Dizziness

A friend of mine called me up the other day because he wanted me to perform on him some maneuvers that might relieve him of his dizziness and light-headedness. Being an ENT specialist himself, he was thinking that he might be suffering from a condition that we refer to as BPPV.

True enough, after I did the Epley's maneuver on him, he noted a dramatic relief from his dizziness.

Here's an article regarding this condition for the information of everyone. You might experience this too or already be suffering from it, so this will surely be of help.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is an inner ear problem that causes a spinning or whirling sensation when you move your head. That sensation is called vertigo. This vertigo usually lasts for less than a minute. It may be mild, or it may be bad enough to cause nausea.

What causes BPPV?
Experts do not know for sure, but suspect that particles of calcium normally found in your ear break off and float into the ear's semicircular canal. Once there, they interfere with your balance and cause vertigo. Medicines, disease, aging, or a head injury are some of the things that may cause the particles to break off. Anyone can develop BPPV.

What are the symptoms of BPPV?
The main symptom is vertigo—a feeling of spinning, whirling, or tilting—that occurs when you move your head certain ways. Turning over in bed, turning your head quickly, bending over, or tipping your head back may cause it. Sometimes the vertigo then causes nausea and vomiting.
When you repeat that head movement 3 or 4 times, the vertigo may get better each time and then stop happening. This is called fatigability. Only after several hours will the same movement again give you vertigo.

How is BPPV diagnosed?
BPPV is diagnosed with a physical examination and medical history. Your health professional may also have you perform the Dix-Hallpike test. For this, he or she will move your body and head in certain directions while watching the involuntary movements of your eyes. The pattern of your eye movements helps determine the cause of your vertigo.

How is BPPV treated?
Treatment usually involves a series of head movements to make the particles float to another part of your ear where they won't affect your balance. Vertigo may go away on its own if the particles move again or if the brain adjusts to the conflicting signals that control movement and balance.

If these movements don't relieve the vertigo, other head exercises may help. Medicines may be used to control nausea. Surgery may be tried when other treatments have failed.

Home Treatment
You can reduce the whirling or spinning sensation of vertigo when you have BPPV by taking these steps:

- Use two or more pillows at night.
- Avoid sleeping on your side with the ear causing the problem facing down.
- Get up slowly in the morning and sit on the edge of the bed for a moment before standing.
- Avoid leaning over to pick things up or tipping your head far back to look up.
- Be careful about reclining, such as when you are in the dentist's chair or having your hair washed at a hair salon.
- Be careful about participating in sports that require you to turn your head, lean over, or lie flat on your back.

You can also help yourself by doing balance exercises and taking safety precautions. Taking safety precautions such as adding grab bars near the bathtub and toilet and keeping walking paths clear, may prevent accidents and injuries.

Balance exercises for vertigo such as standing with your feet together, arms down, and slowly moving your head from side to side, may help you maintain your balance and improve the symptoms.

If your health professional treated you with a maneuver, you may be instructed to restrict your head movement for about a day. Do this by sleeping with your head propped up, not sleeping on the affected side, and not tipping your head too far up or down.

If your health professional has you try the Brandt-Daroff exercise to help your brain adjust, you will need to do the exercises at home several times a day, possibly for weeks. The exercises will allow your brain to get used to the abnormal balance signals triggered by the particles in the inner ear.

Staying as active as possible usually helps the brain adjust more quickly. But that can be hard to do when moving is what causes your vertigo. Bed rest may help, but it usually increases the time it takes for the brain to adjust.

By Cynthia Tank, Yahoo Health News.