Inner Ear Problems........

[Dawg52]

Well I got up to the nursing home to visit my aunt. I did ok but my head still feels a little woozy. Almost feel like my blood pressure is up. Maybe a nap will help. Sitting up though.

 

[W2R]

Glad you are doing a little better.

I just took a nap, myself. Naps are good.

 

[freebird5825]

Well I got up to the nursing home to visit my aunt. I did ok but my head still feels a little woozy. Almost feel like my blood pressure is up. Maybe a nap will help. Sitting up though.

Dawg, are you OK?
Please see what your pulse rate is, just to be sure.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Dawg, get well soon.

I just had a sip of my water.

Are we Twittering yet?

 

[LOL!]

Yep, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo or BPPV. Bing it.

The maneuvers cure it. When I went to my doctor, he just pulled out a sheet of paper and said, "This is it. Do these exercises and it cures most folks in less than 2 days." The fact that he had multiple copies of the instructions confirmed to me that it was quite common.

I believe I got my BPPV from doing lots of sit-ups. I had worked up to about 60 sit-ups every morning and I was sometimes letting my head lightly bang the carpet. Any other blow to the head can also knock the "rocks" loose. I don't think the rocks dissolve. They need to be there to interact with the hairs in your inner ear canals to give you a sense of balance. It's just that they are hitting the hairs that you don't expect them to.

Since the cure is mechanical, I don't think there is any way to over do it. So if you get your rocks to move, you are cured.

 

[TromboneAl]

If you're still doing sit-ups, you might consider crunches instead:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sit-up_(exercise)

 

[simple girl]

I think. Woke up this morning, rolled to my right, and the bed just starting spinning and spinning. Didn't throw up but came close. Got up and felt better by just being upright but still a little unsteady. Yesterday morning I had an abbreviated version but but much worse today. I had this problem 10 years ago or so but by time I got an appointment with the ear doc, it had faded away.

Any of you guys ever have this problem? Any home remedies to help? I'm not getting out this morning, don't need this while driving.

If the spinning occurs only when you change position of your head with respect to gravity (i.e. like you said, laying down and turning head to one side) and doesn't last long, the most likely cause is indeed BPPV (benign positional paroxysmal vertigo).

Your inner ear has a small apparatus (about the size of a dime) that is called the vestibular apparatus. It has 3 canals: one circles up, one circles down, and one goes horizontally. All three canals are connected to a base. The canals are filled with fluid. Normal functioning of the apparatus: you move your head, the fluid in the canals move, and this stimulates little nerve endings (called hair cells) that are located at the base of the apparatus. This bending of the hair cells creates a message that goes to the brain and an automatic reflex is sent out. Part of that reflex arc goes to the eyes - the eyes move to help you keep your vision focused despite head movement. The is called the vestibular ocular reflex.

Now, there are little crystals that are located at the base of the vestibular apparatus. Sometimes they break off (can be due to head trauma, but usually just occurs for no known reason and incidence increases with age). When they come loose, they drop into one of the canals...usually they drop in once you've laid down and turned your head....well, this is like dropping a rock into a pool of water...it makes the fluid in the canal move...the hair cell is stimulated...and wa-la...your vestibular ocular reflex moves in and you get nystagmus (eyes moving back and forth) and the oh-so uncomfortable room spins. Once the "rock" stops moving in the canal, the reflex stops and the spinning stops. However, you will often feel "off" for some time after this.

The maneuvers work by trying to get the crystal out of the canal and back into the base, where it is thought it is eventually resorbed by the body. The Epley is usually successful (but you must start it on the involved side). Sometimes, the crystals are in the horizontal canal, though...and in this case different maneuvers are needed. Luckily, the majority of the time they are in the anterior or posterior canals, and these are much easier to tx.

I first started getting BPPV when I was in my mid 20's. I get repeat attacks maybe 2 or 3 times a year. The Epley has fixed me probably 90% of the time. I do it once, try not to lay completely flat for a day or two, and especially avoid laying on the involved side for a day or two.

If you are not successful treating yourself, get a referral to a PT who is vestibular rehabilitation specialist...if there is one in your area.

 

[Rustward]

I've suffered from inner ear problems off and on for years. <snip>

While you were passing gas (@H A) or after? Just curious.

 

[REWahoo]

While you were passing gas (@H A) or after? Just curious.

After. Long after...

 

[Rustward]

After. Long after...

Thought it musta been.

I was taught in general avaition instruction (by an older B-47 instructor -- who later moved on to bigger and better things there (Full Bird Colonel)) -- if any kind of E.N.T. problems, DO NOT GO. I have generalized his advice and applied it to my life and I think it has worked well for me.

Thank you Colonel Al Miller! You have saved countless people and their families from the results of get-home-itis and other stuff!

He had lots of stories, most of which I still remember 34 years later.

 

[Dawg52]

The maneuver must have worked. Got to feeling much better this afternoon. Good thing, had to take my aunt to emergency room because of an infection. But emergency room boots her out after a few hours saying nursing home should never have sent her there for this problem anyway. Said they could have treated her. So back to the nursing home. No wonder medicare is so screwed up.

