Why is the Room Spinning?

Vertigo is the sensation of the environment moving around you is when there really is no movement. 

Vertigo is basically a type of dizziness, which is often accompanied by nausea, and loss of balance. It can be a serious and debilitating problem. There are basically two types of vertigo and they are known as central vertigo and peripheral vertigo.

Central vertigo is caused by a disturbance in the balance centres of the central nervous system and is often associated with some type of lesion in the brain. This is often a more serious type of vertigo and is often accompanied by serious balance problems and other neurological deficits. There are many disorders that can cause vertigo such as tumours, epilepsy, and migraines to name a few. This type of vertigo is usually longer lasting than peripheral vertigo and is usually treated with medication or surgery depending on the cause.

Peripheral vertigo a problem with the inner ear, which contains our balance organs. These organs are basically fluid-filled chambers which contain nerve endings that respond to our position in space. Our position causes movement of the fluid which then interacts with the nerve endings that relay information to our brain, which in turn processes it and then coordinates it so our body can maintain balance and position sense.  When there is a problem with this system it could result in ‘mixed signals’ or the wrong information getting to our brain thus giving us the sensation of dizziness. This could also be accompanied by nausea too.

Most of us have experienced this type of motion sickness after being on a boat or after spinning on a carnival ride. This would be a type of peripheral vertigo. This type of vertigo can also be caused by an infection in the middle ear. Another type of peripheral vertigo which is accompanied by ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and a sense of pressure or fullness in our ears is known as Meniere’s disease. There is no known origin of this condition and it is usually progressive and may lead to deafness.

The most common type of peripheral vertigo is called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo or BPPV. This occurs when small calcium deposits called otoliths break off and ‘float’ around in the fluid-filled chambers causing the nerve fibres to trigger which in turn causes vertigo. In this condition, the vertigo is usually made worse by certain head movements. BPPV can be diagnosed by a specific test whereby the head is turned to reproduce the symptoms.

This type of vertigo can often be successfully treated by the Epley Maneuver which puts the head through ranges of motion that eventually allow the ‘exit’ of the otoliths from the fluid chambers, thus alleviating the symptoms. This often works within 1 or 2 treatments.

Sometimes, more persistent causes of vertigo will benefit with chiropractic adjustments and/or acupuncture.

If you develop vertigo or know someone that has it, many sufferers respond very well to these drug-free approaches. Please reach out to us if we can help: 519-258-8544