Foster honored as Champion of Vestibular Medicine

Carol Foster, an associate professor at the School of Medicine and director of the Balance Laboratory at the University of Colorado Hospital, has been recognized by the Vestibular Disorders Association (VEDA) as a 2014 Champion of Vestibular Medicine.

Foster specializes in the non-surgical treatment of dizziness and imbalance caused by inner ear, brain or sensory disorders. She has been treating patients for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and working with dizzy patients at CU since 1994.

A vestibular patient herself, Foster has Meniere’s disease. This disorder of the inner ear causes bouts of vertigo that can last for hours, and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) caused when gravity-sensing particles in the inner ear accidentally enter the ear’s spinning-motion sensors. The symptoms of BPPV can be relieved by maneuvers that relocate the particles, generally done by a specially trained medical professional.

With the room spinning around her, Foster said she developed a maneuver to get the particles out of her horizontal canal and back where they belonged. This half somersault maneuver followed by a head turn and another quick move of the head gives BPPV patients a way to manage the symptoms at home.