What is Vertigo and How Can A Physical Therapist Help Me?

What is Vertigo and How Can A Physical Therapist Help Me?
 
Vertigo, as many know, is diagnosed when patients have dizziness, often associated with nausea and vomiting, often feeling like the room is spinning around them when they move their head.

However, vertigo is more a symptom rather than a diagnosis. There are multiple CAUSES of vertigo, however, the most common one being benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV.

BPPV is often triggered by specific changes in your head’s position. This could occur when you tip your head up or down, lie down, or when you turn over or sit up in bed. Some symptoms are:

  • Dizziness
  • A sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving (vertigo)
  • A loss of balance or unsteadiness
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting

There are crystals found within the inner ear which could be shaken out of place, and that is often the cause of vertigo. However, thankfully, there are methods of treatment that can relieve these symptoms fairly quickly for most!

One popular treatment – Epley maneuver – can be utilized by a physiotherapist or chiropractor which helps set these crystals back into their place. Sometimes this takes only one session, and sometimes it could take more, but this is effective for most people and often relieves their symptoms in a short period of time.

If there is any neck musculature which is tense, tight, and contributing to any dizziness, nausea, etc., your therapist can definitely assess this area as well and work with you to reduce your symptoms!

Contact Body Science Therapy in Mississauga today for any questions! 

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