Sufferers Find Relief With Vertigo Treatment In Toronto

By Lucia Weeks


Small children often enjoy the sensation of dizziness caused by twirling in a circle. They are feeling a momentary distortion of the way orientation within a personal space is experienced, and how normal perceptions of balance can become temporarily confused. Vertigo is a severe form of dizziness that creates the alarming feeling that an individual or surroundings are spinning out of control. Vertigo treatment in Toronto, ON is helping victims combat those attacks.

When it occurs unintentionally, dizziness can be dangerous. It is one of the most common causes of falls plaguing the elderly, and results in short-term physical injury as well as long-term disability. Although not demographically confined to that group, combining the standard issues of the aged population with prescriptions for common medications used to combat them increases the chances of experiencing this problem.

The primary cause is often a disease or drug that alters how the inner ear functions. The human brain maintains balance by relying on information produced and transmitted by the eyes, muscles, joints, and soles of the feet, as well as the inner ear, which hosts an important fluid-filled structure called a labyrinth. When the liquid it contains shifts due to a change of actual physical position, the brain recognizes and accommodates that movement.

When signals and information become distorted, the eyes may begin to move back and forth in a way that imitates normal response to motion, but which instead causes a feeling of intense vertigo. The initial problem can be benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV, which condition characterized by harmful calcium clumps within the inner ear. It occurs at any age.

Another common cause is Meniere's disease, characterized by extreme dizziness and general hearing loss. It causes a buildup of fluids within the ear, and the associated tinnitus may produce a constant sensation of underlying noise, and in some cases longer-term problems. Some people suffer from viral infections that encourage inflammation around inner ear structures, triggering subsequent balance problems.

Past injury to the head or neck, brain tumors, stroke, and even severe migraines can also be responsible. When an attack is underway, victims may feel nauseated or begin sweating profusely, and may not be able to hear and understand speech, adding to the disorientation. In some instances symptoms are sporadic, but last for hours. Fighting back effectively relies on the identifying and targeting the various underlying causes.

Vestibular rehabilitation is designed to retrain the senses to compensate for prolonged but incorrect sensory input. It is most effective in people who experience chronic occurrences, and helps circumvent common responses. Others gain relief by making specific head and body movements proven useful in shedding the inner calcium deposits that affect balance, a process easily learned under supervision.

Certain medications originally designed for motion sickness can also help reduce nausea, and prescribed antibiotics and steroids may limit inflammation. In the worst cases, surgical treatment may become necessary. Even though a specific attack may wane, repeated occurrences should never be ignored. While some occurrences simply disappear on their own, all carry the potential for injury, making medical attention advisable.




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