Wikipedia has a good article on the Epley Maneuver. I think eventually the particles do get reabsorbed by your body, but the therapeutic effect of the Epley Maneuver is to roll them into a portion of your inner ear where they do not cause the vertigo.
I had experienced the vertigo several times and been treated with antibiotics and drugs that are supposed to help prevent vertigo, one of which is valium. Valium helps a little, I suppose.
My daughter's husband, an MD who is a pathologist and a major in the US Army, gave me my first Epley Maneuver when I fell off their dining room table with a chandelier in my hands when I got a case of the vertigo. Apparently looking up, as in taking down chandeliers, has the opposite effect of the Epley Maneuver. Anyway, the next time it happened I went to an ENT guy, who confirmed the diagnosis and treatment.
My son-in-law was glad to help somebody who actually survived his treatment, as most of his patients are dead. Tragically, the ones he's getting now are young enough to be my daughter's sons. You hear about them on the news about three days before he sees them. |
