Rocks Are Rolling Around In My Head

About a month ago I was extremely dizzy.  When I stood up, sat down or walked I would practically fall over and a few times I did fall over.  Doc diagnosed it as BPPV: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.    The Vestibular Disorders Association defines BPPV as “the most common disorder of the inner ear’s vestibular system, which is a vital part of maintaining balance. BPPV is benign, meaning that it is not life-threatening nor generally progressive. BPPV produces a sensation of spinning called vertigo that is both paroxysmal and positional, meaning it occurs suddenly and with a change in head position."

Basically there are tiny crystals (rocks) in the inner ear and something caused them to get loose.  When they are loose they roll around and get into the ear canals.  This causes the fluid in the canals to be displaced and sends false signals to the brain which causes the dizziness.  Treatment is some crazy physical therapy where the PT lays me back on a table, hangs my head over the edge and turns it quickly to the side.   OH BOY… Room is really spinning now – it’s like a crazy carnival ride on steroids .

So, the physical therapy that I had a few weeks ago worked – at least I thought it did.  I still had some slight dizziness but, it wasn’t really annoying or bothering me so I just dealt with it.  Monday the extreme dizziness returned again.  I went back to the PT yesterday and got the crazy carnival ride treatment again.   Now, the problem is they aren’t sure which ear canal is affected (there are 3) and the treatment varies for each canal so it might take a few appointments to figure this out.  Sample of my conversation with the PT when she laid me backwards:

PT:  Keep your eyes open
Me:  Are my eyes spinning in circles? (I’m looking at the bumps on the wall and they are spinning in circles and kind of spiraling in and out).
PT: Yes
Me: Oh Good!
PT: No, you are not crazy! :)

In the meantime, I am still trying to get in my workouts.  It drives me crazy to miss workouts and having or making excuses to miss a workout makes it even worse in my mind.   So, I have to modify a few things.  I can’t do anything where I tip my head forward – like swimming.  Biking is ok as long as I keep my head up which I am supposed to do anyway but, when I am biking on the trainer I tend to look down a lot.  I also have to modify movements for my weight and core workouts.

I have another treatment scheduled for Friday and am really hoping we can get this figure out/cleared up soon!

Changing topics now – Sunday Pat and I hiked Lewis & Clark caverns.   I have never hiked these trails and really liked them.  We got in a nice 7 mile hike and experienced every weather condition possible that day.  The sun was out and hot when we started – starting out means hiking uphill so with the sun on us we got HOT!  We were dressed for winter weather and were shedding layers the whole way up.  Then winter returned when we got to the top.  It started snowing and got really windy.  I used every piece of clothing I had with me to get warmed up again (2 hats, 2 gloves, 4 layers of shirts and jackets).  If you haven’t tried these trails, try them, they are great!  And there are quite a few trail options so you can create many different routes/distances.

Tell me a "dizzy blonde" joke. :)