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HealthInfo Canterbury

Treating vertigo

Te whakarauora i te kehu

Woman resting in darkened roomThe treatment for your vertigo depends on the cause and severity of your symptoms.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)

This type of vertigo is usually caused by small calcium crystals in your inner ear. It happens when you suddenly change the position of your head – when you tip your head up or down, lie down or turn over or sit up in bed. It can increase your risk of falls. The vertigo tends to last for a minute or less and goes away if you keep your head still.

BPPV often clears up without treatment after several weeks or months.

To help ease the symptoms, try simple things like:

Labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis

With labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis, your inner ear gets inflamed. The inflammation is usually caused by a viral infection.

The symptoms often get better over several weeks without treatment, although it's sometimes necessary to treat the underlying infection.

Ménière's disease

This is a disorder of the inner ear where you get the feeling of vertigo, ringing in the ear and hearing loss. The vertigo lasts from one to 24 hours. Although there is no cure for Ménière's disease, there are things you can do to help relieve your symptoms.

You can try things like:

On the next page: Self-care for vertigo

Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed August 2023.

Sources

Page reference: 707743

Review key: HIVER-17706