![]() ![]() Granted, not all vertigo is BPPV, and there are other conditions that resemble BPPV and may require more in-depth evaluation. And if the vertigo does recur, we can usually just repeat the procedure and it will almost certainly work again.Įven though BPPV is easy to diagnose and easy to treat with the Epley maneuver, some doctors may be overhasty in ordering expensive imaging scans and blood tests for their vertigo patients, and they may prescribe medications like meclizine that treat the nausea and vomiting caused by motion sickness but do little or nothing to address the root cause of the problem. There are two important things you should know about this approach to curing BPPV: Once this is determined, a series of head movements can be used to enlist gravity to help the otoconia find their way home. The technique for accomplishing this is to find the position, the movement, or the particular head angle that triggers an attack, in order to identify which ear and balance canal is affected. The maneuver relocates them from the balance canal back to their gelatin membrane in the utricle, using gravity to nudge them along. ![]() Practically any trained provider can administer the treatment: a primary care physician, a nurse practitioner, a trained physical therapist, or a specialist like an audiologist or an otolaryngologist.Ĭalled the Epley maneuver, its objective is deceptively simple: to cause the otoconia to go back where they belong. There is a proven therapy for most presentations of BPPV. And it’s also how a skilled caregiver can easily fix BPPV. This is an example of both the beauty and the delicacy of the human balance system. Additional contradictory sensory information from vision and other sensors of body position make the experience even worse.įortunately, the sensation is brief, and it is only triggered when you put your head in a position such that the dislodged otoconia succumb to the effect of gravity. However, since you’re not really moving, this unnecessary eye movement results in vertigo. As a result, your inner ear sends a false signal to the brain that you are moving, and your brain adjusts your eye position to compensate. If fragments of otoconia accumulate in one of your balance canals, they can cause a kind of micro-turbulence of the canal’s fluid, which is normally static if your head is not moving. The slightest anomaly can have hugely disproportionate effects. The body’s balance system - also known as the vestibular system - is, literally, finely balanced. And, as strange as it may sound, it is caused by tiny calcium carbonate crystals - otoconia - becoming dislodged from a small organ called the utricle within the chambers of your inner ear. bbThat’s what really turns their heads, so to speak.īenign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common type of vertigo. ![]() They just need a 30-minute visit in my office. When I tell a patient they are dizzy because of loose crystals in their head, many of them are skeptical, to say the least.īut then I tell them I can treat it effectively with no expensive scans or tests. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |