Two Los Angeles women, aged 31 and 48, experienced severe vertigo after using a battery-powered massager like a Theragun to alleviate shoulder and neck pain. Both women visited Cedars-Sinai hospital with intense dizziness, nausea, and difficulty moving, but without an obvious cause, as they were otherwise healthy.
Doctors, including otolaryngologist Dr. Ronen Nazarian and doctoral student David Elisha, linked their conditions to their daily massager use. Ceasing the use of the massage gun led to almost immediate recovery for both patients. This led the researchers to conclude that such devices could induce benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) due to intense vibrations disrupting the inner ear's balance mechanism. They published their findings in JAMA Otolaryngology Head Neck Surgery, advocating for generalized vertigo warnings on these devices, especially when used near the head and neck.
The researchers noted that while BPPV is rare, affecting roughly 3.2% of people annually, the force exerted by these massagers can dislodge inner ear structures, leading to symptoms akin to head trauma.