Sound too good to be true? It’s not! A certain portion of people with dizziness CAN be cured easily in one or two visits without medication or surgery. These people have BENIGN PAROXYSMAL POSITIONAL VERTIGO (or BPPV for short), one of the most common causes of intermittent dizziness.
BPPV causes the sensation of spinning in a circle that is triggered by movement. BPPV at its worst can cause a mild, vague sense of motion when you are at rest but the true violent spinning calms down when you are very still. The spinning is usually very brief, sometimes only a few seconds but it can be violent. If you experience a spinning sensation when rolling over in bed and your ears feel otherwise normal, you are likely to have BPPV and should get to an otolaryngologist ASAP!
As we mentioned in our article What Causes Vertigo?, in order to sense the relationship of your head to gravity, the inner ear contains tiny crystals that sit on a carpet of sensors. When you look up, the carpet “hairs” are deflected by the force of gravity. This tells your brain that “you are looking up.” BPPV happens when the tiny crystals become detached from the carpet and float to another part of the inner ear, where they bang on a different sensor (one that tells your brain “you are turning”) when you change head position. An otolaryngologist or PT can figure out where the problem is and correct the crystal’s position with a few easy maneuvers.
Only your doctor or ENT, often together with a physical therapist, can diagnose BPPV for sure. Other causes need to be ruled out, of course. But if you do have BPPV, maneuvers to correct the problem can be performed in the ENT’s office – often in one visit!
The bottom line is this: you don’t need to put up with BPPV any longer. Get to an ENT and get rid of it!