Any Compression on the neck such as when slouching on the sofa or studying a mobile phone will make matters worse. Nothing to stop you trying to improve your posture, by being more aware, immediately. No need to wait imaging. Itās more than likely any misalignment is a result of MAV rather than anything structural. Imaging wouldnāt help with that. Just trying to stop poor posture becoming a habit and youāre half ways there.
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Normally, I would agree with this but I have hurt my neck in the past and have also literally popped it out of place. I do need imaging to check for proper alignment. The poor posture doesnāt help. After I worked out today, I followed it up with a neck and shoulder yoga release routine to try and lengthen and loosen the spine.
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Ah well I wasnāt to know youād previously had a neck injury. Iād assumed you were referring to something associated with MAV. Many MAVers trace their symptoms back to Neck injuries or some assault on the spine. Whiplash is a common culprit. Maybe your imaging will produce a root cause then.
Great that you can use yoga in that way. Iām sure people who do yoga regularly benefit greatly in many ways. Must admit though the after I worked out today phrase makes me wonder. Iām not too sure where that comes in the lifestyle changes for MAV pattern of āno unnecessary exertionā. But each to their own. There are various schools of thought on exercise. Some advocate āPushing Throughā, some donāt. I suspect much depends on severity which seems to vary immensely. The more severely afflicted MAVers (like me) pushed through (in my case as instructed by VRT therapist) until they collapsed then thought again.
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I do my ānormalā workouts to benefit me and my other chronic health issues. I canāt stop completely or itāll exacerbate other things I have going on.
The yoga was nice. Made me focus on my breath and positioning of my body. It was almost meditative, which I should get into again. It calmed down the stress I put on my body from my more intense workout.
Hi all,
I saw the heading and have been reading everyoneās posts and thought Iād add my own perspective seeing as I have some other weird things that go along with the head heaviness. Mine is a feeling of extreme tenseness which runs across the very top of my head and down towards the tops of both ears. Whilst the rest of my head feels okay, the heavy part feels extremely tight and when that happens, I know Iām in for a bad time as my dizziness and vertigo sensations double in intensity. Itās never painful, just always an immense feeling of pressure. Howeverā¦other things can also trigger/increase this heaviness such as if I have to open a difficult jam jar top, strain to reach for something or when Iām out in the cold and my head feels tense when shivering. Then my pins and needles kick in immediately and my vertigo spins and sudden drop like feelings become quite pronounced! The vertigo is brief but I certainly know all about it. My MRI scan was normal and Iāve been told Iām not symptomatic with BPPV at this time.
I just wondered if anyone else has had these things seeing as they are a bit āout thereā in terms of symptoms and I find them frightening. I sometimes feel like an octopus, with a rock for my head and cotton wool for my limbs. Iāve tried asking all the medical professionals that Iāve seen but just get the standard response: 'we donāt know, itās probably (youāve guessed it)ā¦stress and anxiety!
Iāve just passed the year mark with PPPD and MAV and canāt believe that what started out as an inner ear infection has left me with a condition where my brain is literally disabling me. Iām definitely losing hope, even though I tell myself that Iām sure things will get better in time. I take my hat off to everyone who has been dealing with this for a considerably longer time than myself - I honestly donāt know how you manage it.
Allyson x
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I get pressure when I try to open stuck jar lids too. Straining wonāt do us any good.
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Can I just ask if you get additional dizziness/vertigo with head straining? This seems to happen to me quite frequently and I have yet to work out why.
Sorry to hear of your struggles. Yes I can relate, since MAV hit me I have a constant head pressure and pressure in my right ear. If I bend over the pressure in my right ear increases like it might explode. I have noticed now that the dizziness is less prominent thanks to Ami, the head pressure and spaced out feeling is more noticeable. I have been coping with it all pretty well. I recently went on a food tour with a friend in the city, I must admit I was quite scared as I didnāt know if I could handle it. I had some discomfort but enjoyed the day, 6 months ago i would not have been able to go at all. Thank you Ami!
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Have you tried any meds? I have always been anti meds but because this condition and the vertigo was so bad, I tried Amitriptiline. It has really cut my symptoms down to be more manageable. I am making 40mg for 9 months now. Itās really worth a try. For me exercise and yoga was a no go, ramped up my symptoms no end but everyone is different
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I do, but only very briefly. The straining will just develop into a headache, which Iāve got now since I did open a tight jar earlier. Also, looking down and chopping veggies gives me a bit of dizziness. Itās probably a combination of the angle of my neck/head and the force Iām exerting.
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Yes, very normal for me.
