![epley maneuver makes vertigo worse epley maneuver makes vertigo worse](https://i0.wp.com/dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/bppv/images/epleycircle.gif)
![epley maneuver makes vertigo worse epley maneuver makes vertigo worse](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/0f/eb/0f/0feb0f9f20e6d7fddda549447c184577.jpg)
The otoconia are held on the sensor by a sticky matrix, but can break off and become mobile due to age or after minor trauma, such as bumping the head. The shifting of otoconia on the utricle also provides a sensation of linear acceleration. A layer of relatively heavy calcium carbonate crystals, the otoconia, allow the ear to sense the direction of gravity or tilt of the head by pressing down and exerting sheer force on the hair cells of the utricle. The problem begins with the utricle, which is a gravity sensor in the inner ear (see Figure 1). The inner ear is filled with a fluid, endolymph, which acts as a conduit that can carry particles to other parts of the ear. It occurs when heavy particles in the inner ear become dislodged from their sensor and enter the spinning sensors by accident. In between the bouts of vertigo, patients can sometimes feel slightly off balance when up and walking.īPPV is unique among diseases because it’s a purely mechanical disorder and can be treated easily with head maneuvers. Repeating the head movement that triggered the first spell will set off another spell. The vertigo is intense but brief the environment is seen to spin for as little as a few seconds and not more than a minute. This means the vertigo is likely to happen for the first time in bed, most often when rolling over during the night or when attempting to arise from bed in the morning. The symptoms are relatively easy to separate from those of other vertigo disorders.3įirst, the vertigo is triggered by head movements: lying down, sitting up from reclining, rolling over in bed, tipping the head up, or bending over and then lifting the head. About 60% of BPPV cases occur in women and 40% in men. Rarely seen in people younger than 30, it steadily becomes more prevalent with age, affecting about 10% of geriatric adults.1 BPPV accounts for almost one-half of all dizziness in patients older than 65.2 Because fall risk also increases at older ages, BPPV can greatly magnify the risk of injury. Positional Vertigo - An Easy Fix at Any Ageīenign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common cause of vertigo, in which the environment is seen to spin.