What is Vertigo?
Vertigo is the scientific name for “dizziness,” characterized by a feeling of spinning even if you are stationary, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and difficulty in walking or standing straight. Vertigo is not a disease or disorder, but it is simply a symptom caused by specific conditions.
Causes of Vertigo
There are several causes of vertigo. One common cause is the Benign Paroxysmal Position Vertigo(BPPV). BPPV are short but intense occurrences of vertigo during changes in position of the head such as sitting up in bed upon waking up or immediately standing up from a lying position. Another cause is Meniere’s Disease, which involves excessive fluid buildup inside the ear and Vestibular Migraine which is a condition that is extremely sensitive to movement. Certain ear infections such as Labyrithitis (swelling of the inner ear) can also cause vertigo. Some other causes are common daily activities such as riding cars, boats, and airplanes.
Treating Vertigo
Treating vertigo depends upon the actual cause. Treatments include:
- Reducing the dose of medications – if it is caused by certain medicines
- Canalith repositioning procedure or Epley maneuver – used in BPPV cases, which the patient executes a number of movements
- Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) – to reduce dizziness and help the patient counteract the symptoms of vertigo. The patient practices numerous movements for many times a day until he/she regains normal functioning of the vestibular system.
- Surgery – for extreme cases, where the surgeon inserts a plug in the inner ear of the patient to correct the problem. Another surgery is destroying or eliminating the vertigo in the body. However, destructive surgical treatment may lead to hearing loss in some patients.
- Anti-emetic drugs – for nausea, motion sickness and other inner ear disorders such as migraine and labyrithitis.
- Aspirin – is for vertigo caused by conditions associated with poor circulation
- Antibiotics – for bacterial infections
- Natural treatment – such as ginkgo biloba and ginger to reduce impact of vertigo and nausea.
- Quiet environment and resting in a dark room – to reduce exacerbating the problem
It is always best to determine first the root cause of vertigo because that way, you can choose the treatment option that is right for you.
We have a vertigo treatment video below. Some of the ways to asees vertigo symtoms are these methods:
Dix Hallpike manoeuvre.
Supine roll test.
Lempert roll manoeuvre for the right BPPV.
Canalith repositioning manoeuvre for right BPPV.
Semont Liberatory manoeuvre for right BPPV.
Gufoni manoeuvre for Geotropic variant of right BPPV.
Gufoni manoeuvre for Ageotropic variant of right BPPV.
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