Chiropractic Care Helps Cervicogenic Dizziness BPPV

(Newswire.net — November 17, 2019) DARIEN, CT — So you started to notice that you get dizzy when you turn your head a certain way. Naturally, you should be concerned. After all, if turning your head to the right makes you dizzy it is not like you can make only left-hand turns to drive yourself home. There are over 8 million doctors’ appointments a year for dizziness, also known as vertigo. Vertigo can be really serious, hopefully, it is something called Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, (BPPV) for short. What exactly is Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo? One of the most common causes of dizziness — the sudden sensation that the room is spinning or that the inside of your head is spinning. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo causes brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness.

Fortunately, for those with Cervicogenic induced Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, chiropractic care is probably the most effective way to treat it. First, let’s get a better understanding of why you would have Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The brain gets proprioceptive input from the cervical spine. Proprioception is the sense that tells the body where a body part is in space. Proprioception is very important to the brain as it plays a big role in self-regulation, coordination, posture, body awareness, the ability to attend and focus, and speech. Try closing your eyes and raising one leg up. You instinctively know where your leg is even though you cannot see it. This is an example of proprioception.

The nerves in the upper part of your neck supply up to 50% of all cervical proprioceptive input to your brain. Abnormal stimulation of the articular capsule surrounding the cervical vertebra and muscle spindle mechanoreceptors from joint dysfunction or muscle hyperactivity provides conflicting input with visual and vestibular afferents. This sensory mismatch between visual, vestibular, and cervical mechanoreceptive input “confuses” the brain into a temporary state of dizziness. Suppose you turn your head 45 degrees to the left but your brain only recognizes 30 degrees of rotation there is confusion in the brain resulting in dizziness or BPPV.

The role of chiropractic care in managing BPPV is significant. The cervical spine when subluxated will result in the aberrant firing of the mechanoreceptors. The brain is acutely aware of the misaligned vertebra. The nerves from the upper neck are loaded with mechanoreceptors that are constantly reminding the brain that there is a problem. By applying a cervical adjustment to the affected area the joint is restored to its proper position and stops sending these faulty signals to the brain.