How do you know if your vertigo treatment is helping? Your vertigo gets better fast! If your dizziness responds slowly to vertigo treatments then it is either not helping and the side or canal has not been identified. OR your symptoms are coming from a vision and/or neck problem.

Vertigo, if not diagnosed appropriately, can be mistreated and the symptoms buried. When a positional vertigo issue occurs your symptoms should slowly improve if you do nothing. This is because your brain is really good at adapting. Information is ignored on the problem side. This causes greater workload on your brain and doesn’t completely solve your vertigo problem. You are waiting for the next ‘attack’.

Here's what to look for to know your vertigo treatment is helping

Your vertigo treatment is working when you have an immediate improvement in your vertigo or spinning as well as mobility and balance

After a CRP or canalith repositioning procedure, where the crystal is put back in place, your dizziness should be MUCH better. Your balance should be better as well as your overall symptoms of dizziness and nausea. An example of a CRP is the Epley maneuver.

Here is an example of a positive vertigo client with treatment before and after. There was an IMMEDIATE improvement in how he felt following treatment.

Having multiple sources of dizziness can make this process more difficult. If your dizziness persists and is not typical your upper neck or cervical spine needs to be tested as well as your vision or eye coordination.

Test the neck for tension and loss of motion

Test the control and coordination of your eyes

If you have positional vertigo testing should have given a clear picture of what canal is involved. If we are not sure then we can make the problem worse by lodging the crystal deeper into the canal instead of getting it out.

For more on the best tests for vertigo check out this link.

You can make the problem worse by lodging the crystal deeper into the canal instead of getting it out

If you have a vertigo attack perform the Epley maneuver 2-3 times on the side that gives you the greatest vertigo. If you are still dizzy then seek imaging.