Your life does not have to be turned upside down. You deserve to have stability again.
Vertigo vs. Dizziness
It is frustrating when you cannot get your world to stop spinning and we are here to help.
Dizziness is an altered sense of spatial orientation, a distortion of where you are within a space and a feeling that your balance is off.
Vertigo, on the other hand, is truly the sensation of self-movement or the movement of your surroundings – it's a spinning sensation.
The Epley maneuver is designed to put the head at an angle from where gravity can help relieve symptoms. Tilting the head can move the crystals out of the semicircular canals of the ear. This means that they stop displacing fluid, relieving the dizziness and nausea this was causing. It also works to desensitize the nervous system, basically performing the procedure over and over again till the nervous system adapts and stops the dizziness.
BPPV
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of vertigo which is a sudden sensation that you're spinning or that the inside of your head is spinning. BPPV causes brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness. BPPV is usually triggered by specific changes in the position of your head. This might occur when you tip your head up or down, when you lie down, or when you turn over or sit up in bed.
The signs and symptoms of BPPV may include:
- Dizziness
- A sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving (vertigo)
- A loss of balance or unsteadiness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Can come and go, with symptoms commonly lasting less than one minute
- Disappear for some time and then reoccur
- Dizzines with changes in head position
- Abnormal rhythmic eye movements (nystagmus)
Although BPPV is uncomfortable, it rarely causes complications. The dizziness of BPPV can make you unsteady, which may put you at greater risk of falling.
Cervicogenic Dizziness (CGD)
Neck Associated Dizziness
Cervicogenic dizziness is characterized by the presence of imbalance, unsteadiness, disorientation, neck pain, limited cervical range of motion (ROM), and may be accompanied by a headache.
People with cervicogenic dizziness tend to complain of:
- Dizziness or general disorientation (a sensation of movement of the self or the environment) that is often worse during head movements or after maintaining certain neck positions for a long time
- Dizziness or lightheadedness occuring during or soon after experiencing neck pain, stiffness and/or decreased neck range of motion
- Dizziness accompanied by an occipital (back of the head) headache and exacerbated by head movements, not by physical or cognitive activity
- General imbalance, which can increase with head movements or movement in the environment
Cervicogenic dizziness is thought to be uncommon. Often the dizziness decreases as the neck pain decreases. The symptoms usually last minutes to hours. Several studies have reported that approximately 75 percent of patients improve with conservative treatment of the neck, such as gentle mobilizations, exercises, and instruction in proper posture and neck positioning. For other patients, treatment requires both neck treatment and vestibular therapy.
