Balance Problems

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

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The inner ear consists of three semicircular canals that contribute to a sense of balance. Over time, particles in the inner ear can break off and accumulate behind a membrane in the posterior canal. Moving the head in certain directions may cause particles to tug on hairlike sensors, triggering a type of dizziness called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

In most cases when it is found that a patient has BPPV, a noninvasive positioning procedure is used to clear the crystals out of the canal and deposit them back into the part of the inner ear where they belong. At Mayo there are several positioning procedures used to cure BPPV, including the modified Eply maneuver (canalith repositioning procedure or CRP), Semont's liberatory procedure, and a procedure using an electric circle bed that rotates the canals 360 degrees in a vertical plane.

Results of a study of the canalith repositioning maneuver for treatment of BPPV.