Brandt & Daroff Exercises for Positional vertigo

[crazycanuck]

Hi,

(I finally saw my dr today about the dizzy spells i've had since i injured myself. )

He said that i am experiencing BPV-Benign positional vertigo & recommended the Brandt & Daroff exercises.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this & did the exercises??

Did you have someone at home help you?? Also, i guess i should do this before i have dinner?? :rolleyes: :eek: How bad are the dizzy spells when you first start the exercises???

Thanks.

BTW..i'm not just relying on the recommended exercises, I start accupunture next week.

C

[KnottedYet]

I haven't had to deal with vertigo, but I work in a clinic with 2 vertigo specialists.

did the doc do the B&D on you to see if it was the right exercise for you? Did he show you precisely how to position your head? Did it help?

I know nothing about vertigo (in fact, I'm a "sympathetic puker", so I don't treat vertigo patients at all). But I listen to the vertigo folks talking, and I did do B&D with a few folks after the therapists determined they needed 'em. I'm safe working with the B&D cuz they don't make folks barf. (and therefore I don't barf either)

[Pax]

I had BVP about 20 years ago, no one gave me any exercises to do though. It eventually went away and no it only happens for a few minutes at a time once or twice a year.

[crazycanuck]

Knot-I think that's what he tried.. I can't say it helped, i just felt dizzy!

I'll give it a shot. The doc did mention the dizzy spells will be bad when doing the exercises but will get better. I'll have Ian help me out.

I'd like to go swimming one of these days but would rather not drown in the pool :o

C

[mtbdarby]

CC - I don't know anything about the excersizes you mentioned but I'm gonna look them up. I've been struggling with dizzyness and nausia for a month now. After a few trips to the chiro I haven't been dizzy in days. He says it's related to my neck injury from my crash last year - I got a kink in it awhile back and let it go. It's C2 thats causing the problem. Just a thought...

[LBTC]

I had vertigo once from labrynthitis - thickening of the fluid in my inner ear caused by a virus. For about two weeks everything was like being on an amusement park ride. In other words, really tiring. One day it was just over, thank goodness.

I have no idea what the exercises are, but it's kind of funny a doc is recommending B&D! :eek:

I sure hope it works for you!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[KnottedYet]

Dar - B&D exercises work on the little rocks wandering around in the canals of your ear.

Don't think they'll do anything for a neck related problem.

[Wahine]

CC - The B&D exercises can be helpful and lots of therapists do them. However, IMHO the Epley manoeuver is much more effective. The downside is that you need someone to do it to you. A vestibular therapist (PT) or MD can do it. Here's a link, if you click on the diagram on the right it will walk you through the technique.

http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/bppv/bppv.html

I did not read the website so I don't know if this is in there, but you should know that if someone does the Epley on you you should sleep in a sitting position for about 1 week afterward.

Hope that helps.

[jobob]

I had BPPV a year ago September.

It came on all of a sudden one morning when I got up out of bed. It wasn't due to any sort of head injury, so I had a physical to rule out an ear infection or toher possible causes.

It lasted for about 2 weeks, and then it went away.

It might come back again someday, but at least I won't worry that I have a brain tumor. :p

[crazycanuck]

Thank you :)

c

[mimitabby]

bunch of dizzy broads here man. :cool: :cool:

hope you get better soon CC

[bambu101]

I had series of inner ear infections about 20 years ago, including a nasty bout of dizziness/room spinning whenever tilting my head back, even slightly. It improved, but I still get periodic episodes (once or twice a year), and I do the home version of the Epley exercises, which I found on WebMD.

It woks great, and usually takes one session, or sometimes 2. I do not sleep sitting up afterwards, but might use an extra pillow at night for the next few nights.

Good luck, CC!

[crazycanuck]

Ok, we did the B &D exercise..it didn't do much for me other than make me think i was in some weird sci fi occult film...

We'll do them again tomorrow night & see.

The physio i saw tonight said there's a(only one as well!) vestibular therapist in Perth..on the odd chance this all doesn't work...

C

[shootingstar]

I had BVP about 20 years ago, no one gave me any exercises to do though. It eventually went away and no it only happens for a few minutes at a time once or twice a year.

Now I feel better, knowing that some of you have experienced vertigo. I have no idea what the name of my condition but I did get tested by an ear, throat, etc. specialist and wasn't recommended any exercises.

But I have been told by 2 different family doctors in past 10 years, that since I have low pressure, I should refrain from getting up quickly from a lying down position... About 15 years ago, I nearly fainted in the bathroom at home, after I got up from bed to use the bathroom.

