just started having vertigo?
You’ve probably heard of vertigo before, but now you’re the lucky one to experience it. Conclusion? Not fun, huh?
If you woke up with dizziness, and went to the emergency department, just to be told that you have “vertigo”, you were probably sent home with some anti-nausea medication and your care ended there. If you take one piece of information away from this site, I hope it’s, DON’T STOP THERE! You need to figure out what the CAUSE of your vertigo is.
The good news is there is something you can do for it! We’re going to start with the most common causes of vertigo, because, statistically speaking, that’s what you most likely have! So don’t jump to conclusions that there is something seriously wrong just yet.
This guide is to help you through what you should do next, and hopefully answer the questions that you have.
BPPV
BPPV stands for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. There are tiny little crystals that belong in your inner ear (vestibular system), they only become pesky little critters if they get displaced, but the good news is that they can be repositioned! Most of the time it only takes 1 maneuver to fix!
There are 3 different canals in each vestibular system (3 on each side for a total of 6!). Most commonly BPPV occurs in the posterior and horizontal canals, it’s debated whether it actually occurs in the anterior canal based on how that canal is positioned.
BPPV is THE most common cause of vertigo, so make sure to rule this one out first!
how do I know if I have BPPV?
If you are experiencing dizziness, there is a high likelihood that it is BPPV if:
You are getting dizziness with positional changes such as laying down, rolling over, or looking up.
Your dizziness only lasts for seconds or up to a minute.
Your dizziness is described as a spinning sensation (although,, the description of dizziness can vary from person to person).
Vestibular Neuritis
The most classic presentation of this is waking up with a constant spinning sensation, lasting hours to days before progressively improving. Typically there will be imbalance or listing off to one side when walking and difficulty with eyes closed balance. After the acute phase of dizziness resolves, you may be left with dizziness with turning your head quickly, often described as “the world having to catch up”. You’ll also continue to have some imbalance with walking and eyes closed.
It’s important to note that vestibular neuritis typically is a sudden onset of vertigo that progressively improves, not recurring episodes.
how do I know if I have vestibular neuritis?
Sudden onset of vertigo
Constant spinning for hours or days that progressively improves
Dizziness with turning head quickly
Imbalance or listing off to one side
Imbalance with eyes closed
There can often be nausea and vomiting in the acute phase (constant spinning phase)