The most common cause of BPPV in people under age 50 is head injury. In older people, the most common cause is degeneration of the vestibular system of the inner ear. BPPV becomes increasingly common with advancing age. Your physician can make the diagnosis based on your history, findings on physical examination, and the results of vestibular and auditory tests. A rotatory chair test may be used for difficult diagnostic problems.
Symptoms tend to wax and wane.
Motion sickness medications are sometimes helpful in controlling the nausea associated with BPPV but are otherwise rarely beneficial. However, various kinds of physical maneuvers and exercises have proved effective. Three varieties of conservative treatment that involve exercises and a treatment that involves surgery are described in the next sections. There are two treatments of BPPV that are usually performed in the doctor's office. Each maneuver takes about 15 minutes to complete.