How I am Treating My Benign Vertigo

I was diagnosed with benign vertigo. For the past three years, I have been afraid of walking outside in New York City because I felt unstable. I just thought that I became the “country mouse” after I moved to Houston…

I saw a doctor because a month ago because, when I lay down on my left side, the room started spinning. It was like having a horrible hangover but without the fun…Weirdly, it only occurred when I was lying down on my left side.

Dr. Ahmed said that I was experiencing benign vertigo. This happens when the crystals in your ear are out of place. Apparently, these crystals are held in a jelly-like membrane. Over time, the membrane weakens and the crystals are dislodged. So my poor brain was so confused because it was receiving multiple signals. This has caused me to have dizziness, headaches and nausea. And I felt tired all of the time and my eyes hurt.

My Vestibular Therapist, Jennifer Fuentes told me that my condition was very mild. She is specially trained to reposition the inner ear crystals. She is unable to see in my inner ear and relies on looking at my eyes before and after treatment. Apparently, the eye or eyes twitch because they are constantly receiving contradictory signals. My initial treatment involved the left side. I only required two treatments. She can tell if the treatment is working because my eye or eyes no longer twitch.

A couple of weeks later, the vertigo returned. It turned out that the right side needed to be repositioned. Interestingly, while she said that air travel is not supposed to affect the ear crystals, I find that every time I return from a trip, my vertigo returns.

I feel kind of bad because I was incorrectly blaming Long Covid…I would encourage you to see a physician if you are feeling dizzy…

XOX, Patti