BPPV Symptoms - Do I have BPPV ?

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Background information

BPPV is the most common cause of vertigo related to the ear. About 1 in 5 people who have dizziness will have BPPV. This number increases in the elderly or in at risk populations.

While BPPV is common, it is not the cause of all types of dizziness. It is easy to differentiate BPPV from other causes by reviewing these statements.

1. My dizziness lasts only seconds to minutes, never hours or days.
2. I can bring on the symptoms by certain head positions.
3. It feels like either the room or my body is spinning.
4. My dizziness is not associated with a change in my hearing or a noise in my ears.

If you agree with the above statements there is a strong likelihood that your dizziness is BPPV.

Here is a tool to help diagnose BPPV

(M von Brevern, A Radtke, F Lezius, M Feldmann, T Ziese, T Lempert. Epidemiology of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. A population-based study. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry)

1. "Vestibular Vertigo" is dizziness related to the ear (you must have at least one of following 3 symptoms):
   1. Spontaneous rotational vertigo (Spinning suddenly)
   2. Positional vertigo (Spinning when laying down)
   3. Recurrent dizziness with nausea (sick to the stomach) and either oscillopsia (difficulty reading due to vision problems when dizzy) or imbalance.
2. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (ALL 4 of the following must be true):
   1. Recurrent "Vestibular Vertigo" (as above)
   2. The duration of the attack must always be < 1 minute
   3. Symptoms invariably provoked by the following changes of head position:
      1. Lying down or
      2. Turning over in the supine (lying on your back) position
         or at least 2 of the following maneuvers:
         1. Reclining the head
         2. Rising up from supine (lying on your back) position
         3. Bending forward
   4. Not attributable to another disorder

If the above tests show that you have BPPV, then the DizzyFIX may be right for you!

Nystagmus

People with BPPV experience rapid involuntary eye motion called Nystagmus when in a head hanging position. The Nystagmus associated with BPPV is rotatory. The top of the eye moves towards the ground. This is called Geotropic. The Nystagmus disappears after several seconds and the associated vertigo passes.

The video below shows an example of this. Press the play button to view. It may take a moment to load. (There is no sound).

Dizziness Handicap Inventory

If you think you might have BPPV, complete the DHI (Dizziness Handicap Inventory) to see how severe your symptoms are.