bppv – so called “ear rocks”

The most common cause of vertigo is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) and it can be primary or secondary. If it is primary, it is easily treated with canalith repositioning maneuvers. A BPPV patient may tell a doctor they have experienced vertigo ‘for days’, but a few direct questions often reveal that they have in fact experienced brief episodes of vertigo with a position change for a period of days, but the vertigo actually stopped if they held still.  Secondary BPPV is being caused by something, and that something is frequently another inner ear problem that is being overlooked. Such cases can usually be identified by the fact that the BPPV keeps returning, or that the patient has inner ear symptoms that cannot be attributed to BPPV, such as hearing loss, tinnitus or fullness in the ear.