How to Live With Vertigo

A person who has never suffered from vertigo will never know how scary it can be to be living with vertigo.

You may have been in a train which was not moving, but when a moving train passed by, you may will have felt it was your train which was moving. This kind of disorientation happens to a person who suffers from vertigo. He or she feels movement when there isn’t any. Usually all objects may spin, or distances seem skewed; if you look down from even a small height you will feel as if you are going to fall down. If you are lying in bed you may feel that you are spiraling down into a tunnel.

What is vertigo?

Vertigo is very different from dizziness or giddiness. In the latter, the person feels giddy, whereas in the former, it seems that everything around the patient is moving around. You must be able to understand the difference so that you can tell the doctor what exactly you are feeling.

Causes of vertigo

Some people have an occasional attack vertigo which does not cause any problems because it lasts for a few seconds and then passes. However, when vertigo happens very often and affects activities of daily living, it needs investigation because it can be due to an underlying disorder or disease. It can also be a symptom of any of the following:

1. Headache with vertigo can signal a stroke and may be accompanied with vision and speech problems or tingling or numbness in any of the extremities.
2. Otitis medea or inner ear infection which may become chronic.
3. Acoustic neuroma or a tumor on the acoustic nerve in the ear (non cancerous).
4. Migraine.
5. Multiple sclerosis.
6. Head or neck injury.
7. Meniere’s disease which results from pressure of fluid in the inner ear accompanied by tinnitus or ringing noise and can eventually cause deafness.
8. Cogan’s syndrome (inflammation of connective tissue in the cornea.
9. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) which is the most common cause of vertigo. It usually affects one of the sensing tubes in the inner ear called the posterior semicircular canal and happens when debris made up of calcium carbonate and protein (called otoliths or ear crystals) build up in and moves around in the posterior semicircular canal, the anterior canal or the horizontal canal.
10. An attack of cervical spondylitis.
11. Side effect of some medicines.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

You need to make a note of when attacks of vertigo happen and how long they last. When you go to your doctor make sure to tell him everything. He will carry out physical tests and if he suspects anything serious send you to a specialist. If you suspect a stroke, go to the emergency room of a hospital directly.

Among tests you may have to undergo are an ear X-ray, hearing tests, and balance tests. Imaging scans, such as MRI or CT scans Electronystagmography (ENG) or videonystagmography (VNG) may also be necessary.

Treatment

Usually once diagnosis made, your doctor will prescribe medicines which you will have to take to give you relief. If you an ear infection, you will be put on antibiotics. If your vertigo is caused by ear crystals, your doctor will perform some physical maneuvers to dislodge the crystals.

If you have vomiting or nausea, the doctor may prescribe medicines for that. If there is an underlying reason for the vertigo that will have to be appropriately treated. Physiotherapy can help a great deal with balance problems and may help vertigo.

Complications

People who suffer for long periods with vertigo or if it constantly affects their daily life will tend to develop low self esteem, suffer from depression and also may keep on falling down, whereby there is the possibility of injury. If you have a medical problem, sometimes surgery may be the answer.