Vertigo is mistakenly sensing movement or a sensation of moving when you are being still. It usually includes a feeling that you or the things around you are spinning. It is connected to a problem of the inner ear. The most common form of vertigo is BPPV or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and occurs when you move your head to a different position. It is affected by gravity.
Vertigo should not to be confused with disequilibrium, a sensation that you are about to fall or need help in order to navigate. You may feel as if the floor is actually tilted or have a sensation of floating. This can also originate in the inner ear, with other motion sensors, or with the central nervous system.
Understanding the differences between these two conditions is important because they can be symptoms of various diseases. In fact, any disorder that impacts the sensory function of balance, proprioception, and vision can lead to disequilibrium or vertigo. It is important when giving your chiropractor a complete history that you carefully relate all of your symptoms so they can help locate where your problem is stemming from. Chiropractors will often want to know the onset, duration, and severity of symptoms. They may ask what other symptoms happen at the same time, such as:
- Tinnitus
- Ear congestion
- Hearing loss
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of speech
- Loss of consciousness
- Slowed heart rate
- Rapid or irregular heart rate
- Loss of vision
- Slurred speech
You may also want to tell your chiropractor whether vertigo gets worse when you move the position of your head and if you have a history of ear pain, ear drainage, or head trauma. Also, include any problems that were incurred by other family members. Other conditions can also impact what is happening in your ears. Mention such things as:
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Infectious illnesses — even if they happened a while ago
- Renal failure
- Atherosclerosis
- Neurological disorders
Medications can also cause vertigo in some people, especially medications taken for depression, pain, seizures, and anxiety. Be sure to include any over-the-counter or illegal drugs as these are often to blame for vertigo symptoms.
The Science of Vertigo
When you move your head, the vestibular labyrinth and your eyes sense the movement. The semicircular canals within the inner ear sense when the head is turned. Linear head movements are sensed by the saccule and utricle. You also have muscle and joint receptors in the limbs, neck, and spine that sense motion.
These signals of movement are sent via the superior and inferior vestibular nerve through your auditory canal and on into the vestibular nuclei. In turn, these signals are sent to the brain, where they are interpreted as movement. Your eyes also play a role in movement sensation. Your visual system sends signals from the retina via the optic nerves and other optic transmitters. This information is processed in your frontal and parietal cortex and it involves sensing when your head moves as well as knowing when your environment is in motion, such as when riding in a car. The information from the visual and vestibular sensors are combined at numerous levels in the central nervous system, in particular, the brainstem and cerebellum.
The Vertigo Attack
Now that we have a little better idea of how the brain processes signals of motion, we can understand how an episode of vertigo has to do with a change in the function of the labyrinth. This can be due to a number of things, such as:
- Viral labyrinthitis
- Temporal bone fracture
- Meniere’s disease
- Cerebellopontine angle tumor (this is very rare)
- Bacterial labyrinthitis
- A blood clot
- Perilymph fistula
- Damage of the vestibular nuclei at the brainstem
- Head or neck trauma
So, it is important to discover what the exact cause of your vertigo is so as to address the root cause. Medications can be prescribed to help with it, but unless the underlying reason is cared for, it will just continue to occur. Medications also come along with unwanted and sometimes dangerous side effects. Would you be happy to know that a natural way to care for vertigo exists and has been proven to work? Keep reading.
Natural Care for Vertigo
As mentioned, a problem with the brainstem, part of the central nervous system, can be one reason for vertigo to occur. It has also been seen that many people with vertigo have an upper cervical misalignment, particularly in the C1 or axis vertebra. A study observed 60 people diagnosed with various forms of vertigo. Out of the 60, all but 4 recalled having some sort of accident or trauma to their head or neck before the onset of their vertigo. Upon examination by an upper cervical chiropractor, it was noted that all 60 had a misalignment in the bones of their upper cervical spine. They were given care tailored to their specific needs over a 1- to 6-month period. All of them reported a major improvement in their vertigo, while 48 were symptom free!
As upper cervical chiropractors ourselves here at N8 Upper Cervical, we use a similar technique to help our vertigo sufferers. It does not require us to pop or crack the neck to get positive results. Rather, we use a gentle method to encourage the bones of the upper cervical spine to move back into place naturally. By doing this, rather than using force, the results are a longer-lasting adjustment. They often see their vertigo improve greatly or go away entirely.
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