Is the temporomandibular joint and soft tissue mobilization technique effective in individuals with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo diagnosis

Aim: We aimed to investigated effectiveness of temporamandibular joint and soft tissue mobilization on patients with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). Material and Methods; Dix Hallpike maneuver was administered to all patients to confirm the diagnosis at the initial evaluation. If the Dix Hallpike test was positive, Epley maneuver was applied The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups as study group (n=21) and control groups (n=21 ). Temporomandibular joint ve soft tissue techniques were applied 30 minutes once a week for 4 weeks by physiotherapist. Routin medication therapy was applied to control group. Both groups were asked to do the home exercise program twice a day consisting of vestibular exercise videos sent over whatss app. It was questioned with a phone call once a week whether the exercises were done or not. Patients were evaluated by Dizziness Disability Inventory (DHI) , Dizziness Assessment- Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Vertigo Symptom Scale-Short Form (VSS) , Beck Anxiety Inventory (BECK) , Vertigo Dizziness Imbalance Questionnaire (VDI) , Tinnitus Disability Scale (TDS), Romberg Posture Test , Tandem Posture Test, Semitandem Tandem Balance Test, Fonseca's Anamnestic Index (FAI) and amount of mouth opening was measured with goniometer before and after treatment. Results: It was observed that the tandem and semitandem test results of the study group showed a statistically more significant increase compared to the control group (p<0.05). DHI, VAS, BECK and VDI changes were found to be statistically significant in both groups before and after treatment (p<0.05). It was observed that the values of the FAI study group were statistically significantly lower than the control group (p<0.05). post-treatment mouth opening, right and left laterilasation and protrusion movements of the study group were found to be statistically significantly higher than the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although improvements were observed in both groups, it was observed that vertigo severity and symptoms, disability level due to vertigo, jaw joint sounds decreased significantly, quality of life and jaw joint movements increased in the study group compared to the control group. According to all these results, it can be emphasized that TMJ and soft tissue mobilizations are effective in patients with BPPV and can be added to the treatment protocol. Keywords: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, Temporomandibular joint, Epley Maneuver, Soft Tissue Mobilization, Joint Mobilization