The room is spinning… what can this be?
Did you know that physical therapy is the number 1 treatment for BPPV symptoms? That’s right! A trained physical therapist can help your vertigo symptoms. The most common cause of vertigo is due to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or what we like to call BPPV. It is due to a problem in your inner ear. We all have small structures called otoconia in our inner ear. These are normally located in the utricle and saccule in the inner ear. These structures allow us to feel where we are in space. They can become dislodged into the semicircular canals and cause BPPV.
Key Features of BPPV:
- Symptoms increase with changes of head movement and position changes, most commonly rolling over in bed, bending over or looking up
- Common to have occurrences at the hair dresser or dentist
- Vertigo occurs within 1-30 seconds and resolves within 60 seconds when in the provoking position
- Nystagmus (repetitive, uncontrolled eye movements) occurs
- Nausea can occur
Causes:
- Vertigo can occur randomly
- Trauma (car accident, head injury)
- Occurs in people with certain vestibular pathologies
How can PT help?
- A trained physical therapist can perform maneuvers in a few minutes that, most of the time, can resolve BPPV within 1-2 sessions. Bye bye vertigo!
- Get help today! There are often people who live with this condition for months to years without knowing how quickly a PT can help them resolve it. Don’t live with vertigo, see a physical therapist today at Carolina Physical Therapy!
