Chiropractic Treatment for Balance Problems in Chronic Neck Pain Patients

Mary Franz - Dec 15th, 2010

Cervical vertigo refers to dizziness or unsteadiness brought on by a neck injury such as whiplash. Nearly 80% of whiplash patients also report dizziness. Dizziness and unsteadiness is also reported by around 30% of people who suffer other types of neck problems. People may feel dizzy within the first 24 hours of their injury, although sometimes symptoms may not occur until a week or more later.

If your neck injury occurred as a result of hitting your head and jarring your neck, you should seek medical evaluation if you experience dizziness, loss of consciousness, visual disturbances or nausea. If, however, concussion or serious head trauma has been ruled out, your dizziness may be a result of the neck injury and the effect it had on your proprioception system. Proprioception is your ability to sense the positioning of your body as it relates to other body parts.

Neck injuries such as whiplash can in some cases affect the ability of proprioceptive impulses to travel to the brain, leading to problems with dizziness, posture, and balance. It can take many weeks to months for this system to correct itself.

In a recent study, a 45-year-old chronic neck pain patient with unsteadiness underwent an 8-week rehabilitative program that involved therapeutic exercises and chiropractic spinal manipulation. At the end of the program, she had improved symptoms with better postural control and less swaying. The study indicates that chiropractic spinal manipulation may in some cases offer a solution to a common problem among neck pain patients.

Lafond D, Champagne A, Cadieux R, Descarreaux M. Rehabilitation program for traumatic chronic cervical pain associated with unsteadiness: a single case study. Chiropractic and Osteopathy: November 2008.