Have you felt the room tilt when you turn your head to back out of the driveway? Have you had your ears checked, your balance tested, maybe even an MRI or CT, and been told everything looks normal?
When dizziness keeps coming back without an answer, you can start to lose hope and plan your life around it. You hold the railing. You skip the ladder. You stop turning your head too fast. Every problem has a cause, and for some people, the cause of neck-related dizziness sits at the very top of the spine.
What Neck-Related Dizziness Feels Like
Doctors call it cervicogenic dizziness (dizziness that starts in the neck). It often feels less like the room spinning and more like being off balance, lightheaded, or unsteady on your feet. Common patterns include:
- Dizziness that shows up alongside neck pain or stiffness
- Unsteadiness when you turn your head, look up, or sit at a desk for hours
- Symptoms that started after a car accident, a fall, or a concussion (we explain why some of these show up late in Why Vertigo After a Car Accident Doesn’t Always Show Up Right Away)
- Headaches at the base of your skull that come and go with the dizziness (see Migraines, Vertigo, and the Nerve Most People Never Check)
Why Your Neck Affects Your Balance
Your brain keeps you steady by combining three streams of information: your inner ear, your eyes, and tiny sensors in the muscles and joints of your upper neck. Those neck sensors tell your brain exactly where your head sits on your body.
When the Atlas (the top bone in your neck) shifts out of position, the signals coming from your neck can stop matching what your eyes and inner ear report. Your brain registers that mismatch as dizziness. Researchers are still working out exactly how this happens and how best to diagnose it, which is part of why neck-related dizziness is so often missed.
Rule Out Other Causes First
Some dizziness needs medical care right away. If your dizziness comes with sudden weakness, numbness, trouble speaking, vision loss, or a severe headache unlike any you’ve had, call 911.
Inner-ear conditions such as BPPV and Ménière’s disease that haven’t resolved with traditional treatments, or neck-related dizziness, is worth an Upper Cervical evaluation and is often the point when people come to us.
What the Research Shows
A randomized controlled trial published in Physical Therapy found that people with long-term neck-related dizziness who received hands-on care to the neck reported less dizziness than a placebo group (Reid et al., 2014). A follow-up of the same patients found the benefits held at 12 months (Reid et al., 2015).
These trials tested physical therapy techniques, but what they do show is that when the neck is the source of dizziness, care directed at the neck can help. A larger trial focused on upper cervical care for dizziness could confirm how it compares.
How We Look for the Cause
We never guess about your health. Our Blueprint Spinal Analysis puts precise imaging at the center, so we can see whether your Atlas is out of position and by exactly how much. Posture and thermography add supporting detail.
If we find a misalignment, Orthospinology corrects it with a gentle, precise adjustment calculated from your own measurements. If we find that we’re not the best people to help, we promise to refer you to someone who is.
You Don’t Have to Plan Your Life Around Dizziness
You deserve to turn your head, climb the stairs, and drive without bracing for the room to move. Finding the cause is how you get there, and helping you find it is all we care about. You’ll get the kind of expertise you’d otherwise have to travel hours to find, in a small-town practice where people know your name.
Start With a Complimentary Consult
Your first step is a complimentary consult. We’ll listen to your story and talk through what might be behind your dizziness. If you choose to continue that same day, your Comprehensive Exam is a $150 investment. Your Report of Findings happens at a separate visit and is complimentary. That’s where we review your results and share our recommendations if we believe we can help.
Call or text 254-304-7474, or book your complimentary consult online.
References
- Reid SA, Rivett DA, Katekar MG, Callister R. Comparison of Mulligan sustained natural apophyseal glides and Maitland mobilizations for treatment of cervicogenic dizziness: a randomized controlled trial. Phys Ther. 2014;94(4):466-476. Full record
- Reid SA, Callister R, Snodgrass SJ, Katekar MG, Rivett DA. Manual therapy for cervicogenic dizziness: long-term outcomes of a randomised trial. Man Ther. 2015;20(1):148-156. PubMed 25220110
Reviewed by Dr. Christy Flick, DC · Last reviewed [DATE YOU APPROVE]
This article is for educational purposes and shares general information about upper cervical chiropractic care. It isn’t a substitute for an individual clinical assessment, and results vary from person to person. If you’re wondering whether this could be the source of what you’re dealing with, we’d welcome the chance to take a look. Schedule a complimentary consultation at atlaschiropracticwaco.com or call 254-304-7474.
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