Positional Vertigo

When you feel like you’re spinning or the room is moving around you, you’re experiencing a classic sign of vertigo. The most common type of vertigo is positional vertigo or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Positional vertigo is a bothersome problem but it is not a serious one, except when it increases the chance of falls or accidents.

What causes BPPV?

Although often there is no known cause of vertigo, the determination of dizziness in vertigo is usually caused by some issues in either the inner ear of the brain stem. BPPV also has been associated with migraines.

Risk factors in vertigo

BPPV is more common in women than in men. It occurs most often in people who are 50 years old and older. An incidence or history of head injury or ear injury makes one susceptible to BPPV. Recent ear infection and ear surgery are factors that can bring about BPPV.

Do you need to see your doctor?

If you experience repeated episodes of unexplained vertigo or dizziness, it’s time to see your doctor. If any of these symptoms are associated with your vertigo, go to the hospital: sudden and severe dizziness, prolonged dizziness, double vision, hearing loss, trouble in speaking, disorientation, leg or arm weakness, severe headache, numbness, falling or the inability to walk, and fever.

Home remedies

Your doctor might teach you some maneuvers that you can do at home in order to handle your vertigo. Most of the known maneuvers are effective.

Ginger tea is a known herbal treatment for vertigo. Stir a teaspoon of ground or crushed ginger into a cup of warm water to make a spicy tea. Drink one cup of ginger tea everyday to address your vertigo.

Ginkgo biloba that is available in tablet form in health food stores is a powerful natural remedy to calm vertigo. Take 120 mg tablet daily to keep BPPV symptoms under control. Ginkgo biloba also improves blood circulation to the brain resulting to good brain oxygenation.

Traditional Chinese medicine belief that considers the concept of yin and yang energy as the basis in the treatment of common ailments, recommend strawberries as the fruit that can help relieve or head off dizzy spells. Chinese traditional doctors believe that the fruit has an impact in the body’s energy flow.