Vertigo is the feeling of being off-balance and dizzy, as if you or your surroundings are moving, spinning, or swaying. Sufferers’ feelings of being off balance can differ greatly, from being barely noticeable to so severe they find it hard to keep their balance doing everyday tasks.

Vertigo is actually a symptom rather than a condition itself. This means your dizziness is your body’s way of telling you something isn’t right.

Vertigo is most common in elderly people, but it can affect both sexes at any age.

What conditions is vertigo a symptom of?
Vertigo is most commonly a sign of a problem in an area of your body that plays a role in how your body orients itself and maintains balance. Vertigo may be a symptom of; damage to the inner ear, damage to spinal joints or ligaments,misalignment or a partial dislocation of the vertebrae in the neck.
in rare cases, significant brain disease such as a stroke or tumour.

Your balance mechanism is made up of the fluid canals in your inner ear (the labyrinth), the nerves of the neck, your vision and the overall sense of body position that is supplied by the nerves throughout the body – called ‘proprioception’. When all of these things work well, your balance will be excellent.

Sometimes clients say that if they are walking in the dark, say to visit the toilet in the night, they find themselves holding onto things. This means that they are over relying on vision for balance instead of relying on the nerves from the body to build a mental picture. The problem here is that you rely on this information to create smooth, fluid motion. When smooth movement is lost injury results to either the knees, ankles or the lower back. Chiropractic care helps a great deal with this.

Sometimes clients report dizziness. This is usually from the neck (cervicogenic) or from the inner ear (labyrinth). The inner ear can malfunction in two main ways

i) infection known as ‘Labyrinthitis’ or
ii) debris build up of calcium carbonate crystals.

Labyrinthitis, caused by a virus, can cause balance disorders, vertigo, hearing loss and tinnitus. The delicate inner ear labyrinth becomes congested or swollen and the nerve signals sent from the auditory and balance parts of this delicate structure can no longer be relied upon. This results in one or many of these unpleasant symptoms.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
About 65 percent of vertigo is caused by BPPV—a result of calcium debris in the inner ear. The most effective type of care is a treatment known as Epley manoeuvre - which chiropractors can perform with ease. This technique places a client in a position where the debris gathers in a harmless position in the complex inner ear and prevents it from aggravating the sensitive nerve structures of the ear. It takes about 2 minutes to perform. It is generally comfortable and is highly effective for labyrinth debris build up.

Studies show that up to 80 percent of patients recover after a single treatment with the Epley maneuver, and most BPPV cases respond to two to three Epley treatments.

The final type of dizziness is cervicogenic. This is very common and in many ways is a complex problem whereby the joints, muscles and ligaments of the neck lose their normal function and send false nerve information to the brain.

Mark Jones from Well Adjusted Health comments, ‘For a chiropractor, this is what I deal with everyday with almost every client in some way. Modern use of computers, driving, television, mobile devices, stress and a lack of exercise all play their part in creating restriction and improper motion in the delicate structures of the neck.’

‘I can perform some simple tests to differentiate which structures are involved. Then we can find a resolution.’

If you have a specific question regarding any pain or problem areas, or would like to book a Free 15 minute consultation for you or your family please call Well Adjusted Health on 01903 892171