How to treat dizziness and vertigo

Vertigo is a common condition which affects up to 1 in 2 people. The great news, if you do suffer from vertigo, is physio can help to treat your dizziness and vertigo through a simple manoeuvre and exercises.

What is vertigo

Vertigo is a sensation of movement or spinning, tilting or swaying when your body is not actually moving. It is caused by an inner ear problem with the most common being Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.

What are the symptoms

Those who have experienced vertigo describe it as though the world around them is spinning which can also cause nausea.

How physio can help

There are multiple possible causes of vertigo, some which need medical investigation. However the most common cause is BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo). This is a non-life threatening condition where certain head positions or movements can trigger sudden, brief spells of the spinning sensation. BPPV is a mechanical problem of the inner ear in which the calcium carbonate crystals becomes dislodged and migrate into one of the three semicircular canals. These crystals interfere with normal fluid movement in the canals and send false messages to the brain about body position and movement.

Physiotherapy can help diagnose and treat BPPV. Physiotherapy for BPPV involves non-invasive techniques which use a sequence of guided head and body positioning techniques. These techniques are tolerated very well by patients and work by assisting the crystals to return to their normal position in the inner ear. In addition we provide advice on sleeping positions and general activity to prevent re-occurrence of this condition.