Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Dizzy Again?




From the desk of Steph McDougal, DPT
Room-Spinning Dizziness? 


You dizzy today?

If you are suffering from room-spinning dizziness that seems to just all of the sudden appeared when, it might just be Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) or more commonly known as just vertigo.

Here are some common signs/symptoms of vertigo:
·      
         -  Brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness.
·       - A sense that you or your surrounding are spinning or moving.
·       - Dizziness that is triggered by position changes of your head. (tiping your head up or down, lying    
               down, rolling over, or sitting up in bed, etc. )
·       - Symptoms that seem to have started with any precipitating cause.
·       - Nausea  and/or vomiting
·      -  Balance disturbances or feeling of unsteadiness


 So what’s going on?
Vertigo is a disorder of the inner ear, it is idiopathic in nature, meaning there is no known cause for it. It generally affects people age 50 or older and is more common in women than men.  It happens when small crystals in your ear become dislodged from and fall into these three loop-shaped structures called your semicircular canals. Because that is not where they should be you get a false sense of movement which leads you to feel dizzy. 

Have No Fear!
Stephanie McDougal, DPT, at the PTW Montgomeryville is an expert in BPPV, Vertigo, and Concussions, Steph can do a series of tests and treatments to help get those crystals back to where they should be, getting you back to your levels of function and performance once again.