Have you ever felt a sudden sense of dizziness, or lightheadedness? The false sense that you are spinning or moving, but you actually aren’t? These are a few symptoms of vertigo. The condition is often misinterpreted as motion sickness, but vertigo is quite common in people in their late adulthood. About 40% of Americans experience vertigo at least once during their lifetime. The condition often occurs without any underlying medical condition and is treatable. The Epley maneuver is an exercise which is performed to treat vertigo. It is meant to treat a specific type of vertigo, called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). Let us check out how the Epley Maneuver helps treat vertigo.
What exactly does the Epley maneuver consist of?
This exercise can be understood as a series of movements carried out by the doctor on the patient, to treat the symptoms of BPPV. The Epley maneuver is considered as the safer, easier and much more effective tool to treat the condition, in the short as well as the long term.
It is also, sometimes, known as the particle repositioning maneuver, since the series of movements involved in it, help to reposition the crystals in a person’s ears, causing such dizziness.
How does it work?
- The Epley maneuver is designed to treat the condition without any major efforts on the part of the patient. It is designed to work in a manner that allows gravity to do the work, once the head is at such an angle.
- Tilting the head can allow the crystals to move out of the semicircular canals of the ears. What this means is that these crystals stop displacing fluid that is causing the dizziness.
- The process may need to be repeated more than once to move the crystals out of the semicircular canals.
When to use?
The Epley maneuver is used by the doctor only when they are satisfied that BPPV is the cause. It is to be noted that the Epley maneuver is not suitable for the treatment of vertigo caused by some other condition. A person, thus, needs to be careful when it comes to handling such conditions where a vertigo might be involved.
Conclusion
One must seek help from a professional when it comes to conditions like vertigo. In this regard, Audiologie Centre West Epley maneuver is applied using the utmost care and professionalism.