What is Vertigo?
Vertigo is not the fear of heights like the Hitchcock movie led you to believe. Rather, it is a spinning or moving sensation you feel when your body is actually not moving at all. If you remember drinking a little too much in your college days, you might know of the “bed spins”. Vertigo is like that, only without the drinking, it doesn’t just happen in bed and putting your foot on the floor doesn’t stop the world from whirling around.
Vertigo can get so bad a person can’t even walk straight. I’ve actually played bumper cars with the walls going down my hallway trying to get to the bathroom. And getting to the bathroom is essential during an episode since it makes me so nauseous I start to heave. Fun right?… NOT!
Another crazy little fact about Vertigo is that during an episode a person’s eyes actually spin in their head. It’s eerie looking. Check out this video if you want to see what it looks like.
What Causes Vertigo?
The most common type of vertigo is called BPPV or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. BPPV is caused by little calcium crystals breaking off from the inner ear and falling into the posterior semicircular canal. That’s where all the little hairs that sense movement and balance are. When one of those crystals falls against one of those little hairs, hold on tight. You’re in for a wild ride! If that crystal gets stuck, your vertigo can last for days. Almost as bad, if the crystal keeps bouncing around it can hit several hairs causing successive episodes.
There are also other more serious causes of Vertigo; like stroke, Meniere’s disease and viral infections that cause inner ear swelling. Always see your Dr. for a diagnosis if you start having vertigo.
What can be done for Vertigo?
Well, if you have BPPV like I do, there isn’t a cure. You can treat the symptoms with motion sickness medicines like Dramamine. Your doctor can do some special head movements called the Epley Maneuver on you to try to dislodge the offending crystal. But, you need to go to the doctor’s office in the middle of the episode. Which is usually pretty hard since you can barely walk let alone drive to the doctor’s office. You can try to do the head movements at home yourself. But, they just make me feel like heaving, so I don’t do them. Or, do what I do and just wait for the crystal to get absorbed by the body. It can take a few days for that to work.
Prevention is the key to dealing with Vertigo.
Prevention factors include:
- Getting enough sleep
- Drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day
- Find and Avoid your trigger foods (salt, beer, cheese, etc.)
- Vitamins – make sure you don’t have a Magnesium deficiency as Magnesium aids in the absorption of calcium in the body.
- Reduce stress
Once you’ve had a few episodes, you can tell when one is coming on. The fuzzy headed and rocky balanced feeling is usually a precursor to an actual spin-fest. So make sure you get to a safe place when these start happening.
I’ll end with a warning. After a Vertigo episode, your brain begins its healing process. You may find it difficult to concentrate and conversations may take too much energy to follow. It’s like recovering from a concussion, I know I’ve had one of those too. Give yourself time to recover and don’t flip out if your brain is a bit slow for a while.
