Equilibrium Vertigo Treatment

Vertigo is a condition that affects your body's natural equilibrium. People who suffer from vertigo feel a sudden sensation that they are unbalanced or that their surroundings are moving.

Cause

• The ear houses semicircular canals that contain fluid and hair-like sensors that monitor the movement of your head. Other structures in the ear, called otolith organs, contain crystals that make you sensitive to movement. When these crystals become dislodged and move into the semicircular canals, it causes dizziness known as vertigo.

Canalith Repositioning Treatment

• The canalith repositioning procedure is performed in a doctor's office and does not require hospitalization. This procedure consists of simple and slow movements of the head. The goal of the procedure is to move the dislodged crystals from the semicircular canals back to the otolith organs.

After Procedure

• Days after you've undergone the canalith repositioning procedure, you cannot lie flat on your back or place the treated ear below shoulder level. You may have to repeat the canalith repositioning procedure, but the doctor will teach you the movements so you can do them in your own home.

Surgical Treatments

• If the repositioning treatment does not work, your doctor may want to turn to surgery. The surgery for vertigo involves using a bone plug to block the part of your inner ear that causes dizziness. This surgery has a 90 percent success rate.

Warning

• While the surgery to treat equilibrium vertigo does have a high success rate, less than 5 percent of patients experience long-term hearing loss as a result.