Dizziness and BPPV

 Do you experience any of the following?

• Bouts of dizziness with changes in head or body positions such as bending down, looking up, rolling over or getting in or out of bed?
• Increased sensitivity to movement of your head or busy environments?
• Difficulty concentrating?
• Feelings of nausea?
• Reduced balance or unsteadiness?

Do you look at the picture of the lady to the right and think to yourself “yah right, if I tried this I would land on another part of my anatomy?”

If you have answered yes to any of the above questions you may have a condition called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo or BPPV.  It is the most common disorder of the vestibular system in your inner ear and affects 2.4% of people at some point in their lifetime (1).  It is caused by tiny crystals called otoconia being displaced from one part of the inner ear called the utricle, where they are naturally occurring, into one of three semicircular canals where they disrupt the normal ability to sense motion.

The good news is that there is very effective treatment available that can resolve these symptoms within 1-3 sessions in about 96-98% of cases (2, 3).  This treatment involves taking you through a pattern of specific motions to remove the otoconia from the involved canal and back into the utricle where they are intended to be.

At Leading Edge Physiotherapy we have specially trained staff and access to state of the art equipment that allows us to more accurately determine if this is the condition that may be responsible for your symptoms and which of several variations of the condition we may be dealing with.  This is critical in order to choose the correct techniques to more effectively resolve your symptoms.  Our Vestibular and Balance Rehabilitation Team Lead is Tayler Gray. Tayler graduated from the University of Alberta in 2001 with Distinction. In addition to his extensive clinical background, he has completed post graduate training in vestibular rehabilitation (APTA Vestibular Competency Certification and APTA Advances in Vestibular Rehabiltation Certification) at Emory and Duke Universities respectively. Tayler’s team of experts include Rachel Humphrey, Dan Timmerman, Kerra Quinn and Jonathan Tong.

Leading Edge Physiotherapy operate a weekly screening clinic in conjunction with Dr. Allan Ho in the Synergy Wellness Centre in Sherwood Park.

Don’t spend another day living with the dizziness in Edmonton or St. Albert! Call Leading Edge Physiotherapy at one of our 3 locations and let us help you get back to the life you enjoy again.

1. Fife, TD.  Benign paroxysmal vertigo.  Seminars in neurology.  2009;29(5):500-508
2. Macias, JD et al.  Variables Affecting Treatment in Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.  Laryngoscope.  2000;110:1921-1922
3. Steenerson, RL et al.  Effectiveness of treatment techniques in 923 cases of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.  Larygoscope.  2005;115(2):226-231