Countless patients flock to a chiropractor for vertigo each month, looking for a way to alleviate their symptoms. After all, vertigo can cause disorienting effects. It can prevent you from working and impact your personal life a variety of ways.
Unfortunately, many patients who suffer from vertigo episodes don’t know why they have the symptoms in the first place. This makes it more challenging to find effective relief.
If you’re totally clueless about what type of vertigo you our currently experiencing or what may trigger your condition, this guide is for you. Let’s tackle the main differences between peripheral and central vertigo.
Vertigo is called central or peripheral on the basis of where the symptoms originate. Vestibular symptoms starting from problems in the brain or brain stem are classified as the central type. Conversely, symptoms arising in the inner ear or from the vestibular nerve are classified as peripheral.
As we’ve mentioned earlier, the inner ear serves a critical role in maintaining your balance. The vestibular system safely tucked in the inner ears, takes charge in gathering signals that help your brain perceive changes in your head’s orientation and motion. If the system somehow becomes dysfunctional, your brain receives mixed signals, causing you to experience false movement known as dizziness or vertigo. Below are some of the most common issues that can cause a peripheral vertigo attack:
BPPV affects a large fraction of patients who complain about vertigo. It’s a disorder that occurs because of the dislodged calcium crystals inside the semicircular canals. These tiny bits of crystals affect the quality and accuracy of the signals sent to the brain, causing you to feel mild to severe spinning sensations.
Meniere’s is a disorder of the inner ear that triggers vertigo attacks accompanied by ear congestion and tinnitus. It can also cause temporary hearing loss, vomiting, and nausea. The disorder stems from the abnormal accumulation of fluids inside the ear, which puts pressure on the vestibular nerve.
This type of inner ear infection can mess up the signals sent by your vestibulocochlear nerve to the brainstem. Ultimately, the condition causes you to experience vertigo episodes which can persist or recur until the nerve inflammation and infection goes away.
Similar to vestibular neuronitis, it also causes brain and body miscommunication. Often, it stems from either a viral or bacterial ear infection. Until the infection goes away, you may experience vertigo episodes, fluctuating ear loss as well as ringing inside the ear.
Many patients who come to a chiropractor for vertigo had neck or head injuries such as whiplash or concussion. Some had seemingly healed from their original injury before their vertigo episodes started. Others experience spinning sensations during the recovery period.
Central vertigo originates from the brain or the brainstem. Typical health problems that trigger central vertigo include:
Did you know that roughly 40 percent of sufferers experience vertigo with their migraine symptoms? That’s why plenty of patients who experience migraines also visit a chiropractor for vertigo. Essentially, the type of migraine known as a vestibular migraine which occurs with vertigo attacks that could last as long as the throbbing headaches you experience.
If you have been taking a prescription for cancer, hypertension, depression, inflammation, or fever, you might notice mild to severe lightheadedness or vertigo attacks. You might also experience the same problem when you take sedatives or anticonvulsants.
Impeded blood flow can result in spinning sensations that could last for a few seconds to several hours. If you have cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, atherosclerosis, embolism, and aneurysm, you might also have vertigo episodes as a symptom.
MS or multiple sclerosis is one of the most debilitating diseases of the CNS. It results from nerve damage and causes miscommunication between your body and the brain. Vertigo episodes are just one of the many disabling conditions that occur in patients suffering from MS.
Regardless if you got diagnosed with a malignant or benign tumor, chances are you will also frequently struggle with vertigo attacks. As the growing tissue puts pressure on affected CNS parts such as the brainstem or the vestibulocochlear nerve, you may experience more disorienting attacks.
Stroke remains one of the leading reasons for hospital visits in the US. It also accounts for 3 to 5 percent of dizziness and vertigo cases in the country. If you suffer from a stroke in your brainstem or cerebellum, you may experience vertigo. You will likely observe other stroke symptoms such as weakness or numbness of the facial muscles, trouble seeing, sudden confusion, and severe headaches of unknown origin. If you notice these signs, be sure to seek medical assistance right away.
Now that you can differentiate between peripheral and central vertigo, your next step is to start finding an effective relief option. Some go-to options for vertigo relief include taking medication, managing stress levels, getting enough sleep at night, and doing vertigo exercises. Then, there’s also NUCCA chiropractic, a leading approach in handling many different types of vertigo and dizziness.
If you’ve been trying these remedies and see minimal improvements, you should seek out a NUCCA specialist. The process itself is quite straightforward and logical as it aims to correct spinal misalignment – a critical factor that aggravates vertigo symptoms.
Feel free to find out more about the approach today! You call a nearby NUCCA chiropractic professional or check out case studies on the benefits of going to a chiropractor for vertigo.
[blog-button]