Yes, straining can do it, I just do very gentle exercise these days. I have air hunger at times or numb-feeling breathing, sort of like getting the wind knocked out of you, coldness feeling without being actually cold - I would consider these symptoms āout thereā and pretty rare even with MAV. But, Iāve had plenty of medical testing to know there is nothing else going on, its just another migraine symptom along with slurred speech and all the restā¦
This is normal too, yes it is incredibly difficult to make progress. Hopelessness is a big part of having MAV. All you can do is keep trying and make an effort to reduce lifeās responsibilities if possible. Find happiness in tiny moments. Keep trying new treatments.
You will get better!
Erik
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Not sure what you mean? Opening a jar makes dizziness worse? Sitting head bent forwards over Iphone reading yr emails? Anything like that can do it. You got to remember in the body everything is joined up. This really came home to me when I broke my left shoulder. The most painful thing to have to do with a broken shoulder I found was sitting down/getting back up from using the toilet. Recently a physio was massaging the right side if my lower back very gently and without pain then suddenly I could feel -no pain just aware of its path - the entire length of one nerve somehow going up my back and down my left arm into a particular finger. Sensation passed so quickly not sure which finger but, as you see, we are all joined up.
Check out the various pathways of the trigmenial nerve which is believed to have high involvement with migraine.
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I used to get a big relapse of dizziness if I went down on haunches. This would increase my dizziness for two days plus.
In my case I believe this to have been related to the mild Hydrops I probably have in left ear. The additional cranial pressure plays havoc with the hydropic inner ear. It was temporary though and settled again within a few days. My ear Hydrops has eased a lot since then and I donāt get the same issues although it still causes me tinnitus as there is still some pressure.
Weāre getting a bit off Topic here though.
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Thanks all for your kind and supportive comments. I had been hesitating to post in these things related to the head pressure for fear of sounding like a ālooneyā but itās good (although not in terms of having these awful things) to know Iām not alone.
Allyson x
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Hi guys,
My suffering with dizziness and other symptoms started long time ago, but just recently Iāve heard the word migraine coming from a doctor and Iāve searched more on the internet and found this forum and some other websites like thedizzycook. Does your head and ear fullness and pressure fluctuate with movements like moving your head, looking to the sides or up and down, changing body position (from sitting to standing or from standing to sitting, or bending over/down)? Do any of you have pain or tightness below the ear, like under the mastoid? What about tingling in the scalp, painless throbbing in the scalp (usually in the back of my head) or the feeling that your head and face become hot?
Thank you
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Hi Adri. All your symptoms sound typical MAV symptoms and most here suffer most of them. You can read about others experience by using the Search (magnifying glass symbol) facility and typing in each individual symptom. You should find loads of references. Also read through the Wiki Section. Lots in here including various symptoms lists. Basically all symptoms are indicative of an oversensitive sensory function. For many the head pressure is or stands in lieu of the migraine itself. Neurologists deem it āmigraineousā. Theory is stopping the migraine should reduce all the other symptoms.
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Adding on to this thread because the āheavy headā feeling has been my most prominent symptom lately. Oddly enough, itās most noticeable when Iām sitting in a chair without head support. My head just feels like a ton of bricks and itās like everything is swaying in the background? I only get relief when I have my head up against a pillow or Iām lying down. Iām also fine bending forward, which is weird. I actually feel most grounded doing forward folds in yoga haha.
Itās hard to say really because thereās āhead heavinessā and also where the head feels too heavy to keep upright, ie to heavy for your neck muscles to manage. Both slightly different feelings or they are for me. Obviously when reclining much of the weight of the head is taken by the pillow, chair headrest or whatever. Literally reduced load.
The inability to do this is a strong indication of a balance disorder. I suffered with this for years. I went years unable to sit up at a dining table for that reason. Would have made Eating Out virtually impossible had it not already been so due to photophobia/visual vertigo but thatās another story. I changed all our easy chairs to ones with high backs and headrests and got rid of the sofa completely. I know other people who have done likewise. Visiting anybody elseās home was a nightmare. I still detest my favourite sister-in-laws sofa. For years my head had to have constant support.
No idea what a forward fold in yoga looks like but I suggest your tolerance of that is purely due to Habituation. One tends to retain trained responses despite the development of the condition.
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Itās a vestibular attack of some kind imho.
I had an extreme version of it: Magneto Head (the feeling of being pulled to the ground)
Actually, there are many different possible causes of a head that feels heavy. Are you stress most of the times? If possible, reduce sources of stress and make time for relaxing activities like reading. If condition still persist, better consult to a Doctor.