While in Arizona, my husband had some dizzy spells that got pretty bad. We went to a doctor down there who didn't seem to know what caused it. When we got home, we went to a Eye Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. He checked Don out and said that some Crystal located in the inner ear had drifted into the wrong place and he had to go in for "physical therapy". We both thought that sounded rediculous. He went in anyway. The therapist laid him down on the table and put his head this way and that way and rolled him on his side and did the same thing and then sat him up and told him to stare at the wall for ten minutes. Then he was told he had to sleep sitting up at a 45 degree angle for at least one night. RIGHT! like this was really going to work. Well, guess what? It worked! I wrote my Email friends and three of them had the same thing and basically the same treatment and it worked for them also! Can you explain what would cause these crystals to drift to the wrong place and what the name of these condition is?

It might be benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, related to otoliths in the semi-circular canals of the inner ear.

The sequence of moves is similar to those hand-held 3D mazes where a small ball bearing must be maneuvered through passageways using gravity to direct its movement.

From Mayo Clinic

quote:

the canalith repositioning procedure consists of several simple maneuvers for positioning your head. The goal is to move particles from the fluid-filled semicircular canals of your inner ear (vestibular labyrinth) into a tiny bag-like structure (utricle) where these particles don't cause trouble. Each position is held for about 30 seconds. The success rate for this procedure is as high as 90 percent to 95 percent.

After the procedure, you must avoid lying flat for 24 to 48 hours and elevate your head on a few pillows when you sleep. This allows time for the particles floating in your labyrinth to settle into your utricle or be reabsorbed by the fluids in your body. You may need to wear a neck collar to prevent tilting your head. It may be necessary to repeat the procedure several times. Your doctor also may show you some therapeutic exercises that you can perform at home.

Thank you so much for the information. I followed through and read more about it and it explains a lot. It seems funny that it's been known for so long but I have known two other older people back about twenty years ago that I think had this and lived with this condition because it was never caught by their doctors. Seems like it was discovered and then ignored.