Dizziness is extremely common and causes a large number of people to present to their chiropractor’s or doctor’s office. There are many causes of dizziness, and so a formal assessment by a qualified professional is often required.
At Neuroworks, your Ealing chiropractor, we have undergone extensive postgraduate studies in the fields of neurology so that we can become specialists in the fields of dizziness diagnosis and treatment. If you suffer from dizziness, please call to arrange an appointment on 0202 8566 3757 now.
Dizziness can mean different things to different people. Therefore, one of the first things the clinician will do is try and understand exactly what you mean when you say you are “dizzy”. Generally, dizziness is described as the perception of light-headedness, giddiness or unsteadiness.
It is important to distinguish dizziness from vertigo. Actually, vertigo is a type of dizziness. It is the sensation that you are moving or spinning, even though you may be stood still. It is a very distinct symptom, which helps narrow down the diagnosis to a range of structures within the head. Therefore, one of the first things your clinician will try and determine is whether or not your dizziness is due to vertigo or a different cause.
There are specifically two types of vertigo: peripheral vertigo and central vertigo. A peripheral disorder refers to one that affects your inner ear, where the hair cells are that detect balance changes, or the vestibular nerve, the nerve that connects your inner ear to your brain. Examples of peripheral vertigo include BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo), Menieres and labrynthitis. In contrast, central vertigo refers to a range of diseases that affect the parts of your brain where you detect and maintain a sense of equilibrium or balance.
It is important to realize that there are many other causes of dizziness that are not specifically vertigo. One type is cervicogenic dizziness. This refers to problems with necks muscles or joints that presents as dizziness. It is common in individuals who have suffered whiplash or concussion-type trauma, however may also be present in people with poor posture or with severe cervical dysfunction. When the neck isn’t functioning properly, sensory input from these structures to the brain is also affected. This means that these structures stop telling the brain exactly where they are in space (known as proprioception). Therefore, the sensory input from the neck to the brain is all of a sudden different to that which is coming in from the inner ear and the eyes to the brain. This incongruity of sensory input results in dizziness or the sense of disequilibrium.
Other causes of dizziness can include hypertension or hypotension (particularly when changing from sitting-standing, referred to as postural hypotension), infections, alcohol, hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia and persistent postural perceptual dizziness, amongst many other causes.
If you are suffering from dizziness, it is important to have it assessed by your health profession. Treatments vary considerably depending on the specific type of dizziness or vertigo you are suffering. Please call to arrange an appointment on 020 8566 3757 now and let us help you today.