Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic

People might think dizziness and imbalance in children aren’t serious, but research suggests they are often caused by treatable medical conditions. At the Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic, we treat those conditions so kids can get back to feeling like themselves.

Our team specializes in diagnosing and treating children of all ages who suffer from dizziness or imbalance.

About the Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic

The Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic team includes specialists in ear, nose and throat care (otolaryngology), neurology, audiology and physical therapy. We work together to figure out what’s causing your child’s symptoms. Then, we develop a personalized care plan that can include age-appropriate medications, lifestyle changes or physical therapy.

Before we care for your child in our clinic, they will have vestibular testing with our audiology specialists. After this evaluation, your care team may recommend follow up with our clinic or other options. If you are traveling a long distance, we may be able to schedule vestibular testing on the same day as care in our balance clinic.

Why choose us for treating balance and vestibular disorders?

The Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic is the only center in the Rocky Mountain region with a multidisciplinary approach to treating pediatric dizziness and balance issues for children of all ages. This means your child sees multiple specialists in one visit. They all work together to get an accurate diagnosis and comprehensive treatment plan.

Treating kids is all we do. We provide a comfortable atmosphere for your child and tailor visits and tests to their unique needs. We’re also experts at using kid-friendly techniques to make testing more comfortable for even our youngest patients.

As a top pediatric medical center, we actively conduct vestibular disorders research. This means we bring the latest treatment advancements to our patients faster.

Who we treat at the Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic

Vestibular testing is available starting at 6 months old, and physical therapy is often the best treatment option to start with. We care for children in our clinic at any age. Our experts treat dizziness, imbalance and related symptoms, including:

• Clumsiness
• Delayed gross motor skill milestones
• Fear of falling
• Frequent, unexplained falls
• Head tilt
• Headache with dizziness
• Motion sensitivity
• Needing assistance on stairs or uneven surfaces
• Acquired nystagmus (fluttering eye movements)

Some common conditions that can cause dizziness and imbalance in children include:

• Concussion
• Eye movement problems
• Migraine headaches
• Otitis media (ear infection)
• Vestibular hypofunction related to sensorineural hearing loss

If your child has any of these symptoms or conditions, discuss these concerns with their primary care provider and consider contacting us for vestibular testing.

We diagnose and treat balance disorders, including:

• Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
• Chronic otitis media (ear infections)
• Meniere’s disease
• Motion sickness
• Peripheral and central vestibular dysfunction
• Persistent postural perceptual dizziness
• Post-concussive dizziness
• Recurrent vertigo of childhood (RVC)
• Vertigo
• Vestibular migraine
• Vestibular neuritis and labyrinthitis

What to expect at the Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic

Before coming to our clinic, your child will have vestibular testing with our audiology experts. Depending on the results of these tests, your care team may recommend our clinic if your child could benefit from seeing multiple specialists. Sometimes, we may recommend seeing just one of our specialists.

In our clinic, you and your child will meet a team of experts from otolaryngology, audiology, physical therapy and neurology. Our care team performs a thorough medical exam and reviews your child’s vestibular results and medical history. We may also perform a neurologic evaluation, balance assessment and hearing test.

Your child sees all the necessary specialists in one day for an accurate and convenient diagnosis and treatment plan. You should expect to spend about three hours at the clinic for your appointment.

Prepare for your appointment at the Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic

Before your visit, please review these additional instructions:

• Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic
• Español: Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic

Medications and your appointment

Certain medications can affect balance, so we ask that your child stop taking them 48 hours before your child’s vestibular testing and balance clinic appointment. These might include:

• Antihistamines that cause drowsiness such as Benadryl
• Antinausea medications such as Zofran
• Anti-dizziness medications such as Meclizine or Dramamine
• Tranquilizers or sedatives such as Alprazolam, Clonazepam, Diazepam or Lorazepam

Keep giving your child their heart, high blood pressure, psychiatric, lifesaving or diabetic medications. If you have concerns regarding medications, please discuss them with your child’s primary care provider or prescribing provider before discontinuing prescription medications.

Contact the Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic

To learn more about the clinic, call 720-777-8501.

Referring to the Pediatric Balance and Vestibular Disorders Clinic

For referring providers, please place a referral to audiology for vestibular testing in Epic (REF 9103) or fax a referral to our audiology team at 720-777-7299. To check on the status of a referral, call our audiology schedulers at 720-777-6801. Please also place a referral to ENT for “Balance Clinic” in Epic (REF 9008); however, this will not be scheduled until the patient has completed vestibular testing.