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Mend Physical Therapy Blog and Injury Information

What Is Vertigo?

July 9, 2021

vertigo-symptoms-treatment-BPPV

  • I woke up with dizziness

  • It feels like the room is spinning when I turn my head

  • I think I am too dizzy to get out of bed

These are all common complaints from patients suffering from vertigo. The most common form of peripheral vertigo is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). The most common description for BPPV is room spinning dizziness that lasts seconds to minutes after a head turn or position change.

BPPV occurs when the tiny calcium stones in your inner ear’s balance system (vestibular) become dislodged. The system normal functions like a carpentry level, but instead of a bubble your brain reads the position of these calcium stones. If one of the stones is dislodged it can provide confounding balance information to the brain and lead to a sense of dizziness.

 In Physical Therapy we can perform a thorough assessment of the ear’s balance system and determine the specific treatment techniques to reposition the loose calcium stone. These techniques are simple and painless. They involve rotating the head in a certain pattern to move the calcium stone back where it ought to be.

 Patients can expect significant reduction in symptoms within the first PT session, and full resolution of symptoms within just a few visits.

 If your dizziness occurs when you change positions, or turn your head?  You could have a treatable case of peripheral vertigo.

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