Important!
If the positioning maneuvers are unsuccessful, the particles can be surgically removed in the arch of the ear by a small operation. However, conventional therapy achieves good results in most cases, so that surgery is rarely necessary. In general, the patient should always be educated during therapy to avoid possible feelings of anxiety and the cessation of head movement.
Definition and cause
As the name already suggests, the so-called positional vertigo is a form of vertigo that occurs as soon as the body, or rather the head, changes its own position. This includes, for example, changing from sitting to lying down, straightening up, turning to the side and simple head movements like nodding or looking up at an angle. The dizziness initially occurs only for a short period of time and manifests itself in the form of rotational vertigo.
The moment of dizziness is accompanied by insecurity in standing and walking. Sometimes, the dizziness is accompanied by nausea and sweating. The technical term for the disease is paroxysmal positional vertigo.
It is a quite common disease in society. The cause of the dizziness is in the ear, in which important receptors are located, which transmit information about body positions and their changes to the central nervous system – the brain – where this information is processed. In patients complaining of positional vertigo, small particles (crystals) have been discovered in the so-called archway in the ear, which irritate and confuse the receptors that normally register the position.
With every rotation of the head, for example, the particles also move, the irritating stimuli are transmitted to the brain, which reacts with the dizziness. Sometimes the body regenerates itself after several weeks. In most cases, however, the disease can be treated beforehand with positive results. Due to the positive progression of the disease, it is also referred to as benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo.
Summary
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is an unpleasant, short-term form of vertigo that occurs in everyday life during head movements, with possible vegetative symptoms. The symptoms are caused by small slipped crystals in the ear. In the vast majority of cases, the small particles in the ear, more precisely in the arch of the ear, can be transported back to their place of origin by certain rapid movements.
The so-called positioning maneuvers can be performed according to instructions by the patient himself at home or passively by the therapist. In many cases, a single execution of the maneuver is sufficient. In other cases it must be performed several times before the unpleasant dizziness disappears.
There are different repositioning exercises for each affected archway. An operation is used only very rarely.
