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iPhone App Helps To Cure Vertigo

vleky writes "This is thinking outside the box ... or head. Dr. Matthew Bromwich of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario has written an iPhone app to help doctors with the Epley maneuver to cure some forms of vertigo. The patient places the iPhone against his or her forehead and the app leads the doctor through the maneuver. Bromwich's first attempt at the app sounded even more fun. With that version, the iPhone hung from the front of a baseball cap the patient wore, and the patient tried to keep a ball centered in a twisting tube by moving their head. Winning the game meant the maneuver had been successfully completed and the vertigo cured."

5 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. A bit misleading.. by Trecares · · Score: 5, Informative

    While the Epley maneuver is effective, it does not actually cure the problem. The problem is that sometimes particles form in the inner ear and can disturb the nerves that senses changes in balance. The maneuver only moves them to a different location where they don't cause problems. The particles are still there. They occasionally can get back into a place where they can cause problems. I've had it for 10 years and it comes and goes. However, it still is better than nothing.

  2. Re:iPhone cures vertigo? by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Funny

    2) head tilted 45 degrees to the right
    3) tilt head 90 degrees to the left
    4) tilt head another 90 degrees to the left

    uh... pictures?

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    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  3. Re:Seems useless to me by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Cure does not imply permanence or preventative nature. That is your own misunderstanding of the word.

    I strongly disagree. The word "treatment" is the one you're looking for.

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    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Re:iPhone cures vertigo? by sjames · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, at what point do you projectile vomit on the priest?

  5. We invented the damn internet by Alsee · · Score: 3, Funny

    an iPhone app to cure the most common cases of vertigo, which about 300,000 Canadians develop annually.

    I DON'T WANT THIS FUCKING METRIC UNIT CRAP!

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    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.