My Crystals Are Loose!!! Now What!?!

There are very few things that can see drastic improvement or full resolution of symptoms with physical therapy, but benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of them. Check out last week’s blog to learn more about the mechanics of what happens during BPPV.

85-90% of patients are better with one treatment and I can attest after doing this for 9.5 years that that is true. Let me say that again: 85-90% of patients are better with ONE treatment!!!

Once the correct ear and semicircular canal are identified where the otoconia (aka crystals) are stuck, the treatment is to reposition that out of the canal and back where they belong. The crystals most commonly end up in the posterior canal. There are two commonly used maneuvers performed to reposition them, the Epley maneuver, which is more commonly used in the US, and the Semont maneuver. More rarely, the crystals will end up in the lateral canal resulting in more severe vertigo and is corrected with the Li maneuver or Barbeque Roll maneuver.

The best way to describe what happens during the maneuver is to think of a hula hoop filled with BBs with the hula hoop being the semicircular canal and the BBs are the crystals. We need to rotate the semicircular canal 360 degrees to more the crystals through and dump them back where they belong.  

In my experience, I take patients through the maneuver twice with the patient’s symptoms usually being less or completely resolved during the second maneuver. After the treatment, I instruct patients to keep their heads completely level for up to two hours to along gravity to settle the crystals and instruct patients they may feel more off-balance and have general “blah” feeling the remainder of the day.

If you are experiencing any of symptoms of BPPV and are interested in treatment or want to learn more, don’t hesitate to call/text me at 701-318-4731 or email me at alison@pinnalcetherapywellness.com and don’t forget to follow on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on the happenings at Pinnacle Therapy & Wellness.