Dizziness, BPPV & Vestibular Rehabilitation

1
Dizziness, BPPV Vestibular Rehabilitation
2

• Have you ever had trouble balancing and felt
  that the room you are in is spinning? Vertigo
  could be the culprit.
• Unwanted dizziness and the feeling that the
  world is spinning around you can be uncomfortable
  and alarming. Sometimes, these bouts of dizziness
  and disorientation can be caused by vertigo.
  Vertigo itself is just a term describing a state
  of dizziness or the feeling of surroundings
  tilting or spinning. The most common cause of
  true vertigo however is known as BPPV.

3
What the heck is BPPV?

• Aside from being a tongue twister, BPPV stands
  for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. That
  probably just sounds like a bunch of medical
  mumbo-jumbo so lets break that phrase down.

4

• Benign Means that the condition is non-life
  threatening, not malignant, and not disposed to
  cause harm.
• Paroxysmal Means that it occurs suddenly, and
  reoccurs suddenly.
• Positional Means that it gets triggered by
  certain head positions or certain movements which
  change the position of the head
• Vertigo As we mentioned before, vertigo is that
  umbrella term describing dizziness and the
  sensation of rotating or spinning.

5
What causes an episode of BPPV?

• BPPV is essentially caused by a mechanical issue
  of the workings in the inner ear. It occurs when
  tiny calcium carbonate crystals are dislodged
  from their normal resting position in the inner
  ear, and move into one of the 3 semicircular
  canals, where they dont belong. When these
  crystals are in the semicircular canals, they can
  interfere with the normal movement of fluid,
  which the body uses to sense the motion of the
  head. This interference causes the ear to send
  false signals to the brain, which results in the
  vertigo experience.

6
How is it treated?

• Luckily, nearly all cases of BPPV can be
  corrected mechanically by trained vestibular
  therapists. The therapist can use specific
  treatment maneuvers to dislodge and guide the
  crystals back to their correct position, thus
  restoring normal flow of fluid and resolve the
  experience of vertigo.

7
Is all dizziness caused by BPPV?

• Not all dizziness or sensations of vertigo are
  caused by BPPV and the misplaced calcium
  carbonate crystals in the inner ear. Often times,
  dizziness can be caused by compression of cranial
  nerves. Compression of these nerves can be caused
  by tightness of the muscles and joints of the
  neck or some tightness and dysfunction of the jaw
  (TMJ).
• https//integralphysio.com/