Canalith Positioning for Dizziness

Do you have a child with chronic vertigo or dizziness? If so then try the following maneovers which you can do manually with your child. You can sometimes cure the dizziness almost immediately.
This s a simple physical activity known as canalith repositioning or the Epley maneuver. You move your child's body through a series of head and body positions that are designed to dislodge the crystals in the inner ear that are supposed to cause dizziness…
Although this procedure is initially carried out under expert supervision by your doctor, it is nevertheless something that is relatively easy to learn, so it is quite likely that he or she will be able to teach you how to do this in the comfort of your own home.
This procedure is remarkably simple, with the underlying principle being that by following the step by step procedure, you dislodge the crystals in your own or your child's ears that are the root cause of the dizziness and move them to a position where they are no longer going to irritate the nerve hairs in your ears to cause vertigo.
Since this simple physical procedure was first identified as being a non-invasive treatment for BPPV by Dr John Epley in 1980, there has been an increasingly persuasive body of supporting scientific research for this particular strategy built up.
If you suffer from BPPV and you have never attempted this particular procedure, this really is all that there is to it:
1. Sit on the floor in an upright position;
2. Turn your child's head to a 45° angle towards the side where you have a BPPV problem before reclining the child onto his or her back
3. Stay in this position for up to 5 minutes;
4. Swivel the child's head through 90° so that it is now at the same angle facing in the opposite direction;
5. Stay like that for up to 5 minutes once again;
6. Roll your child in the same direction as you are already facing with your head still at an angle to his or her body so that the nose is now facing the floor, and stay here for the final five minutes;
7. Return to the sitting position, take a break for 30 seconds to 1 minute before repeating the whole process two or three more times.
As you can see by this straightforward description of the procedure, there really is very little to the Epley maneuver, which is probably one of the reasons why it is as successful as it has so far proven to be.

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Dizziness or Vertigo?

Lately there has been a bout of labyrinthitis going around in our neighborhood which had me wondering about how the real difference between vertigo and dizziness. Real vertigo involves dizziness, but most medical professionals would tell you that it is a specific type of dizziness, something that is suggested by the root of the word vertigo, which is ‘vertere', meaning ‘turn' in Latin.
People who have vertigo as a noticeable shift in the sufferer's relationship with their normal environment. It is often described by those who suffer vertigo as an uncontrollable feeling that the room is spinning, or that the world is whirling, dipping and turning around them. This is different than just be dizzy.
They often describe the condition as a thoroughly unpleasant sensation of moving in or through space whilst they are thoroughly conscious that they are in fact physically immobile or completely still. A good example of this is the child that gets dizzy when he or she merely moves his or her head one pillow.
The basic cause of vertigo is that something has caused a disturbance of the equilibrium or balance of the sufferer, so that in certain situations this imbalance causes them to feel dizziness. Real vertigo causes real suffering including nausea, rapid involuntary eye movements and often vomiting as well. The reason I mention this is because the first time I saw my kid have vertigo I practically thought she was dying.
Whilst they are suffering an attack of vertigo, the individual may interpret the dizziness in one of two different ways, sensing that either they are moving whereas everything else is stationary (known as subjective vertigo), or they may see everything else is moving whilst they are still, which is objective vertigo.
On the one hand, you may feel that you are tilting, rocking or falling through space and that you have no grip on reality, which can often lead to nausea and vomiting, whilst on the other side of the coin, you may feel perfectly still whilst everything hurtles around uncontrollably, in which case, exactly the same ‘end result' may occur!
For the majority of children and adults who suffer vertigo, the condition is not grave or dangerous. Mostly it is just annoying! However it is recommended that if you or your kid suffers dizziness of any form, you should seek a professional medical evaluation of your condition as it may be indicative of something considerably more serious.

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