I had 2 scary incidents of sudden dizziness 3 years ago. Where lst time, I was cycling (thankfully slowly) but had to dismount and walk for 15 min., due to sudden onset of dizziness.

About 3 months after lst incident, 2nd time, I was sitting quietly at computer at home. Then suddenly the room spun around me..I could not open my eyes and could not even crawl to the living rm. My partner had to carry me to the living rm. couch. And so I laid there for whole afternoon, eyes closed. Each time I opened eyes, the rm. spun and got nauseous.

Needless to say I missed an art class...and missed cycling to there.

What are these exercises like anyway?

[KnottedYet]

shootingstar - did anyone check your vertebral arteries? (they go to your brain, run thru the top vertebrae of your neck, and can get occluded or pinched when your neck is in a protracted/extended position, like on a bike or slouched in front of a computer). You can get some groovy nastygmus and dizziness with that one!

[Batbike]

Hi,

(I finally saw my dr today about the dizzy spells i've had since i injured myself. )

He said that i am experiencing BPV-Benign positional vertigo & recommended the Brandt & Daroff exercises.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this & did the exercises??

Did you have someone at home help you?? Also, i guess i should do this before i have dinner?? :rolleyes: :eek: How bad are the dizzy spells when you first start the exercises???

Thanks.

BTW..i'm not just relying on the recommended exercises, I start accupunture next week.

C

I had a bike wreck in MAY 2007 and suffered with BPPV and TMJ for 5 months before FINALLY getting proper treatment to cure the problems!!! I have been VERTIGO-free for over 6 weeks!!!

Yes, my doctor had me doing B&D excersises, 3X a day, for 6 weeks, along with anitbodics medicine (sorry, can't remember name). It was not helping because the excerises simply moved my calcium crystals around my inner ear tubes, causing me to spin, and the medicine stiffled the symptoms but did not cure anything. To be cured of BPPV, you have to get the calcium crystals back into their pouch where they belong and keep them there -- otherwise if they stay loose they move around in the 3 inner ear tubes and cause you to be off-balance and spin/get dizzy.

OK, I found a MIRACLE WORKER!!! I looked up Vertigo on-line and found that there are trained PT specialists for vertigo. They are trained to do the Epley Manuever, forcing your calcium crystals to go back where they belong! I also had a friend who was in a car crash a few years back and suffered with BPPV and she called to tell me about the local vertigo specialist -- the same person I found on-line during my research. Through her treatment, which I needed to do twice before the crystals "settled", and additional home therapy balancing exercises, I do not spin.

PLEASE research if a physical therapist or doctor is trained in the Epley Manuveur in your area -- it will get you VERTIGO-FREE!!!!

[makbike]

I had a terrible case of vertigo last year - went through a battery of tests and treatments - they did not work. Had to wear a neck brace for 24 hours and sleep upright - no improvedment. Over the next few weeks things slowly improved and doctor decided i had probably picked up a nasty virus which settled in my inner ear or that the neck adjustments i had been receiving had disloged the stones in my inner ear - whatever the problem it did resolve itself and i was one happy camper!

[crazycanuck]

Hey,

Just want to let you know the BPV seems to have settled?? I didn't notice it last night nor this morning.

Thanks
C

[Tuckervill]

I had a terrible case of vertigo last year - went through a battery of tests and treatments - they did not work. Had to wear a neck brace for 24 hours and sleep upright - no improvedment. Over the next few weeks things slowly improved and doctor decided i had probably picked up a nasty virus which settled in my inner ear or that the neck adjustments i had been receiving had disloged the stones in my inner ear - whatever the problem it did resolve itself and i was one happy camper!

My son had a virus for about 10 days which caused him to be unable to walk straight. He was about 10 at the time so his description of symptoms was not thorough. I just remember wherever we had to go he had to lean against my shoulder or he would literally walk into the walls. The rest of the time he spent on the couch because he just couldn't do what he wanted to do. There were never any other symptoms. It was kind of scary--mystery virus, was all the doc could say.

Karen

[latelatebloomer]

Glad to hear your cyrstals have settled. I had vertigo brought on by a chiropractor snapping my neck around (then denying that the increasingly long dizzy spells had anything to do with it. I'll stick to acupuncture, thanks)
One spell was so bad that I wound up pulling over on a dark lonely country road, on my hands and knees, puking my guts out and having no idea what was wrong with me.) The home exercises cleared the problem in 2 sessions!