Vertigo - Oklahoma City Pain Management Clinic

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Vertigo – Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Vertigo is a feeling of movement when you are stationary, it differs from light-headedness or dizziness because it relates to the illusion of movement as opposed to the feeling of spinning. Vertigo is categorised in two ways:

Objective Vertigo – when one has the perception that their surroundings are moving and;
Subjective Vertigo – when one has the perception that they are moving in still surroundings.

Unlike light-headedness or dizziness that is non-specific, Vertigo has very few causes and is usually caused by one of two things:

A problem in the patients brain or;
A problem in the patients inner ear

The most common form of Vertigo is known as BPPV ( Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) and characterised by the feeling of motion caused when moving the head suddenly or in a certain direction. This form of Vertigo can be treated and is very rarely serious.

Other causes of Vertigo include:

Inner ear infection – the inflammation of the inner ear can cause the patient to suffer from vertigo suddenly and can sometimes be associated with hearing loss. The medical term for this is Labrynthitis and is most commonly caused by a viral or bacterial infection.
Meniere's disease - this is a multi-faceted medical issue involving ringing in the ears, hearing loss and vertigo. Patients who have this may experience sudden, severe onset of Vertigo and hearing loss that fluctuates. They may also have periods where they are completely symptom free.
Migraine Headache – The patient may experience vertigo followed by a headache and whilst this is not uncommon, it does not present any long term problems
Complications from diabetes can also cause vertigo, this is can lead to a hardening of the arteries and hence, a lowering of blood flow to the brain which in turn, causes the symptoms of Vertigo.

Along with the causes of the Vertigo in a patient, the symptoms may include:

Abnormal eye movements
Sweating
A sense of motion or feeling of disorientation and;
Nausea or vomiting

The patient may also have difficulty speaking, walking, a decreased level of conciousness, hearing loss, ringing in their ears and visual disturbances. Symptoms can continue for minutes or hours, when seeking medical advice it is important to tell the medical doctor if the patient has experienced whiplash or begun any new medications recently.

Treatment for vertigo consists of medical, physical and surgical options such as:

Antibiotics – used when the inner ear inflammation is caused by bacterial infection
Surgery where it is found to be that a patient has a hole in the inner ear which is causing recurrent ear infections -this would require the patient to be referred to an ENT specialist
Particle repositioning maneuver – this is the physical treatment of the patient to move the tiny stones in the vestibular system of the inner ear back into their correct place. The patients' head is repositioned until the abnormal eye movements dissipate.
Eplay maneuvers – also known as Vestibular Rehabilitation exercises – the patient is advised to sit on the edge of a table and then lie down to one side until the vertigo disappears and then repeating the sitting up and lying down motion on each side until the vertigo is completely resolved.
Commonly prescribed medications for Vertigo include Diazepam, Phenergan, Benadryl and Antivert – it is important that these are only taken when prescribed by a medical practitioner.

The Brooks Clinic specializes in treating whiplash injuries. We are located in Midtown, downtown, Oklahoma City. Call us today and we’ll give you a free consultation with absolutely no strings attached.

Call Us at 1-405-943-0303