TIL that we have tiny calcium crystals in our ears that, if dislodged, cause terrible vertigo.
TIL that we have tiny calcium crystals in our ears that, if dislodged, cause terrible vertigo.
BPPV occurs when tiny calcium crystals called otoconia come loose from their normal location on the utricle, a sensory organ in the inner ear.
It's pretty cool that the way you know which way down is, eyes closed, regardless of orientation, is snowglobes in your inner ears.
Proprioception. One of the many senses we have in addition to the supposed "five senses."
I got hit in college with a virus 30 years ago; a couple dozen of us, but they couldn't figure out the common carrier that got us all. Anyway, the damage to the vestibular system was permanent and it was a month or two before I could cope.
The brain has a vestibulo-ocular reflex that picks up when the vestibular is out. It uses the eyes and the horizon as a backup/correction to the bad data from the vestibular. Can confirm it works really well.
.. except when I'm really tired, like today. Bedspins while sober, and if I look up then I'm dizzy. It's super-great. But it works to remind me I'm over-doing it, and it usually resolves after a few days of good rest. until then, I just have to be careful lest I walk a bit like a bat-spin player.
In short, ya get used to it.
Oh wow! Can I ask, does it stop you from doing certain activities? For example, are you able to drive?
Interesting. Does alcohol make it worse? Like...worse than alcohol normally would?
The first time I encountered this, it scared the shit out of me. Only by rationally eliminating possibilities was I able to calmly dig in, learn about the Epley Maneuver, and get some relief.
It still pops up on occasion, but a couple of rounds of the Maneuver and I’m usually back to normal.
For the curious, like me
I'm good until part B where I have position my head from my body at a 135-degree angle. I'll have to go get a big protractor.
Holy fuck. This sounds exactly like what happened to me a year ago. One day, it came out of nowhere and I thought I was having a stroke. I was too dizzy to do anything and thought I might actually be dying.
After a month, it got a lot better but I still constantly get bouts of it, especially when I bend over. It makes playing with my kids incredibly difficult at times.
If it turns out I have BPPV and my doctors didn’t think to test me for THE MOST COMMON CAUSE of vertigo, ima be… unsurprised 😅
I'm sure you've already looked up the exercise that helps reset those crystals, or at least i hope so This happens to my wife too, and it does the trick but i hear it doesn't always work. Does that method not give you relief?
Yep. It sucks. My doc joked that we all have rocks in our heads, har har.
It can sometimes be treated with a simple technique (more info below, also mentioned in the article above). When it works, it brings amazing relief.
Unfortunately it doesn't always work. An ENT specialist can help you with it.
John's Hopkins also discovered Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence when resolution of CT scans became high enough to detect fine cracks in bone around the tegmen and all that. SCD also worth a read. Sound doesn't properly dissipate and instead triggers the cells in the canals leading to sound-induced vertigo and supranormal low frequency hearing (being able to hear your eyeballs scratching against your eyelids etc). Before CT scans got good people got misdiagnosed with all sorts of anxiety type disorders
Oh that sounds god awful. Poor people!
I wonder if that's what happened to my dad... His hearing has been going bad for years, but right around when it started being noticable that everyone in the family was telling him to get hearing aids, he also was getting random bouts of vertigo.
Is that why I'm sometimes super dizzy for about a day for no apparent reason?
Give the epley maneuver a few tries and see if it gets better.
Assuming I remember the next time it happens. It's super rare but I guess I fix it unintentionally throughout the following night.
Can't rule out vestibular migraines. I didn't even know I was having them until I got a really bad headache with the other symptoms. Doctor was able to confirm it as that but it took quite awhile.