Does the room start to spin when you get up too quickly? How about if you turn your head too fast? Or perhaps you feel off balance when you are in a busy place like the grocery store or shopping mall? Dizzy spells and other symptoms that accompany it make everyday life extremely difficult. A balance problem like this can make a person feel uncomfortable leaving their house and may leave them unable to do things like drive a vehicle.
This can be unpleasant to deal with, but certain solutions can help. When frequent dizziness occurs, many people turn to physical therapy for effective treatment. At Robbins Rehabilitation West, we can diagnose and treat your cause of dizziness.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
There can be many causes of dizziness, but one of the most common is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Some symptoms that people with BPPV experience include:
- A feeling that you or your surroundings are moving or spinning
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Feelings of unsteadiness or losing balance
The duration of vertigo with BPPV is brief and usually lasts only five to thirty seconds. However, it could last up to two minutes. The classic provoking movements that bring on the symptoms are:
- Lying flat
- Sitting up from lying flat (like when getting out of bed)
- Turning over in bed
- Looking up or bending down, especially with the head turned to the side
Causes of BPPV
There is no one exact cause of BPPV. A person can experience BPPV for several reasons, or no particular reason at all, which is called idiopathic BPPV. Some of the causes are listed below:
- Age
- Head injuries
- Viral infections
- Repetitive head movements
- Nerve inflammation
How is BPPV Diagnosed?
The Dix-Hallpike maneuver is used to diagnose BPPV. This involves rapidly moving from seated to lying down with your head in a rotated position. The maneuver is meant to elicit the symptoms and can feel very unpleasant. In addition to provoking the feelings of vertigo, the therapist also looks for rapid eye movements called nystagmus. This is a common finding with BPPV and is characterized by involuntary jumping or twitching of the eyes. Once you are diagnosed with BPPV, your therapist will perform the Epley maneuver in an attempt to move the loose crystals out of the canals in the inner ear. Doing so will stop the inner ear from giving the brain false signals about your body’s position and relieve the dizziness. Even once the vertigo is relieved, it is not uncommon for it to recur later in life.
Physical Therapy for Dizziness Treatment
While BPPV is the most common cause of dizziness, it isn’t the only condition to bring it on. To help you recover from dizziness and other symptoms, we need to understand what the cause is. At Robbins Rehabilitation West, we help determine the causes of balance dysfunction for those suffering from dizziness and provide the right treatment. With physical therapy, you can learn how to help get over your dizziness and get back to enjoying your life.
If dizziness is a problem for you, call us at (610) 770-7217 to schedule an appointment.
