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Have you ever had headaches or dizziness slow you down? With vestibular migraines individuals can unfortunately have a recurring problem with both.

What are Vestibular Migraines?

A vestibular migraine (aka migrainous associated vertigo) is a condition involving the brain that causes symptoms of dizziness.

Are vestibular migraines a neurological disorder?

Yes, vestibular migraines are considered a neurological disorder, but structurally the brain is fine. Rather, a vestibular migraine is thought to be due to the brain having an adverse reaction or sensitivity to a certain stimuli.

What causes a vestibular migraine, or why do I get vestibular migraines?

That is a great question that no o...

North 49 is a physical therapy clinic, but it is interesting as over half of the patients we see have dizziness. We see more patients each month with dizziness than back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain or any pain for that matter combined. It is also interesting to note that our patient population is similar to what the literature finds in that with dizziness the most common cause is due to BPPV. 

So what is BPPV? Let’s review some of the basics.

What BPPV Stands For

BPPV is short for Benign (non life threatening), Paroxysmal (sudden, uncontrollable), Positional, Vertigo (sense of spinning).

What Is BPPV?

Ear Anatomy

To understand what BPPV is we need to review a little...

Nystagmus What Does It Mean?

At North 49 our team of vestibular therapists look for nystagmus in determining one’s cause of dizziness. So, what is nystagmus? It is simply repetitive, uncontrolled eye motion. It usually affects both eyes. Depending on the cause it may be constant or intermittent. It can also be temporary or permanent.

Nystagmus how to pronounce?

nuh-stag-muhs

Nystagmus what does it look like?

It will look like a stuttering motion of the eyes. This motion can be linear (upward, downward, or laterally), rotary, or a combination. Sometimes it can be seen in room light while other times it cannot. Health care providers therefore use infrared goggles to make sure that t...