Vertigo, Dizzness, and Inbalance and Osteopathy”

Vertigo often involves a problem with the balance mechanism of the inner ear, but there can be other causes as well. Most of these are easily resolved with the right treatment; some are potentially serious.

It can come from the neck. Your brain gets information from a number of places telling it what it means to be “upright”, and if the information coming from the neck is inconsistent with the other messages, that can cause vertigo. (This is known as “cervicogenic vertigo”.)

If it is a problem with the inner ear, it might be a condition called “benign paroxysmal positional vertigo” (“BPPV”). This occurs when grit in your inner ear starts to push on the fine hairs that trigger your sense of balance. It is usually easy to resolve by holding your head in the right position. I do this for patients, and also teach them how to do it for themselves.

Seeing an osteopath when you have vertigo, dizziness and other balance problems

Inner ear problems can also be caused by an infection; and ear infections usually respond well to treatment by an osteopath.

Even if the balance problem is coming from your central nervous system, there is some evidence that, in some situations, treatment by an osteopath may be helpful.

The first thing if you have vertigo, dizziness or some other form of balance problem will be to assess what is happening and why it is happening. In some situations it may be necessary to refer you on; in most, the clinical evidence, and my clinical experience, suggest that I will probably be able to help (see below).

References for seeing an osteopath when you have vertigo, dizziness, and other balace problems:

Lopez D, King HH, Knebl JA, Kosmopoulos V, Collins D, Patterson RM. 2011 Effects of comprehensive osteopathic manipulative treatment on balance in elderly patients: a pilot study. J Am Osteopath Assoc Jun;111(6):382-8.

Fraix M 2010 Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment and Vertigo: A Pilot Study PM&R Volume 2, Issue 7, July , Pages 612–618

Channell MK 2008 Modified Muncie technique: osteopathic manipulation for eustachian tube dysfunction and illustrative report of case. J Am Osteopath Assoc May;108(5):260-3

Heikkilä H, Johansson M, Wenngren BI. 2000 Effects of acupuncture, cervical manipulation and NSAID therapy on dizziness and impaired head repositioning of suspected cervical origin: a pilot study. Man Ther Aug;5(3):151-7

Fraix M 2009 Osteopathic manual medicine for vertigo: review of literature, case report, and future research The AAO Journal Vol 19, Issue 2, Summer

Berkowitz MR 2009 Application of Osteopathy in the Cranial Field to Successfully Treat Vertigo:A Case Series The AAO Journal 19(3) 27-32