Do you suffer from dizziness and vertigo?
Dizziness and Vertigo (poor balance) is an under recognised problem. It is often part of a headache complaint. It reflects an underlying problem that usually effects one of three body systems based on the SEE principle.
S refers to the spine. There are four balance or proprioceptors that have the strongest representation in the body - the neck, the jaw, the lumbar spine and the ankle joint
E refers to the ears, more specifically the inner ear structures that include the sensory organs: the three semicircular cans and the two otoloiths: saccule and utricle.
E refers to the eyes. The visual system is the eyes that is required to determine your position in space.
Information from the vestibular system (movement and gravity) is encoded in the brain and the body responds accordingly to
- Maintain upright position
- Stabilise visual images
- Help with spinal stability and posture
What do these movements tell us?
1. Detects head movement (angular rotation and linear translation) “Am I moving and in which direction?”
2. Orientates the head and body to gravity “Where am I relative to my surroundings and where is up?”
Try this test?
The interaction between eye movement and neck muscle activity is likely to influence the control of neck movement and posture. To show this, run this test.
Grab a friend and get them to place their index finger at the base of skull. Then move your eyes from left to right and from right to left, keeping your neck still. What you should feel is movement under your fingers indicating that the neck muscles and their proprioceptors are firing when the eyes are moving!
What happens when things go wrong?
Sensory mismatch occurs which is a conflict of visual, vestibular and proprioceptive receptors giving an 'error code' to the internal GPS of the brain
How does this present?
- Whiplash, poor spinal joint function
- Vestibular hypofunction Eg. inner ear problem
- Dizziness, vertigo, motion sickness
- Poor balance, instability, spinal joint injuries
- Blurred vision, difficulty reading
How can we help?
We have specialised equipment that can help us determine the cause of the dizziness. Once we have determined the cause, we can ascertain whether rehabilitation is eye based, vestibular based or proprioceptive based or a combination thereof.
This consultation is a Neuro Rehabilitation consultation with Dr Paul Bergamo and is available on Mondays and Thursdays from 9-1pm and 3-7pm, Tuesday 2-6pm or Friday 9-1pm.
For any specific questions, please email Paul at paul@bergmohealth.com.au or call 9887 4144 to book an appointment