![]() “Eventually, those crystals dissolve,” says Byrd. Even without treatment BPPV is a self-limiting disorder. ![]() ![]() In other cases, the patients are referred to specially trained physical therapists for vestibular rehabilitation, which helps train the balance system in the brain to function better. Sometimes patients can perform exercises at home to gradually reposition the crystals over several weeks. The standard treatment for BPPV is a maneuver intended to move the crystals to a less sensitive part of the ear canal. Looking up at a high shelf, such as at the grocery store, or leaning back in the chair in a hair salon or dentist’s office often brings on the spinning sensation.Īn antinausea medication, like Antivert (meclizine), relieves the symptoms in some people but causes drowsiness. “But most times, we don’t really understand why people get it.” The term “benign” is applied to BPPV because it is not life-threatening, but BPPV can be problematic in daily life. Michael Byrd, MD“You sometimes see BPPV in people who have had some type of head trauma that’s caused some of those crystals to loosen,” says Michael Byrd, MD, assistant professor of otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School. The false information doesn’t match perceptions from the eyes, muscles and joints, and creates the sensation of spinning. Changing the position of your head or body causes the crystals to swirl around, stimulating the hair cells in the inner ear and sending a false message to the brain that the body is moving, even though it is not. In BPPV, microscopic crystals in the inner ear get loose and float in the fluid of the inner ear canal. Vertigo is typically associated with the vestibular system, a part of the inner ear used for balance and spatial orientation. And the elderly are more prone to dizziness than younger people. After a night of trying to sleep sitting up, Smith visited her primary care physician, who diagnosed Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV).īPPV is one of the most common causes of dizziness, causing about 40 percent of dizziness among the elderly, according to a 2008 study in the Journal of Laryngology and Otology. Turning or tilting her head or - even worse - trying to lie down brought back the disturbing symptoms. It took about half an hour of sitting upright, facing straight ahead, sipping ginger tea and nibbling soda crackers before she felt relief. Gripping her husband’s supportive hands, Smith was able to stay upright, but nausea made her gag. Falling back on the bed, she called for help from her husband. She closed her eyes tightly until the feeling subsided. When she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes, she felt that everything was spinning. Mary Smith,* 68, was lying on her stomach with her head turned to one side. Experiencing vertigo may cause you to lose your balance and possibly your lunch. It’s a specific kind of dizziness not to be confused with lightheadedness, which is a feeling of weakness, as if you were about to faint. The sensation that you are spinning, or that the world around you is spinning, is called vertigo. Remember, when you were a kid, twirling around and around until you fell, laughing, in the grass, while the world seemed to continue spinning around you? That delightful feeling is not so delightful when you’re an adult - and you’re not twirling around on purpose.
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