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Carol Vorderman has said she was left unconscious this summer after a fall while out on a walk.
The 65-year-old Welsh TV presenter shared the grim tale on her Instagram, detailing the subsequent hospital trip and how she overcame the resultant lingering dizziness.
Explaining why she had been largely offline last month, Vorderman said: ‘Right at the end of May I was walking just outside my house on a public footpath, and I tripped over a tree root, which I didn’t see.
‘I went smash here on the tarmac path and I was unconscious. I can’t remember what happened then, but I do know that an ambulance came, and I was taken to the Bristol Royal Infirmary.’
Vorderman says she was told that The Final Countdown, by Swedish rock band Europe, was playing in the ambulance en route to the hospital, adding: ‘It’s another story, but it did make me laugh.’
The Countdown alum said she was discharged the following day but still had ‘massive vomiting, all the bad signs’.
She continued: ‘Straight back into hospital, they were wonderful. The A&E did all the CT scans and everything.
‘Out again. I had the biggest black eye and bruises all down my face for three or four weeks. But what it did leave me with after about two or three weeks was dizziness. I felt as though I was walking on a moving ship, knocking into the wall a little bit.’
Vorderman said that while in bed, it felt like the room was spinning. Ultimately, the Epley manoeuvre proved the magic trick to get rid of the symptoms.
What is the Epley manoeuvre?
The treatment is intended to target the tiny crystals in the ears, which can become dislodged and then make your brain think you are moving when you aren’t.
These crystals can move as a result of a head injury or infection, or in many instances for no specific reason.
The Epley manoeuvre involves turning your head in a series of movements, which are designed to use gravity to dislodge the crystals from the semi-circular canals in your ear and put them back where they belong.
‘When she did it the first time, I thought I was falling off the edge of the earth. Apparently, my eyes were going like in a cartoon. After the first session, 95 per cent of it went,’ Vorderman said in her social media post.
‘I am not a doctor. I am not advising people about this, but I’m just telling you what’s happened to me.’
The TV presenter said she sought out treatment from a physio, who performed the manoeuvre on her, and that after three sessions, she is now feeling far better.