In the past few weeks, there have been an unusually large number of patients coming to me with a complaint of vertigo (a sensation of spinning) when rolling over in bed or looking up.

As you watch the animation, keep your eye on the black ball rolling in one of the semicircular canals. It represents a stone that has gotten trapped. When you turn your head or look up, the stone moves causing vertigo. You can see after the patient has been rolled around, the stone drops out of the canal where it no longer causes a problem (like rolling a bead out of a hole in a hoola-hoop).

For some reason, I haven’t found many doctors who are aware of this condition (Benign Positional Vertigo) or how to treat it. Most patients I see have already been treated with antibiotics. Many have had MRIs and hearing tests.

In my experience, at least half of patients I see improve with the Epley manuever.