Medical Treatment

The choice of treatment will depend on the diagnosis.

• Vertigo can be treated with medicine taken by mouth, through medicine placed on the skin (a patch), or drugs given through an IV.
  
  
• Specific types of vertigo may require additional treatment and referral:
  
  
  • Bacterial infection of the middle ear requires antibiotics.
    
    
  • For Meniere's disease, in addition to symptomatic treatment, people might be placed on a low salt diet and may require medication used to increase urine output.
    
    
  • A hole in the inner ear causing recurrent infection may require referral to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist for surgery.
  
  
• In addition to the drugs used for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, several physical maneuvers can be used to treat the condition.
  
  
  • Vestibular rehabilitation exercises consist of having the patient sit on the edge of a table and lie down to one side until the vertigo resolves followed by sitting up and lying down on the other side, again until the vertigo ceases. This is repeated until the vertigo no longer occurs.
    
    
  • Particle repositioning maneuver is a treatment based on the idea that the condition is caused by displacement of small stones in the balance center (vestibular system) of the inner ear. The head is repositioned to move the stones to their normal position. This maneuver is repeated until the abnormal eye movements are no longer visible.

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