As a vestibular therapist, I get a lot of people complaining about things they can only describe in sound effects and hand movements. It’s tough to communicate the whooshes, whoozes and weird feelings that happen when you have an inner ear issue.

BPPV is different. Simply put, it’s a SPIN. The world spins with lying down, with sitting up, with checking out that plane flying overhead. You move your head in the right (wrong?) way, and everything just spins. Luckily, it’s easily treated.

BPPV stands for:

Benign (not going to kill you – fabulous!)
Paroxysmal (has an on/off quality to it)
Positional (only with certain head positions)
Vertigo (the spin!)

https://vestibular.org/understanding-vestibular-disorders/types-vestibular-disorders/benign-paroxysmal-positional-vertigo

It occurs when crystals (also known as otoconia) fall off the utricle and into one of the canals, usually the posterior canal. These fluid-filled canals are responsible for detecting which way your head moves – when your head moves to the left, the fluid in the canal will move and tell your brain which way your head is moving. When these crystals are in the canal, they bounce around the canal giving you a sensation of spinning.

In the clinic, we first put you through a few tests to figure out which canal has these rogue crystals in them. Then we do the appropriate treatment which involves a series of gentle head movements and body rolls to get the crystals back where they belong. The most common way to do this is the Epley Maneuver but another maneuver may be needed.

If you are suffering from intermittent vertigo, give us a shout – it may be BPPV and treated in as little as 3 minutes.

For more information, check out The Vestibular Disorder Association’s page on BPPV, or feel free to ask a comment below.