New research is finding one root cause of dizziness...imbalances in your cervical spine (neck). It is estimated that upwards of 30% of our population suffers regularly from dizzy spells. Dizziness is a term used to describe a range of sensations, such as feeling faint, woozy, weak or unsteady. Dizziness that creates the false sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving is called vertigo. These symptoms are not only scary to experience, they often hinder our daily lives and with extreme cases of dizziness can be debilitating. While there can be MANY causes for dizziness or vertigo, a 2020 study highlighted misalignments of the upper neck to be a cause of cervicogenic dizziness. Cervicogenic dizziness is caused by functional issues in the cervical spine which inhibits normal movement of the muscles, ligaments, and receptors surrounding the vertebrae in the neck. These abnormalities in the cervical spine have been known to be the cause of approximately 65% of dizziness in the elderly population. A chiropractic adjustment can remove these misalignments to restore proper structure and therefore proper function of the nervous system. Imagine having a kink in your garden hose. Some water is still getting through, although it's not as strong or forceful as normal. When you remove the kink in the hose, the water is able to flow freely without interference and function properly. Dizziness is often a symptom that can go away immediately after an adjustment. Finding the root cause of a symptom is of utmost importance to allow the body to function freely without interference.
Yours in health,
Sung, Y. (2020). Upper cervical spine dysfunction and dizziness. Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation, 16(5), 385-391. doi: https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.204612.306
Image courtesy of Cell*Axys
