How to Keep Benign Positional Vertigo Away Permanently
Imagine you are getting ready to go to sleep. You turn your head to the right, and suddenly, you feel like the room is spinning. You feel nauseous and unsteady.
Imagine you are getting ready to go to sleep. You turn your head to the right, and suddenly, you feel like the room is spinning. You feel nauseous and unsteady. According to the Mayo Clinic, benign positional vertigo refers to a medical condition in which you feel brief periods of dizziness with different head positions. There are specific steps to make benign positional vertigo go away permanently.
Step 1
Go to your doctor to obtain a prescription for an antihistamine, anticholinergic or sedative-hypnotic medication. According to Medline Plus, these medications can decrease the spinning sensations.
Step 2
Visit your audiologist (hearing specialist) or ENT doctor (ear, nose and throat) to get the canalith repositioning procedure performed on you. Canaliths are particles in your inner ear that may move around and affect your semicircular canals (inner ear structures). The Mayo Clinic states the canalith repositioning procedure consists of various maneuvers to move the particles to a bag-like structure called the utricle. The ear fluid contained in the utricle will absorb the bothersome canaliths.
Step 3
Sit on an examining table and rapidly move to a lying-down position. Your doctor will support your neck and make sure your head hangs from the table at a 45-degree angle. Your doctor will look at your eyes for rapid abnormal movements called nystagmus. Your eyes will shift back and forth rapidly when you start to have a benign positional vertigo episode. This position will be held for 30 seconds.
Step 4
Turn your head 90 degrees to the right. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Then, roll onto your right side. Your doctor will maneuver your head so that you are looking at the ground. Hold this position for 30 seconds.
Step 5
Move slowly into a sitting position and continue to bend your head forward for 30 seconds.
Step 6
Go to your surgeon and schedule a canal plugging surgery if the canalith repositioning procedure does not work. The surgeon will use a piece of bone to block your semicircular canal from responding to canalith movements. You should no longer experience benign positional vertigo. According to the Mayo Clinic, this surgery is 90-percent effective.
Tip
Do not lie down after the canalith repositioning procedure. Make sure your ear is above your shoulder. Repeat the canalith repositioning procedure numerous times at home if your dizziness does not disappear. Call your doctor if your symptoms do not disappear.