Epley Maneuver to Treat BPPV Vertigo

Normally only with head movement does fluid within the inner ear also move informing the brain that a head turn occurred however should a crystal called an otolith that gets displaced into the posterior canal of the inner ear, BPPV dizziness occurs. Fluid movement occurs due to the crystal rather than head turns causing the brain to think movement has occurred even though none has happened. When the Epley maneuver is performed to treat this posterior canal BPPV by trying to get the loose crystal out of the canal this maneuver is started by turning the head forty-five degrees and the body laid back such the head is extended about 20 to 30 degrees. If BPPV is present, eye twitching call nystagmus will occur. After 30 to 60 seconds the head is turned 90 degrees to the opposite side and held for another 30 to 60 seconds The head is then further rotated another 90 degrees accomplished by having the patient turn onto their side which is then held for another 30 to 60 seconds. At this point the head should be turned 45 degrees from the horizontal. When performing this maneuver another individual can help with these position changes the maneuvers then completed by having the patient sit up. So what's going on with these position changes? Essentially the head has moved in such a way to manipulate the crystal to fall towards the canal opening. With each position change it takes about 30 to 60 seconds for the crystal to settle into the most dependent position in the canal. If turns are made before the crystal has a chance to settle the crystal may fall back the wrong way and the maneuver will fail. It is also important that they head positions are angled correctly or else the crystal will not settle to the correct position in the canal and the maneuver will fail. Also if the position changes are done too slowly the crystal may not settle quickly enough from lack of momentum and the maneuver will also fail. Once the Crystal Falls out of the canal, the dizziness should resolve if due to posterior canal BPPV.

Channel: Fauquier ENT

Views: 10,243,148

Keywords: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (Disease Or Medical Condition), Epley Maneuver (Medical Treatment), bppv, epley, bppv treatment, dizzy treatment, dizziness exercsise, head position, body position, bppv cure, dizzy, dizziness, cure, treatment, vertigo, head, position, vertigo treatment, vertigo exercise, otolith, crystal, inner ear, semicircular canal, posterior canal, home exercise for dizziness, imbalance, balance treatment, epley maneuver for vertigo at home, how to perform epley

Id: 9SLm76jQg3g

Length: 2min 26sec (146 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 27 2014

Reddit Comments

[u/realethanbradberry]

Haha yeah, the one time I google a health problem and they say it’s not cancer and that it can be fixed with an exercise

[u/MadameRoyale7]

my dad has this a lot. he learned the trick super late but it seems that when he did it was like magic haha

[u/ForgottenHistorian]

Fascinating, but holy smokes was the the music and voice the wrong choice for this video. This video could double as a cure for insomnia.

[u/Astark]

Holy shit, this actually happened to me and I swear to God I thought I was dying. I woke up in the morning and every time I moved my head even slightly it was like my head was in a paint mixer. Unbearable spins like you can't believe. I thought I had a stroke or something, but the advice nurse was able to explain what it was immediately after describing it to her on the phone. I looked it up online and found these simple exercises, and it cleared up in like 5 minutes. Believe me, you never want this, but at least it's not a big deal to fix.

[u/MyNameIsJerf]

Woah; this has been happening to me for about 2 weeks. I'm on day 23 of the Whole30 diet and things I've read and people I've talked to blamed it on low-carbs. I definitely have this but I don't know if i'm doing it well enough.

[u/allenahansen]

Got nauseated just watching that. But will definitely try it the next time I have vertigo-- provided I can lie on the floor without hanging on.

THANKS.

[u/xof711]

Fascinating... Will have to share!