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Yesterday I went to see an ear specialist. I had been struggling with vertigo for several weeks and it wasn’t getting any better. I was diagnosed with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo or BPPV for short.
The symptoms began a few weeks ago, when I rolled over in bed to turn off the alarm clock and the room started to spin. After that, every time I lay down or even leaned back and moved my head to the left, the spinning occurred. It’s an odd sensation, to be sure, but the condition is relatively harmless. I found that shutting my eyes helped, and the dizziness only lasted a few seconds. Also, I discovered that I had to sit up slowly and give my body a chance to adjust to the change in position before standing up. Still, it’s unpleasant to experience any level of dizziness, so I went to an ear specialist for help.

My symptoms occurred only when I turned my head to the left side, so he had me induce the vertigo by lying back quickly and turning my head to the left. He then performed a technique called the Epley maneuver, which fixed my problem right away. Hooray, no more dizziness!

This was the second time I had been diagnosed with this problem. The first time I went to my GP initially, who sent me to an ENT, who sent me to a clinician for a number of hearing and balance tests, who then sent me to the ear specialist. This time, I cut through all the middlemen and went straight to the specialist.

If you have experienced similar symptoms, ask your doctor about BPPV and the Epley maneuver. Not every physician knows how to perform this procedure correctly, so ask for a referral to an ear specialist if needed.

Read this article for more information on BPPV.