If you have ever had an attack of vertigo you will know how they can be so sudden and can affect your life considerably. To find the world spinning around you every time you turn your head in a particular way means you are sent off balance and often cannot walk properly let along work, drive or do anything that involves co ordination. You can feel sick and an attack can last for many minutes even hours or days.
Inner ear nerves and structures sense the position of your head and body in space. Vertigo is often caused by problems with these nerves and structures.
Vertigo can be due to the following conditions:
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
There are tiny particles that naturally exist in the inner ear. Sometimes these particles can be displaced when the head moves. The particles then push against hair-like sensors in the ear. This can cause vertigo. BPPV may result from:
Head Injury
Infections
Disorders of the inner ear
Age-related breakdown of the vestibular system
Idiopathic (no obvious cause)
Labyrinthitis is swelling and irritation of the inner ear. This often follows an upper respiratory infection, like a cold.
Meniere’s Disease is caused by a fluid buildup in a part of the inner ear. This vertigo usually occurs along with hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ear).
You should find out what is causing your vertigo but if it is BPPV then there is new evidence regarding how this should be treated.
In the past you would have been given medication often to take daily if the problem persisted and all of the medication for this problem inevitably made you feel drowsy and difficult to concentrate.
Chiropractors can help people with vertigo but in the past people suffering from this horrible problem have usually been prescribed medication before any other form of therapy.
However, there is new evidence to show that if you are suffering from benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) the best thing to try first is therapeutic positioning manoevers. These help a lot of people and are quick and easy to perform, thus eliminating medications, and their unpleasant side effects. These manoevers involve lying the patient down and extending and turning the neck at the same time in particular directions depending on what triggers the vertigo.
The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation present the recommendations online March 1 in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.
The authors described how debilitating this disorder can be for people as when experiencing vertigo attacks they are at increased risk of falls and find it very difficult to do the most simple everyday tasks.
The updated guidelines describe how the positioning manoevers cause small calcium deposits that cause the vertigo attacks to be repositioned in the ear. These are called canaliths and when they are repositioned in patients with BPPV there is often an immediate control of symptoms.
You do not need to rest after the procedure and you can return quickly to doing your daily activities with an increased quality of life.
It is important that you know for certain that you have BPPV so check with your GP first but rather than use medication that may not be helpful, come in to see one of the chiropractors at the Avenue Clinic who will try the manoevers to dislodge the calcium deposits.
You might be back to your normal self much quicker than you thought possible!