Balance disorders including vertigo and dizziness can be cared for by your local Vancouver chiropractor, Dr. Troy Dreiling. Schedule your free consultation with Dr. Troy by calling our office.
Video Transcription
Dr. Troy here from Zenaptic Chiropractic.
I want to discuss vertigo also known as dizziness.
We see a lot of these conditions clear up pretty amazingly with chiropractic care. I want to explain how that’s possible because a lot of people think, how can chiropractic help with dizziness?
I see this a lot in motor vehicle accidents. The upper cervical area, the first bone in the neck called the atlas, will get injured and it puts pressure and stress on the nerve that actually controls the inner ear.
If there is tension and pressure out of the upper cervical brainstem area and a misalignment is found, many times when we correct this that will correct and improve the dizziness or vertigo situation.
With motor vehicle accidents it clears up pretty quickly. Within four to six to eight weeks. Sometimes it takes a little longer but in average it clears up pretty quickly with a series of upper cervical adjustments.
They are very light, they don’t make a lot of noise, there’s not a lot of force that we use. We use a hands on contact so that the pressure can come off. A lot of you will see headaches associated with this as well.
If you’re suffering or you know someone who is suffering call for a free consultation to see if chiropractic is right for your condition.
This is Dr. Troy, Zenaptic Chiropractic.
Learn More About Chiropractic Care For Vertigo, Dizziness, and Balance Disorders
Balance disorders comprise a large list of issues, including vertigo, labyrinthitis, or Meniere’s disease, as well as issues that can occur as a result of trauma to the head, neck, or cervix.
Each of these issues can make a person feel unsteady on their feet. Thousands of adults suffer from some form of balance disorders on a daily basis, feeling unsteady whether while standing, sitting, or even lying down. They get the feeling as if they are floating or as if the room is spinning.
The variations and severity can vary widely from one extreme to the other from slight spinning to altogether fainting from the dizzy spell. Balance disorders can be a result of genetics, illness, medication, or injury. The issue typically begins with an organ in the inner ear called the labyrinth. Despite the cause, chiropractic care can often be of great assistance in eliminating the issues caused by a balance disorder.
Why Balance Issues Occur
Regardless of the reason for the balance issue, whether illness, injury, or genetics, it almost always involves the inner ear; the portion that controls the balance. The labyrinth is what talks to other body systems, including the bones, joints, and eyes. It is this organ that helps you maintain your balance. When one of the structures within the labyrinth is off course, your balance can be thrown off. These three structures include: the superior semicircular canal, posterior semicircular canal, and the horizontal semicircular canal. These canals, which are located near the inner ear, work closely with your vision to help you keep your focus while you move. The organs within your inner ear also work closely with your muscles and joint receptors to help everything work together to maintain your balance. There are structures that look similar to gel that drape across an area over tiny hair cells. These hair cells move when the fluid in the canal moves (which occurs with head movement). This domino effect sends a signal from your nerves to your brain, letting it know which direction the head moved. When there is inflammation or injury to the area, your balance is altered as the signals do not reach the brain in time, resulting in dizziness.
The Role of the Spine
A person’s coordination is controlled by the cerebellum, located within the brain. This area of the brain needs to coordinate with the inner ear and the spine. Going back to the importance of the inner ear, when the fluid within the ear is off balance, the balance is immediately thrown off as a domino effect takes place in the body as the nerves that make up the spine tell the brain that something is wrong. This can occur for a variety of reasons, starting with head trauma, but can also include direct trauma to the spine.
In some cases, spinal subluxations are the reason for the balance issues and other times the problem originates somewhere else on the body, but works its way down to the spine. There are numerous nerve pathways on the spine that can be the cause of the issues, which is why chiropractic care is so beneficial for balance disorders. The proper alignment of the spine can help to clear the pathway from the nerves to the brain, allowing balance to be restored.
The Types of Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic care is beneficial for balance disorders because it addresses the mechanoreceptors that are located on the spine. Each adjustment helps to stimulate the mechanoreceptors, which opens up the lines of communication between the spine and the brain. This makes balancing an easier task for the body. Each stimulation helps to increase the pathways that come not only from the spine, but the ears, bones, and joints as well. Each adjustment is targeted to pinpoint the areas where the mechanoreceptors are located. The types of care from the chiropractor include:
- Specific Chiropractic Adjusments – These are the standard “adjustments” that people know chiropractors perform. They are a perfect science that involves the adjustment of the perfect area of your spine that is causing the balance issues. Sometimes there is a misalignment and other times stimulation is just required to get things moving again. The chiropractor looks for the faulty areas that are causing the misinformation to occur in the brain and straighten it out, so to speak.
- Epley Maneuver – If you are experiencing signs of vertigo, the chiropractor may perform the Epley maneuver to help restore your balance. This common procedure requires him to move your head so that it is in a diagonal position (you are looking straight ahead with your head angled to the side with the imbalance). Your head will remain in this position as the chiropractor quickly lays you down with your head hanging over the edge of the table. This position is maintained for approximately 30 seconds until balance is restored.
- Exercises – There are several exercises that a chiropractor can help you begin to put the symptoms of dizziness behind you. One such exercise is the Brandt-Daroff technique. This requires you to sit up straight on the exam table and then put your body down quickly with your nose pointing directly to one side; after one minute you sit back and up and repeat on the other side. This helps to get your body used to the signals that occur when the body requires fast motion, decreasing the dizziness that occurs with repetition.
- Advanced Atlas Orthogonal Technique – This technique is used for patients with Meniere’s disease. It does not involve physical adjustments, but rather after distinct results from an x-ray, it uses light touch on the upper cervical area to unlock the brain stem. This technique is very advanced yet successful at helping the difficulties involved with this inner ear disorder.
Chiropractic care is very successful in treating balance disorders, whether they were caused by injury or illness. The care of the spine helps to enlist overall health throughout the body, helping to instill a feeling of balance and renewed sense of health.
Schedule An Appointment
At Zenaptic Chiropractic, the Vancouver chiropractor Dr. Troy Dreiling offers a free consultation to discuss care for your balance issues. Call us or request a consultation through our online form.
