Pain in the cervical spine and dizziness may be related. Sometimes neck pain can be accompanied by balance disorders. The following article describes what the possible causes are and how to treat it.
In general terms, a person may experience neck pain as a result of some inflammation in the area, or due to circulatory insufficiency at the level of the cervical spine. This can cause symptoms such as imbalance or instability that occurs when making neck movements. It is this feeling of imbalance that is known as cervicogenic vertigo or cervicogenic dizziness.
Causes and symptoms of cervicogenic vertigo
Neck pain can often have a muscular origin, and it may be the result of muscle spasms. These muscle spasms can occur as a result of using poor posture when you sleep or when using the computer, as well as from having put excess strain on the cervical area.
A muscle spasm in your neck can lead to dizziness and headaches. However, muscle spasms are not the only thing that can trigger these symptoms. Arthritis and cervical osteoarthritis, as well as some cervical disc herniations can also cause dizziness and problems with balance in some people.
At Instituto Clavel, when diagnosing cervicogenic vertigo, we take into account the patient's medical history and perform a physical examination. There are indicators that can help us determine the source of the problem, for example, the existence of symptoms such as constant vertigo, facial asymmetry, severe headache, hearing loss, and others.
It is worth mentioning that, as of today, there is nothing in the literature that indicates a relationship between cervical disc herniation and dizziness or headaches. However, in practice, we see that these pathologies of mechanical origin are sometimes accompanied by this type of symptoms.
Do you get dizzy when you look at your mobile?
How is cervicogenic vertigo treated?
If you suffer from cervicogenic vertigo, it improves when your neck pain decreases. So, reducing your neck pain will be the first thing the specialist tries to help you with:
- Studies show that 75% of patients notice improvement with conservative treatments such as medication, exercises and using good postural habits. Our physical therapists at Instituto Clavel Rehabilitation can help you with treatment if you suffer from this pathology.
- Manual therapy treatments that focus on improving the range of motion and muscle strength in the neck, can be effective in reducing cervicogenic vertigo.
- An additional treatment that can complement other conservative treatments, and has very good results, is vestibular rehabilitation. The main goal of this type of treatment is to prevent dizziness and help the patient develop an improved sense of balance.
Neck pain: exercises to do at home
What is vestibular rehabilitation therapy?
In this therapy, the patient will begin by turning the head back and forth at a steady speed, keeping their gaze set on a fixed point about one meter away. This exercise is performed while sitting still.
Once the patient is accustomed to this, the next step is to make the exercise more complex, for example, by changing from a sitting to standing position while performing the exercise. When the dizziness improves, these exercises will be replaced with others that are performed on unsteady surfaces, so that the patient can practice keeping their balance.
Categories: Spine treatments, Cervical pain, Rehabilitation