[TowerTalk] Passing Out When Looking Up

[gdaught6 at stanford.edu]

Ward wrote...

> You can test this on the ground.  Stand straight and tall - then
> tip
> your head back as far as it will go without bending your back.  A
> few
> seconds of readjustment in equilibrium is more or less normal.  If
> the
> condition persists or if you get really dizzy or worse, you have a
> problem to have checked out by your doctor.  It is better to find
> this
> out at ground level than aloft.

There is a condition called BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) that is like 
this.  (I have it, by the way.)  It's 'Benign' unless you have an episode on a tower.  It's 
'Paroxysmal' because it comes in often unpredictable spells.  It's 'Positional' because a 
spell is initiated by moving your head... into a new position by twisting your neck 
(looking to the right, then abruptly looking to the left, etc.) and/or looking straight up.  
The 'Vertigo' is really disorienting in my case.  I haven't climbed since I found out 
about it, because I usually need to look up and move my head left and right when I'm 
up there. 

In my case, it's easily 'cured' for a while, but the cure requires doing some simple 
maneuvers lying on my back on a bed.  This is not easily done on a tower.

Google 'Eppley maneuver' if you're interested.

73,



George T Daughters, K6GT
CU in the California QSO Party (CQP)
October 4-5, 2014