Semont Maneuver
The Semont Maneuver, also known as the Semont Vertigo Treatment, is a series of exercises that helps treat positional vertigo. Positional vertigo is dizziness that results from lying down and standing up. It’s caused when a person’s vestibular system (the part of the inner ear) becomes unbalanced. The vestibular system controls the muscles that keep eyes on the target and help maintain balance. When a person has positional vertigo, the vestibular system becomes imbalanced due to changes in head position.
The Semont Maneuver is a specific set of exercises that move the head in specific ways to help recalibrate the vestibular system. The basic idea behind the technique is that it encourages the brain to respond to signals from the inner ear by making movements in response. For example, when you have vertigo and stand up or sit down, there are two ways your body compensates:
A great way to approach this is by moving your eyes, so they stay focused on something while your head moves around. Unfortunately, this can cause dizziness and disorientation because it makes it appear as though there is more motion than there is; this effect is called apparent motion sickness or ocular fixation (although these are unrelated to actual motion sickness).
Another alternative is to move your head to stay still while your eyes move around. However, this can cause dizziness and disorientation because it makes it appear as though there is less motion than there is.
