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• Clinical Article •
Effects of point application combined with ear point pressing on brain spontaneous activity in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo with residual dizziness: A randomized controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging study
CAI Yaxian  LI Qing  WANG Feng  WANG Jian  LEI Ming 

Cite this article as: CAI Y X, LI Q, WANG F, et al. Effects of point application combined with ear point pressing on brain spontaneous activity in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo with residual dizziness: A randomized controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging study[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(10): 1-6, 34. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.10.001.


[Abstract] Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of point application combined with ear point pressing in the treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) patients with residual dizziness (RD) after successful canalith repositioning procedure (CRP), and explore its influence on the spontaneous brain activities of the patients.Materials and Methods Using a prospective randomized controlled trial design, a total of 62 patients with RD who visited from July 2022 to December 2024 were randomly divided into an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG), with 31 cases in each group. The CG was treated with betahistine, while the EG was given point application combined with ear point pressing therapy on the basis of CG. Data of scale scores and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the two groups before and after treatment were collected. Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and Hamilton Anxiety/Depression Scale (HAMA/HAMD) were included as clinical assessment indicators, and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) was included as the imaging assessment indicator.Results Before treatment, there were no significant differences in scores of DHI, VAS, HAMA, and HAMD between the two groups (P > 0.05). After treatment, the EG showed significantly lower scores on the DHI, VAS, HAMA, and HAMD compared to the CG (P < 0.05). Compared to the baseline, the EG showed increased fALFF in the right insular cortex and decreased fALFF in the right superior occipital gyrus after treatment (P < 0.05, FDR correction). Among the patients in the EG after treatment, the fALFF value of the right insular cortex was positively correlated with the DHI score (r = 0.622, P = 0.001), and the fALFF value of the right superior occipital gyrus was negatively correlated with the DHI score (r = -0.418, P = 0.033).Conclusions Point application combined with ear point pressing therapy might help improve the RD symptoms in BPPV patients by regulating the spontaneous functional activities of the vestibular-related brain regions and visual cortex.
[Keywords] benign paroxysmal positional vertigo；residual dizziness；functional magnetic resonance imaging；magnetic resonance imaging；point application；ear point pressing

CAI Yaxian1   LI Qing1   WANG Feng1   WANG Jian2   LEI Ming1*  

1 Department of Neurology, General Hospital of the Yangtze River Shipping, Wuhan 430015, China

2 Department of Medical Imaging, General Hospital of the Yangtze River Shipping, Wuhan 430015, China

Corresponding author: LEI M, E-mail: leiming.419@163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-05-01
Accepted  2025-10-09
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.10.001
Cite this article as: CAI Y X, LI Q, WANG F, et al. Effects of point application combined with ear point pressing on brain spontaneous activity in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo with residual dizziness: A randomized controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging study[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(10): 1-6, 34. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.10.001.

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