What is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)?

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is an inner ear problem that results in short lasting, but severe, room-spinning vertigo.

Its name, BPPV, indicates that it is:

• benign, or not a very serious or progressive condition
• paroxysmal, meaning sudden and unpredictable in onset
• positional, because it comes about with a change in head position
• vertigo, causing a sense of room-spinning or whirling, often expressed as "dizziness".

Although it is called benign, those who suffer from this distressing and incapacitating condition do not trivialize BPPV.

Symptoms

BPPV often begins following head trauma or a severe cold. It can also arise simply as part of the aging process. It starts suddenly and is usually first noticed in bed, when waking from sleep. Any turn of the head seems to bring on violent but brief bursts of dizziness.

Patients often describe the occurrence of vertigo with tilting of the head, looking up or down (so called "top-shelf vertigo"), or rolling over in bed. It is not unusual for nausea and vomiting to accompany the vertigo. Even if a spell is brief, a feeling of queasiness may last several minutes or even hours.

There is no new hearing loss or severe ringing associated with these attacks, which helps to distinguish BPPV from other inner ear conditions.
 

Causes

To understand the cause of BPPV, it helps to understand how the inner ear works. The human ear is divided into three parts: the external, middle, and inner ear.

• The external ear consists of the part of the ear (the auricle) and the ear canal
• The middle ear includes the eardrum (tympanic membrane) and the three bones, or ossicles, of the middle ear, the malleus ("hammer"), incus ("anvil"), and the stapes ("stirrup").
• The inner ear is a fluid-filled series of chambers. One of these chambers, the cochlea, is responsible for converting sound vibrations into nerve impulses. It is these nerve impulses that the human brain interprets as sound and what we call "hearing."

The inner ear also contains 3 semicircular canals which are responsible, in part, for sensing movement and maintaining balance. These 3 canals (named anterior, lateral, and posterior) are oriented at roughly right angles to one another. The movement of the fluid within these canals allows the brain to sense rotation of the head through all three directions in space (e.g. left-right, forward-back, and up-down). All 3 canals are connected to a large chamber, called the vestibule.

The probable cause of BPPV is dislodgement of small calcium carbonate crystals that float through the inner ear fluid and strike against sensitive nerve endings (the cupula) within the balance apparatus at the end of each semicircular canal (the ampulla).

These crystals, known as otoconia, usually dissolve or fall back into the vestibule within several weeks, and no longer cause any symptoms. However, in some patients, these crystals become trapped in the fluid of the balance chamber and periodically cause symptoms, as gravity and head movements cause them to repeatedly strike against the cupula. In these patients, the symptoms may not subside and they become severely incapacitated.

Non-surgical treatments

Once tests have confirmed the diagnosis of dizziness and vertigo caused by benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), patients are instructed to avoid lying down on the affected side. Usually, medications like Antivert (meclizine), Dramamine, Valium, or Phenergan are not recommended because they cause sedation.
 
By carefully avoiding the wrong position, patients can usually avoid bringing about the symptoms. If left untreated, the condition usually clears within several weeks.

The Epley and Semont Maneuvers

Recently, researchers have found that simple, well-tolerated physical therapy techniques performed in the office can relieve the vertigo in a high percentage of patients. The Otolith Repositioning Procedures of Semont and Epley are effective therapies based on using gravity to move the crystals away from the nerve endings into an area of the inner ear that won’t cause any problems. Sometimes, a vibrator is placed on the mastoid to "liberate" the particles and improve the procedure's success.

• In our experience at UCSD Medical Center, approximately 75% of patients are cured with one maneuver. This percentage increases with repeated treatments.
• The maneuver is simply a series of movements that will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

Following the maneuver, patients must not lie flat for 48 hours, meaning they should sleep in a recliner or propped up on pillows. Also, after 48 hours, patients should not lay down on the affected ear for at least one week following the treatment. Even tying shoes or bending over should be avoided during this week. These instructions help prevent the crystals from falling back into the balance chamber.

TRENTON CHIROPRACTIC, INC

Dr. James Darrach

643 Trenton Avenue

Findlay, OH 45840

419-427-6300

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