Vertigo & Balance
Accurate diagnosis and specific treatment for a range of vertigo related conditions.
Vertigo can be scary and debilitating, not all causes are amenable to manual treatment. However Bppv, cervicogenic vertigo, and migraine related vertigo typically respond well to manual therapy.
Vertigo and balance issues can be related to many conditions, more serious conditions can be associated with chest pain (cardiovascular) or neurological symptom’s like numbness, weakness or palsy (TIA, stroke, tumor). Vertigo can also be associated with anxiety, insulin injection, drug side effects, rapid head movement (BPPV), hearing loss and tinnitus (Meniere’s) and viral infection.
Understanding Functional Vertigo: How Conflicting Brain Signals Disrupt Balance and Stability
BPPV is caused by crystals floating in the inner ear bumping into the hair cells that report to your brain where you are in space. Typically aggrevated by head movements, episodes are usually short but intense. Treatment involves repetitive movements that move the crystals to an area of the inner ear that won’t affect the hair cells, where they will dissolve.
Recalibrating the Brain for Effective Vertigo Treatment
Cervicogenic vertigo can be the result of whiplash or dysfunction in the upper cervical spine. It occurs due to dysfunction in the unconscious control centre’s in the brain which integrate information. Your brain integrates information from three main sources to establish balance, stability and a sense of where you are in space. These include your eyes, inner ear canals and receptors in the muscles and joints of your whole body- especially the spine. When the information from these three sources is conflicting, it creates confusion in the control centre’s which is experienced as vertigo, headache, nausea, palpitations, autonomic dysfunction and balance issues. The process is likened to three inputs to a single TV, if the inputs differ the picture becomes unclear and confusing. Treatment involves manual therapy and exercises that re establish healthy movement of the spine and tune the 3 inputs to be less confusing for the processing centres.