What can older people do to prevent falling when dizzy?

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, also known as ectopic otolith disease, is a form of peripheral vestibular disorder. Common symptoms are dizziness, loss of balance, feeling of spinning, difficulty standing, and nausea.

The patient may feel dizzy for a few seconds to a minute after performing positions such as suddenly turning left – turning right, bending or tilting the head excessively. Prolonged dizziness makes the patient anxious, unable to eat well, sleep restlessly, and affects the quality of life.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is not a dangerous disease but can cause falls, especially in the elderly, leading to many complications such as broken arms, broken legs, head injuries…

To limit falls, when dizziness suddenly begins, your mother should not try to stand up or move, but should close her eyes, limit turning her head and find a suitable resting position. If you feel nauseous, you should take deep breaths and focus on your breathing, the dizziness will quickly reduce.

Your mother needs to avoid changing positions too suddenly and too quickly. When moving from lying to sitting, standing up or turning her head, bending and tilting her head, she should do it slowly. It is best to close your eyes to limit the visual reception of spatial change signals and reduce vestibular stimulation. After establishing your posture in the new position, slowly open your eyes. Limit excessive leaning and bending movements. You should not sit in a swivel chair or a chair with a headrest that tilts back too much. Do not do exercises that require a lot of head movement. You should only exercise gently.

Your mother should not arbitrarily use medication without a prescription. She should get enough sleep, rest regularly, have a balanced and diverse diet, rich in vitamins and minerals, and limit stress. You should also add grab bars in the bathtub and toilet to limit falls if your mother starts having dizziness here.

To improve benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, your mother can perform exercises to reposition otoliths such as Epley, Semont, BBQ Roll, Gufoni, Yacovino… You should take your mother to the hospital. There is an ENT specialist to examine you, from there the doctor will help you practice or guide your mother in exercises that are easy to do at home. Patients should not arbitrarily stop treatment with the doctor and regularly practice vestibular rehabilitation physical therapy exercises at home as instructed by the doctor.

At the Tam Anh General Hospital system, patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo also receive treatment support from the Interacoustics vestibular function measurement system that applies artificial intelligence, programming difficult angles. To date, many patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo recover 90% after 1-2 weeks.