures to track your progress and ensure we are achieving our goals. We also offer single/one-off VRT sessions, and can create custom programs of all sorts, but our overarching goal is to make it as cost-effective as possible by providing you with the tools and guidance to complete most of your plan at home.
NO. There are many things that may produce episodic or fluctuating symptoms, which may or may not be present at the time of your assessment, but there are still clearly identifiable markers/abnormalities that can be measured for many underlying vestibular problems. Even when results are “normal” it is still extremely informative, since certain diagnoses rely heavily on thorough exclusion as opposed to finding gross abnormalities. I.e. by ruling out a wide range of different potential causes, we still reach an accurate diagnosis. In fact, the diagnostic criteria for certain vestibular disorders includes the requirement that all test results are “normal”. In any case, it is entirely ok if you are symptomatic at the time of your assessment, but it is not necessary.
The short answer in the vast majority of cases is NO, but there are always some exceptions. Anyone who is already not able to safely drive because of their symptoms should not drive to their appointment. Most of the tests we perform do not induce or increase dizziness to any significant degree, and if they do, it is always temporary. There is no risk of any test causing any sort of permanent harm, or making any underlying condition worse. The worst-case scenario is that some tests could temporarily exacerbate your symptoms or make you feel unwell for a short time. You are always welcome to relax at the clinic for as long as needed if you don’t feel well.
There are two tests that are most likely to induce/increase dizziness, and one of them is rarely required (caloric testing). Caloric testing is a test that allows us to deliberately induce vertigo in a controlled manner by irrigating your ear canals with different temperature air or water and measuring an eye response called nystagmus. It has largely been replaced by far less invasive technology (vHIT) that does not induce vertigo, and also provides more detailed diagnostic data. There are still some circumstances where caloric testing is valuable, but it is not routinely done. It would also be thoroughly discussed with you prior to being performed, and you always have the option to decline. The only other circumstance where testing will definitely induce dizziness/vertigo is if you have BPPV (you can read more about BPPV on the “Helpful Resources” page). BPPV (often referred to as something like: “loose ear crystals”) requires us to accurately identify where those loose crystals are located in order to properly reposition them for you. This means we have to place your head in different positions and observe for a vertigo/nystagmus response. I.e. we have to deliberately provoke it in a controlled manner in order to accurately determine where it is and what maneuver is required to fix it. Again, this is very much a temporary provocation and is actually very good news, because once identified, we are able to immediately correct it.
Yes, but only under very specific circumstances, and you still require an Initial Consult first, so we can conduct a thorough history review and determine if it is appropriate. Due to the extremely complex and multifaceted nature of the vestibular system, it is very rare that a single test can provide adequate information on its own. We have found that even when very well-intentioned doctors/specialists only request one specific vestibular test, it is often due to a lack of awareness around the need to assess other aspects of vestibular function, even when they might only suspect one specific condition. There is also a general lack of awareness that many of the tests we perform even exist, or the tremendous diagnostic value they provide. I.e. because this is such a unique specialty area, most people (both patients AND doctors) are simply unaware of what is required or available to obtain definitive diagnoses, and ensure there aren’t any additional vestibular issues that have been overlooked. This is not to say we never perform individual tests in isolation – it just means that you need to have an Initial Consult first.
