What is the Cause of Vertigo? | Vertigo Treatment

Posted in Head Disorders on Feb 8, 2019

Have you been from Doctor to Doctor with no solid answer forwhat’s CAUSING your vertigo? Have you been told it’s all in yourhead? Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? If the answeris yes then keep reading. Traditional vertigo treatment issymptomatic treatment with the exception of the applymaneuver. 

Medications like meclizine and Antivert are commonly prescribedfor vertigo treatment and often they work. When we say work, it canrelieve the symptoms. If you are only interested in treatingsymptoms then the rest of this blog isn’t for you. However, if youare interested in learning what is the most common CAUSE of vertigothen this article should help shed light on the cause and itscorrection.

We live in a “health care system” that focuses on the treatmentof symptoms. Traditional vertigo treatment is no different. Insteadof looking for the cause of vertigo, your doctors to this pointhave most likely prescribed “treatments” to relieve symptoms. Manyof the medications prescribed for vertigo treatment can help treatthe symptom, however most intelligent people would rather know itscause and then remove it. Billions of dollars each year are plowedinto medications that treat symptoms.

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Almost zero money is allocated towards finding causes. There islittle money in making people healthy. It’s a better business modelfor big pharma to treat symptoms and never ask the question, whatis the CAUSE? In this article, we will discuss how your body'sbalance system works and then discuss how upper cervical spineinjuries are at the root of the large majority of people who seekvertigo treatment.

How does Your Bodies Balance System Work?

The body’s balance system works through a perpetual process ofposition sense, feedback, and corrections using transmissionbetween the inner ear, eyes, muscles, joints, and the brain.

The inner ear has two functions, hearing and balance. Thebalance portion of the inner ear called the vestibular apparatus isdesigned to send information about the position of the head to thebrain’s movement control center, the cerebellum. The cerebellum isthe back part of the brain. The cerebellum receives feedback fromthe eyes, joints, and ears and relays information to the muscles ofthe body to maintain balance against gravity.

Since this system is controlled fundamentally by the centralnervous system it is common that vertigo patients have many HEENTtests that all check out normal. The structure of the system may benormal, it is the nervous system's inability to coordinate theinput of the vestibular system that underlies most vertigosymptoms. We will discuss this further at the end of thisarticle.

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MORE ON THE BALANCE SYSTEM

Position feedback from the inner ear

The balance system in each inner ear is made up of threesemi-circular canals and two pockets called the otolith organs,which together provide constant feedback to the cerebellum abouthead movement.

Each semi-circular canal has a different orientation to detect avariety of movements such as nodding or rotating. Inside of eachcanal are hairs that line each tube.

The canals are full of liquid and based on head movement thefluid stimulates hair cells located in the canals. This sensoryinformation is sent to the cerebellum and is instantaneouslyinterpreted and made useful by your body's vestibular system.

Position feedback from eyes, skin, muscles, and joints |Vertigo Treatment

The vestibular system (inner ear balance mechanism) works withthe visual system (eyes and the muscles and parts of the brain thatwork together to let us ‘see’) to stop objects blurring when thehead moves. It also helps us maintain awareness of positioningwhen, for example, walking, biking, running, or riding in avehicle.

In addition, sensors in the skin, joints, and muscles provideinformation to the brain on movement, the position of parts of thebody in relation to each other, and the position of the body inrelation to the environment. Using this feedback, the brain sendsmessages to instruct muscles to move and make adjustments to a bodyposition that will maintain balance and coordination.

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Natural Vertigo Treatment- The Upper Cervical SpinesRole in the Cause of Vertigo

We showed that balance is a coordinated effort of sensory inputfrom the eyes, the inner ear, and the joints of the body. If youare suffering from vertigo and are like most vertigo sufferers, youhave been to your general practitioner, then to a HEENT, andperhaps a neurologist also. All of the tests they have run showthat there is no problem with the inner ear and the eyes. 

They unfortunately are overlooking the cervical spine’s role invertigo treatment. The upper two bones in the neck, the atlas, andthe axis, have the most highly enervated joints in the body. Thismeans that they give the vestibular system more input than anyother joint in the body. As a result, prior neck trauma can be atthe root of chronic vertigo symptoms.

Whiplash Trauma, sports injuries, slip and falls can all betraumatic to the joints and soft tissue of the neck.

These types of blunt trauma can tear the ligaments and softtissues of the cervical spine joints resulting in spinalmisalignment reduced joint motion and increased spasticity of thecervical spine anatomy. When the upper cervical joints lose normalbiomechanical range of motion this can be an underlying cause ofvertigo. In our Los Angeles upper cervical health care office wehave helped hundreds of patients with chronic vertigo, Ménière’sdisease, and other vestibular issues.

What Does A Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractor Do? |Natural Vertigo Treatmentvertigo

Blair Upper Cervical doctors are specially trained to findspinal misalignments in the upper cervical spine. This isdetermined by running the prospective patient through a battery ofneurological tests that locate the spinal segments that have beeninjured and misaligned by a prior neck injury. 

Once located, precision imaging in the form of digital x-ray orcone-beam computed tomography (Cbct) is used to precisely determinewhich joint has misaligned and the angulation of the offendingjoint. Each person's anatomy is different and therefore imaging isused to uncover the blueprint to be used to correct each patient'sindividual misalignment pattern. Once this information is gleaned,a gentle, light correction is made without twisting, popping, orpulling.

The patient is then monitored over time to ensure that thecorrection is holding. If the testing indicates the need foranother correction then it is performed. However, the goal of BlairUpper Cervical Care is for the patient to stay in “adjustment”. Itisn’t the correction that produces healing. It is the removal ofnerve irritation and the adjustment “ holding” in its normalposition that allows the body to function better and proceedthrough a healing process.

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