Vertigo Treatments

Medications

To treat vertigo and nausea:

• Meclizine (Antivert, Bonine, Dramamine, Meclicot, Medivert)
• Dimenhydrinate (Calm X, Dinate, Dramamine, Dramanate, Hydrate, Triptone)
• Promethazine (Anergan, Antinaus, Pentazine, Phenazine, Phencen, Phenergan, Phenerzine, Phenoject, Pro-50, Promacot, Pro-Med 50, Promet, Prorex, Prothazine, Shogan, V-Gan)
• Scopolamine (Transderm-Scop)
• Atropine
• Diazepam (Diastat, Diazepam Intensol, Dizac, Valium)

To treat Meniere's disease:

• Low-salt diet
• Diuretics
• Sedatives
• Antihistamines
• Antibiotics injected into the middle ear

Maneuvers

Most often used to treat BPPV:

• Semont maneuver—The patient is moved rapidly from lying on one side to the other (also called liberatory maneuver).
• Epley maneuver—This maneuver involves head exercises to move the loose particles to a place in the ear where they won't cause dizziness. A recent study suggested that patients who demonstrate involuntary eye movements (nystagmus) in the same direction through two steps of the maneuver tend to recover better than those whose eyes move in a different pattern or do not move at all. *

If you continue to experience vertigo, the maneuvers can be repeated, or more difficult maneuvers such as Brandt-Daroff exercises can be done.

Physical therapy can also be helpful.

Surgery

If symptoms persist for a year or more and cannot be controlled by the maneuvers, several surgical procedures can be performed. A surgical procedure called "canal plugging" may be recommended.

Canal plugging completely stops the posterior semicircular canal's function without affecting the functions of the other canals or parts of the inner ear. This procedure poses a small risk to hearing. Other surgical procedures include removing parts of the vestibular nerve or semicircular canals in the inner ear. Gentamycin injections can also be done. Talk with your doctor to learn more about these injections.

Treatment of the Underlying Cause

Vertigo can be a symptom of another medical condition, such as a heart problem or a neurological problem. Once that condition is treated, vertigo should stop, or, in this case, the underlying medical problem should be treated to help relieve the vertigo.