Can Neck Pain Cause Dizziness?

At first, one may find it weird and unlikely, but yes. Neck pain can cause dizziness, considering the criticality of neck injury that often leads to a person feeling unsteady, off-balance, and dizzy. Dizziness as a result of problems of the neck, is medically referred to as cervical vertigo, and can vary in degree in accordance with the severity of the neck problem. Often, those suffering from such kind of dizziness seek chiropractic therapies and heavy medication. In case of a neck injury such as sprain, muscular problems, spine issues, medical problems associated with back, degenerative disc ailment, pinched nerve, and disorders of the neck tissues, a person experiences severe pain and numbness. All these make for the symptoms of dizziness due to neck pain, and if not immediately addressed, can add to the criticality of the injury of the neck. The following words discuss the various reasons for such instability in body, so that it becomes easy to understand exactly how can pain in the neck cause dizziness.

Causes of Dizziness Due to Neck Pain
In case of a neck injury, regardless of the orientation of head to the gravity, dizziness is provoked. If a person moves or turns their head about the vertical axis, instability might be experienced, and severe pain might occur. Many a time, due to neck pain, one might also experience constant headaches that leads to dizziness. These headaches can be caused by holding the neck straight for a while, which causes tension in the muscles of the neck. As a result, the person experiences dizziness, and often becomes clumsy. While these are the major causes of dizziness as a result of pain in the neck, the following list comprises various secondary reasons due to which dizziness can be experienced:

• Whiplash injury
• Neck arthritis
• Inflammation
• Neck muscle spasm
• Inability to move neck
• Paroxysmal positional vertigo (an inner ear disorder)

Treatment for Dizziness Due to Neck Pain
The most basic treatment for reducing the dizziness one experiences due to neck pain is to treat the neck pain in the first place. Determining the root cause of the neck pain by getting oneself physically examined, can help in diagnosing the reason behind such neck pain. Doctors often carry out X-rays, CT, and MRI scans that find out the exact symptoms and cause behind the pain in the neck. Other treatments include injections to the irritated nerves which will reduce both dizziness and neck pain considerably.

When treating dizziness comes into question, chiropractic therapy is the most widely acknowledged therapy that patients undergo. In chiropractic therapy, the chiropractors bring about a balance in the shift of tendons which occurred as a result of the injury. This treatment will help the neck signal the brain properly, without causing any further dizziness. Many patients often improve with regular medications, exercises of the neck, proper posture instructions given by their physicians, and gentle mobilization. Also, vestibular therapy is readily brought into use for treatment of neck problem that is accompanied by dizziness and clumsiness.

In a bid to find out how exactly can neck pain cause dizziness, many doctors and physicians are working hard for an answer. However, as of today, no formal studies have been completed that outline the exact causes of neck pain and dizziness. As a result, it can happen very often that the dizziness a person experiences during a neck injury is totally coincidental. However, it is highly recommended that the patient be completely transparent with the problem, and tells the entire history associated with his or her neck injury.