Now you know why I have vertigo and take med's.

 

[W2R]

The maneuver must have worked. Got to feeling much better this afternoon.

Wonderful! Like others here, I was concerned about you.

Good thing, had to take my aunt to emergency room because of an infection. But emergency room boots her out after a few hours saying nursing home should never have sent her there for this problem anyway. Said they could have treated her. So back to the nursing home. No wonder medicare is so screwed up.

Now you know why I have vertigo and take med's.

Hope she can beat this infection. At least you are well enough that you can be there for her, to take her to the ER and sit with her there.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Dawg, you are a saint for taking care of your aunt. Have a med on me.

W2R, I hope you're feeling better even if your ailment is the flu and not an inner-ear thingie.

I wonder if the Epley maneuver might work on ringing in the ears--probably no calcium deposits involved there.

 

[W2R]

Dawg, you are a saint for taking care of your aunt. Have a med on me.

W2R, I hope you're feeling better even if your ailment is the flu and not an inner-ear thingie.

I wonder if the Epley maneuver might work on ringing in the ears--probably no calcium deposits involved there.

My dizziness is completely gone, now, thanks! I feel a lot better. In fact, I probably don't have the flu but just the latest bug plus sinus congestion. I have been napping on and off and that seems to help a lot.

I agree that Dawg is a saint! One can only dream that some kind person would take such good care of us when that old, as he does for his aunt.

 

[Dawg52]

Dawg, you are a saint for taking care of your aunt. Have a med on me.

I agree that Dawg is a saint! One can only dream that some kind person would take such good care of us when that old, as he does for his aunt.

Please....hold the applause down. I told my niece, who just graduated from nursing school, that I was very proud of her and hope she becomes very proficient in changing adult diapers over the next few years. Because her favorite uncle, who plans to will her some inheritance, would be calling on her down the road.

 

[Amethyst]

Hope everyone's feeling better....I have had vertigo twice. It is a scary, helpless feeling. Both times, I was diagnosed with fluid in the inner ear, given antihistamines and told to go home and go to sleep.

The antihistamine is supposed to dry up the trapped fluid, which in my case was related to seasonal allergies. Each time, I was fine in 24 hours. Hope I don't get rocks in my ears one of these days! Tinnitus is bad enough.

 

[heardoc]

I don't understand how the maneuvers w*rk.
Is it a method of getting the fluid in the inner ear to shift around and hopefully dislodge something? Or an equalizing method ?

Just saw this post.... for what it's worth:

The theory is that you have little crystalline particles "otoliths" sitting around in your semi-circular canals. They are causing a firing of neuronal impulses not expected by the brain and that is causing dizziness. The rapid movement of your head through all spheres is meant to dislodge the otoliths. Not sure if the science is correct, but the
maneuver is very successful in a large number of patients.
It will not work on viral infections,tumors etc, etc which is why it's important to have a full workup by an Audiologist followed by an ENT if symptoms persist more than a few days.

 

[TromboneAl]

I don't understand how the maneuvers w*rk.

Imagine that you have a twisted up tube filled with Prell shampoo, and attached to the top of a bottle (also filled with Prell shampoo). There's a pearl in the middle of one of the tube loops, and it's causing problems. So, you want to work the pearl through the tube and into the bottle. You tilt it this way, wait, then tilt it another way, and wait etc. That be the basic idea behind the maneuver.

And in case your brain isn't stuffed with old commercials as mine is:

YouTube - Liquid Prell 1965 Commercial

 

[Helen]

The maneuver must have worked. Got to feeling much better this afternoon.

I am so happy for you that it is BPPV. I was a patient of Dr. Epley here in Portland, OR for a while. He semi retired and is only seeing BPPV patients. I unfortunately had Meniere's and not BPPV.

My hearing was screwed up for almost five years. It wasn't just hearing loss but distortion. But the worse was the vertigo, that stuff is awful as you know.

I was actually fortunate in that my symptoms went away about 2 years ago. I think the pre-menopause flared up the symptoms of Meniere's. Over a two week period (no pun intended) the distortion went away and I could communicate again. I haven't had vertigo since either.

Some poor souls have severe symptoms from Meniere's and live life with frequent and long lasting vertigo attacks. My heart really goes out to them. Vertigo feels like you drank a 5th of whiskey then got on a tilt-a-whirl. There is no sense of balance so you have to crawl to the bathroom and it can last for hours or days. It is the most horrible sensation. My eyes would involunarily dart back and forth (which is why I could see things spinning), I would sweat and turn ghost white. I was lucky when it hit at work I didn't have to crawl and I never threw up. Someone would escort me to the nurse's station and I would lay down until it passed. A few times the nurse didn't recognize me when I came out of the room because I looked so different from when I first went down there.

Anyway, God bless Dr. Epley for persisting with his research. He almost lost his license because the medical community thought he was a quack. He hung in there and it was a long time before the medical community accepted his methods and theories. He should write a book about it. He has given a lot of people their life back.