Alternative Health Blog

Anyone who has ever struggled with vertigo, temporarily or long-term, knows it is about as disruptive to daily life as most any condition. Earlier this summer, the American Academy of Neurology offered some hope in a new research-based guideline that a simple series of head and body movements with a therapist or doctor can ease or stop vertigo symptoms.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is the official term for what we call vertigo. It is an inner ear disorder that causes dizziness, even while still in bed. Room spinning is the norm, standing or sitting.

Two techniques are recommended by the neurology professional group. One is called Canalith repositioning of the head and body (some practitioners will call the Epley maneuver, and, really, who cares which person gets the credit if it works?). The other technique is the Semont maneuver in which the head through a sequence of four positions. Both therapies are safe for all ages—and beat the alternative of being urged to “wait it out” or try medications.

The physiological manipulation is the body is based on the hypothesis that vertigo is caused by loose calcium carbonate crystals in the sensing tubes of the inner ear. The Canalith/Epley and Semont are both aimed at transporting those crystals to another part of the ear to be absorbed.

A therapist is likely to instruct a patient on how to perform these maneuvers at home, if someone is prone to recurrence of vertigo. It is safe enough for a layperson to try the techniques, but it require, literally, some hands-on training from a practitioner.

One anecdotal note: Some patients who have long struggled with vertigo but now are free of frequent attacks link their release from symptoms to not oversleeping. For these individuals, sleeping seven to eight hours is good while more than that was destructive. It’s best if the night’s sleep is approximately the same hours of the night and morning. There is no research to support this remedy, yet it clearly has worked in real life.