Treat Vertigo the simple way for best results.
Channel: The Upper Cervical Spine Center
Date: 10/07/2021

#chiropractic #charlotte #nCarolina #upperCewrvical #vertigo

Vertigo is a condition where the victim’s world is spinning and a lot of times people don't know what causes it. My name is Dr. Zach Shaw and I am with the Upper Cervical Spine Center. We see patients with vertigo many times every single day, and they achieve results because we find the cause of vertigo. So, what causes vertigo? First, let us talk about why vertigo happens? The vestibulocochlear nerve comes off the brainstem and innervates the inner ear. It has two parts: “vestibulo” which means balance and “cochlear” which means hearing. Therefore, the ear not only is responsible for hearing, but it also is responsible for a lot of balance throughout our body.

Maybe you have heard of the inner ear having fluid in it and this fluid level allows us to be upright in space or allows us to know where we are in space. This way we are not all over the place like you are on a boat and the world is just spinning. Most of the time, someone with vertigo goes to their doctor, they take a look at the ear, and they see nothing wrong; everything in the inner ear right looks perfectly normal. Now, we have to ask, if there is nothing wrong with the ear, then what is causing this vertigo? Unfortunately, conventional care will throw some drugs at you, which have side effects. For vertigo medications, these side effects may include insomnia, GI problems like indigestion or constipation, anxiety, drowsiness, and attention and concentration problems. In order to avoid side effects, we have to stop taking drugs that just mask the symptoms and never get to the cause of the condition.

At the Upper Cervical Spine Center, we get to the cause, which is interference to the nerve system. How does this affect the vestibulocochlear nerve? How does this cause vertigo? Well, the vestibulocochlear nerve innervates the ear, but it comes off of the brainstem. The brainstem is housed by the top two bones in your neck, the atlas, and the axis. This brainstem comes through the atlas and axis and if there's interference to that brainstem, specifically at the level where the vestibulocochlear nerve is, we can have issues. So, like we discussed, the ear looks completely normal, but what if there's interference, or pressure, on the brainstem? The ear is telling the brain, "Hey, nothing is wrong,” while the message to the brain clearly tells the brain something is wrong. This something is due to the interference to the message back to the brain. There is nothing wrong with the ear, but there is something wrong with the nerve. What we do at the Upper Cervical Spine Center is we find this misalignment causing interference, we remove the interference, which also allows relief of any interference to the vestibulocochlear nerve. Now, the ear can tell the brain's normal function or normal messages. Thus, vertigo goes away. 

If you or a loved one suffer from this dizziness condition called vertigo, please give our office a call. We are in the Charlotte, North Carolina area and our number is 704-588-5560. We will be happy to do a consultation free of charge. If we need to go further and do an exam and a full set of x-rays, we will do that, so we know exactly what the cause of this vertigo is. If you are not in the Charlotte area, please give our office a call anyway and I promise we will find an upper cervical doctor as close to you as possible.

Visit us:
Website - https://uppercervicalspinecenter.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/theuppercervicalspinecenter/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/DrRayDrury
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theuppercervicalspinecenter/