Most vertigo episodes can be managed at home with specific head maneuvers, lifestyle changes, and environmental adjustments. The approach that works best depends on what’s causing your vertigo, but the most common type, called BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo), responds to repositioning exercises that work in roughly 90 percent of cases.
Why Home Treatment Works for Most Vertigo
The most frequent cause of vertigo is tiny calcium crystals dislodging inside your inner ear and drifting into the wrong canal. When you move your head, these displaced crystals send false motion signals to your brain, creating that spinning sensation. Repositioning maneuvers use gravity to guide the crystals back where they belong, and you can do them on your own bed.
Other causes of vertigo, like inner ear fluid buildup or infections, benefit from different strategies: dietary changes, hydration management, and exercises that retrain your brain’s balance system. The sections below cover all of these.
The Epley Maneuver
The Epley maneuver is the most widely recommended home treatment for BPPV. It’s effective in about 90 percent of cases, and each round takes only a few minutes. You’ll need a pillow and a bed. Here’s how to do it for the right ear (reverse the directions for the left):
- Step 1: Sit on the edge of your bed. Turn your head 45 degrees to the right.
- Step 2: Quickly lie back with your shoulders on the pillow and your head reclined, touching the bed. Keep your head turned to the right. Wait 30 seconds.
- Step 3: Without lifting your head, turn it 90 degrees to the left so you’re now looking 45 degrees to the left. Wait 30 seconds.
- Step 4: Roll your body onto your left side so your head faces the floor. Wait 30 seconds.
- Step 5: Slowly sit up on the left side.
You may need to repeat this sequence two or three times in a session. Some people feel a brief surge of dizziness during the maneuver, which actually signals the crystals are moving. If your vertigo returns over the following days, you can safely repeat it.
The Half-Somersault Maneuver
Developed by researchers at the University of Colorado, the half-somersault maneuver is an alternative that many people find easier to do on their own. In a direct comparison with the Epley, both relieved symptoms, but patients reported less dizziness and fewer complications when using the half-somersault at home.
For the right ear:
- Step 1: Kneel on the floor and tilt your head back to look at the ceiling briefly.
- Step 2: Tuck your chin and place the top of your head on the floor, like you’re about to do a somersault.
- Step 3: Turn your head to face your right elbow. Hold for 30 seconds or until the dizziness fades.
- Step 4: Raise your head quickly to back level (keeping it turned toward the right shoulder).
- Step 5: Raise your head fully upright while keeping it turned slightly to the right. Then sit back on your heels.
Wait 15 minutes before repeating. This maneuver is particularly useful if you don’t have someone to help you or if lying flat on a bed triggers intense nausea.
Brandt-Daroff Exercises for Ongoing Symptoms
If repositioning maneuvers don’t fully resolve your vertigo, or if episodes keep coming back, Brandt-Daroff exercises help your brain gradually adapt to the confusing signals from your inner ear. They’re simple but require consistency: sit on the edge of your bed, quickly lie down on one side with your nose pointing up at a 45-degree angle, hold for 30 seconds, sit back up, then repeat on the other side. That’s one repetition.
The standard recommendation is five repetitions, three times a day. Most people notice improvement within one to two weeks. These exercises intentionally trigger mild dizziness, which is how they work. The sensation typically becomes less intense with each session as your brain recalibrates.
Diet and Hydration Changes
If your vertigo stems from inner ear fluid buildup (as in Ménière’s disease), what you eat and drink directly affects how often episodes occur. Excess fluid in the inner ear, called endolymph, disrupts both balance and hearing. Sodium causes your body to retain fluid, which increases pressure in the inner ear.
Keeping your sodium intake to no more than 1,500 to 2,000 milligrams per day is the standard dietary target. For perspective, a single fast-food meal can exceed that entire daily limit. Reading nutrition labels becomes essential. Processed foods, canned soups, deli meats, and soy sauce are the biggest culprits. Cooking at home with fresh ingredients gives you far more control.
Staying well hydrated also matters, though the relationship is counterintuitive. Drinking enough water throughout the day helps your body regulate fluid balance overall, which reduces the likelihood of fluid accumulating unevenly in the inner ear. Caffeine and alcohol can both worsen vertigo by affecting circulation and fluid regulation, so cutting back on both is worth trying.
Vitamin D and Calcium for Prevention
A study published in the journal Neurology found that people with recurring BPPV who had low vitamin D levels (below 20 ng/mL) significantly reduced their recurrence rate by supplementing with 400 IU of vitamin D and 500 mg of calcium carbonate twice daily for a year. This won’t stop a vertigo episode in progress, but if your episodes keep coming back, low vitamin D could be a contributing factor. A simple blood test can check your levels.
How You Sleep Matters
Morning vertigo is common because lying flat for hours allows those loose inner ear crystals to settle into problem positions. Sleeping on your back at a slight incline, with your head elevated above your neck, helps prevent this. A wedge pillow or an extra firm pillow works well. Avoid pillows that are too soft or flat, and try not to sleep on the side of your affected ear.
For people with fluid-related vertigo, sleeping at an angle also keeps fluid from pooling in areas of the inner ear that trigger episodes. If you tend to roll onto your side during the night, placing a body pillow behind you can help you stay on your back.
Managing the Nausea
Vertigo-related nausea can be debilitating. Ginger is commonly suggested, and while research hasn’t shown it reduces the spinning sensation itself, powdered ginger root in doses of 250 mg to 1 g may help settle your stomach during an episode. Ginger tea, ginger chews, or capsules are all reasonable options.
During an acute episode, fixing your gaze on a stationary object helps your brain reconcile the conflicting signals it’s receiving. Avoid looking at screens or reading. Sit or lie still in a comfortable position and take slow, deep breaths through your nose. Moving slowly and deliberately when the episode passes, rather than jumping up, reduces the chance of triggering another wave.
Making Your Home Safer
Falls are a real risk when vertigo strikes without warning. A few targeted changes to your home can make a significant difference.
Lighting is the first priority. Put night lights in your bathroom and hallway, keep light switches reachable from your bed, and consider motion-activated plug-in lights along stairwells and pathways. When vertigo hits in a dark room, even mild disorientation becomes dangerous.
Remove throw rugs and small area rugs entirely. Fix all remaining carpets firmly to the floor, and put no-slip adhesive strips on tile and wooden floors, especially in the bathroom and kitchen. Mount grab bars near the toilet and on both the inside and outside of your tub and shower. A grab bar near the front door also helps you stay balanced while locking or unlocking it.
When Vertigo Isn’t Just Vertigo
Most vertigo is harmless, if miserable. But sudden dizziness can occasionally signal a stroke, especially if it comes with numbness or weakness on one side of your body, difficulty speaking or understanding speech, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, severe coordination problems, or a sudden intense headache with no obvious cause. If any of these accompany your vertigo, call emergency services immediately. Stroke treatment is time-sensitive, and minutes matter.