To Treat or Not to Treat Yourself?
If you have suffered from positional Vertigo or BPPV you have probably heard about home remedy or self-treatment. You may have even watched a video on YouTube. It may seem simple, but we strongly advise against home treatment for Vertigo for the following reasons.
1. You Can Make it Worse
BPPV is not as straightforward as it may seem. Each person has three Semicircular Canals on each side that may be involved in positional vertigo. Depending on which canal is involved, different cannalith repositioning maneuvers are recommended and performed by a skilled professional. Diagnosis on which canal is involved is determined by the direction of eye movement or nystagmus observed during testing. With self treatment, you are unable to determine which canal is involved and you risk making it worse or converting it to another canal if you do not have the perfect head positioning.
There are also two types of BPPV- Canalithiasis, when the loose debris are free-floating and Cupulolithiasis- when the debris are adhered to the Cupula. These two types of BPPV respond differently to cannalith repositioning maneuvers. Sometimes with home treatment, you can make the problem worse by converting the debris to a Cuplolithiasis where it becomes stuck and is harder to treat.
2. Is it Really BPPV?
The second reason to have your vertigo checked out by a vestibular rehabilitation physical therapist is because it may not be vertigo or BPPV, at all. There are several reasons you may be having dizziness, one of which may indicate a dysfunction of your central nervous system. Your central nervous system, which includes your brain, controls all of your most important voluntary and involuntary functions.
Dizziness is a symptom of vertigo, yes, but it may be a symptom of something more severe. The physical therapists will evaluate you utilizing bedside Central nervous system tests to ensure that the problem is not related to the brain. The eye movements, or nystagmus, observed will also indicate whether the problem is truly BPPV or central dizziness.
At FYZICAL we realize how debilitating Vertigo can be and we do our best to Evaluation and Treat it as soon as possible. We advise all our patients to call us for evaluation and to avoid home treatment.