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July 27, 2010

DizzyFIX Device Treats Vertigo at Home


A recent study showed that the DizzyFIX, a plastic device patients can clip to a baseball cap and use at home, was effective against an intense form of vertigo known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV. BPPV produces a “room-spinning” sensation, often occurring when patients look up, roll over, or bend down. The DizzyFIX device is designed to help patients to perform the Epley maneuver, which relieves vertigo by shifting crystals out of the inner ear canal where they’ve been causing dizziness. The device costs $150 and consists of a tube containing a thick fluid and a particle, which moves as the patient does to give visual feedback as the patient guides the particle through the device.

In the study, 40 patients suffering from BPPV used the device for one week of home treatment, and at the conclusion, 35 patients, or 88 percent, showed no evidence of BPPV. Although there was no control group, the company CEO, Dr. Matthew Bromwich, pointed out that the findings compared well to physician assisted treatment for BPPV. As is the case with physician-guided treatment, the device does not prevent recurrence. However, according to Bromwich: "When you get a recurrence you just reach under the bed, pull out the DizzyFIX, put it on your head, and two and a half minutes later you're cured and you go back to sleep."

Roughly 10 percent of those over age 60 suffer from BPPV.

The DizzyFIX study was recently published in the Archives of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery. Via Reuters Health.


Ms. Graham is a writer and editor with a current focus on health and wellness. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Erin Monda
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