Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: What has helped you?

BPPV is quite common among older people. Further, it can be COMBINED with some other hearing/balance diseases, like Meniere's. Because inner ear disease is extremely hard to diagnose correctly, 80% of people diagnosed with Meniere's do not actually have THAT disease. A fair number of those have a disease only more recently recognized: MAV, or migraine-associated vertigo, which can be treated with standard migraine meds. (And, no, it doesn't mean that the person has headaches, but problems with balance and, often, hearing.)

I have true Meniere's, plus BPPV. The solution to Meniere's is daily vestibular rehab. As long as I work on proprioception (the third balance system), I do not have problems with BPPV. The aim of vestibular rehab (VRT) is to learn to rely on proprioception instead of your inner ear (the primary balance system) or vision (the secondary balance system). When your inner ear doesn't work as well as it should, you automatically begin to rely on vision, which is all bad: every time you move your head or drive around a corner, etc., your focal point changes and you temporarily do not know where you are in space. Proprioception is the assurance of where you are in space offered by your feet, knees, hips, etc. Simply put, if you stand on a windy point, you will probably automatically lean just enough toward the wind to maintain balance: that proprioception in a nutshell.

Today, there are a few vestibular clinics that offer VRT, and some PTs know about it. The exercises are easy to do and can become part of your daily routine. For example, one thing that I do every day is walk the quarter mile on a gravel road to my mailbox...with my eyes closed, concentrating on what my feet are telling me. Another daily exercise is to walk through the house with all the lights turned off late at night, or to walk around our hilly acreage in the total dark (no ambient light of any kind). The advice that older folks should all use night lights is wrong, as it only encourages reliance on vision. Naturally, you only walk with eyes closed or in the dark in places where you know there's nothing to trip you! Before you turn out the lights, check to make certain that neither kids nor pets have left their toys in your path!

As you age, you will naturally lose some nerve function in your lower legs, so you need to work a little harder on proprioception. I have a tiny platform about 6" high so that I can practice stepping down with one foot, getting balanced, stepping back up, first 6X with eyes open, then 6X with eyes closed, then repeating the exercise with the opposite foot. You also could put a long 2x4 flat on the floor and practice walking "the plank!"

Hello, I realize this post was a few years ago however it was so informative and I thank you for that! I experienced Sudden sensory hearing loss 6 weeks ago. ( I knew exactly what it was as I experienced it 9 years ago, first and only time until now.) I was treated immediately with steroid injection from a Ent in Florida while I was on vacation there, it was reversed. When this happened recently I knew I needed help, I now live in the state of Delaware and called the ENT’s office who refused to see me for 3 months on their schedule… I went to the emergency room at the hospital who agreed it was SSHL, and my discharge papers said I was to see Dr. E. (the local and only ENT here) within 1 to 2 days. They still refused to see me. I persisted and finally was seen by the audiologist 2 weeks later and tested. She swore to me it was just declining hearing due to age,I’m 68 years young and extremely active. I disagreed with her and persisted on. Another week later I finally saw the Doctor who gave me a injection of steroid. No improvement. He told me that my SSHL is idiopathic, however in my chart termed me as having meniere’s disease!!! I never had and still do not have menieres. How was your diagnosis confirmed for meniers? So frustrated I was label with a diagnosis I do not have. Can you enlighten me? Thank you for all you can offer.

It's my understanding that Meniere's Disease has a nice, handy number code that docs can use to get paid by insurance, so they use it, whether or not it fits. FWIW, ordinary ENTs don't have the training required to begin to differentiate between the various hard-to-diagnose inner ear disorders.
I was diagnosed by the doc who set up the first real vestibular lab, at Holladay Park Hospital in Portland, OR. He worked with NASA to test astronauts before and after space flights, was especially interested in John Glenn, who was the oldest person to live in a weightless environment for any length of time. He designed the machines used to test for various vestibular diseases/problems. By the time I saw him in 1985 or 86, the lab had been moved to what is now Legacy Good Samaritan in NW Portland; it's still there. After I went bilateral May 24, 2019, 6:45 p.m., I went back to the lab to see if there was anything new in VRT. I learned that age has made the nerves in my lower legs less functional, so I need to work harder every day on VRT. Although the exercises I had been doing since the mid-80s were still correct and useful, I've had to add some new ones, spend more time on VRT ever since.
Like many post-menopausal women, the trigger for bad days for me is low hormone levels. A year after I went bilateral, a local OB/Gyn agreed to prescribe higher amounts of hormones for a brief period, and I regained quite a bit of hearing, quit having V&V crises, and was able to resume the active life I live. However, she feared that I might have a stroke, so has kept cutting back the meds until I have no idea where I am in space, in spite of daily VRT. I now live in a constant state of panic, not ever being confident of exactly where I am or where anything else is. I'm back to reaching for things on my desk with my fingers spread out so that I'll bump into the pen or whatever eventually. I suffer lots of cuts and burns in the kitchen. My days of being able to drive are limited, which means I'll be in a terrible place...but the doc is so afraid of a possible stroke that she flat refuses to increase the hormones temporarily so that I can live normally. (A couple of weeks of quadrupled amounts followed by a gradual tapering down to what I'm currently taking would do the trick, but no dice with this doc.)

Hello I have BPPV, it's been about 17 years now. I just had my most violent spinning in a very long time, fell and hit my head on the floor. I've been seen by the dr and have an appt to see a vestibular therapist. Meanwhile I've been doing the exercises and I just can't seem to clear it. So I go around dizzy all day. I have grabbers to keep me from bending down, I do what I can. It's exhausting. I'm 69 years old and sick of this!

Information on vertigo? Going to vacation in two weeks. Only had spinning of room twice when I did a leg exercise. What should I do?

I have been there too. PT fixed me, immediately only one visit. Do call the PT you want to go to and ask who or where you can get the treatment. Some therapist do it, many do.
Google “ear rocks”

@620915122k, I moved your question to this existing discussion:
– Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: What has helped you? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/benign-paroxysmal-positional-vertigo-1/

Click the link to read many helpful replies on managing veritgo.

I agree with @su8 that a consult with a physiotherapist might be a good place to start and hopefully relatively easy to get an appointment before you travel.

Wondering if I should be seen? Only happened 2 times. No more!