The Epley maneuver is a simple, noninvasive approach to treating benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), a specific type of vertigo. This maneuver involves a series of head movements that help relocate calcium carbonate crystals from your utricle back to your semicircular canals, where they belong.
Treatment for BPPV can be done in your doctor's office, or with an audiologist or certain physical therapists. The treatment includes a series of body movements that reposition the crystals in your inner ear, where they no longer cause symptoms.
Symptoms include attacks of vertigo, disequilibrium, unsteadiness, nausea, disorientation, and occasionally a “spacey” or detached feeling. As a rule, BPPV patients do not experience hearing loss, ear fullness, or head noise.
Over time, ear crystals may dissolve, but bear in mind that this could take weeks or longer, and during that time, a person would have to endure the extreme discomfort of BPPV, where even the slightest head movements would throw their world into disarray.
A head injury, dental work, an infection — or just the normal wear and tear of aging — can dislodge the crystals, called otoconia or canaliths.
Anything that dislodges the crystals from the utricle can cause BPPV. Having a past head injury is a major cause. Other times, BPPV may result from other problems with the vestibular system. These can include Ménière disease or vestibular neuritis.
“Episodes of BPPV can last for a few seconds, a few days, a few weeks or a few months,” explains neurologist Neil Cherian, MD, an expert on dizziness. “Because BPPV is so common and so fleeting, it's hard to get good data on its incidence.”
What is the fastest way to cure BPPV? The most effective benign paroxysmal positional vertigo treatments involve physical therapy exercises. The goal of these exercises is to move the calcium carbonate particles out of your semicircular canals and back into your utricle.
Treating vertigo
During a vertigo attack, lying still in a quiet, darkened room may help to ease any symptoms of nausea and reduce the sensation of spinning. You may be advised to take medication. You should also try to avoid stressful situations, as anxiety can make the symptoms of vertigo worse.
The most common cause of vertigo is known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). This causes sudden vertigo when moving the head in specific positions, often seen when lying back in bed or tipping the head back in the shower. Patients may experience nausea and vomiting due to the perceived increase in motion.
If you're dehydrated, you may start to feel dizzy. This feeling can cause you to also experience lightheadedness, wooziness, fairness and unsteadiness. You may also experience a very specific form of dizziness called vertigo.
Research shows that chronic stress or anxiety may trigger one of the most common causes of vertigo called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Stress associated with adverse life events may also trigger BPPV.
What happens when your ear crystals are out of place? Your body's otoconia crystals can sometimes become dislodged from the Otolith organs, and move toward the semicircular canals of your inner ear. When this happens, you might feel an intense sense of dizziness.
The best treatment for vertigo also happens to be the easiest and quickest, according to a new study. Vertigo is the spinning or whirling effect a person experiences when looking up or down. The feeling only lasts for a short while, but it can be severe.
Check if you have labyrinthitis or vestibular neuritis
dizziness or feeling that everything around you is spinning (vertigo) feeling unsteady and off balance – you might find it difficult to stay upright or walk in a straight line. feeling or being sick. hearing loss.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo may go away on its own within a few weeks or months. But, to help relieve BPPV sooner, your doctor, audiologist or physical therapist may treat you with a series of movements known as the canalith repositioning procedure.
Acute vertigo is best treated with nonspecific medication such as dimenhydrinate (Dramamine®) and meclizine (Bonine®). These medications are eventually weaned as they can prevent healing over the long-term, explains Dr.
What to avoid after BPPV treatment includes bending forward to put on your shoes, leaning back to recline, and tipping your chin down to check your phone. It is important that you just sit upright with your head level for a 20 minute rest break, on a chair or the couch. Avoid vigorous head shaking for one week.