If you have not experienced extreme dizziness or vertigo, it can be hard to conceptualize just how debilitating this can be.  Several of my patients with this problem tell me they would rather deal with chronic pain or some other issue instead because it is so draining to feel a constant sense of disorientation in space. With vertigo, daily tasks can be difficult—especially actions that require head movement or being on your feet.   

Vertigo is a specific kind of dizziness where a person feels as though they are in constant motion. Potential causes include certain medications, inflammation of the inner ear nerves, viral infections, or abnormal fluid pressure in the inner ear.  The most commonly diagnosable form of vertigo is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, or BPPV. This is thought to be caused by dislocated particles in the canals of the inner ear. Folks with BPPV are often taught to do a version of the “Epley Maneuver,” which is a pattern of head and body motions that attempt to move these particles into a better position.    

Hidden Cause 

While medications and the Epley Maneuver can be extremely helpful, vertigo is often not resolved by these treatments alone. I believe that many folks continue to experience vertigo symptoms because an important cause is ignored.  At our clinic, we work to improve or resolve vertigo for many patients by looking beyond the inner ear to another source—the nerve endings that give our bodies position sense. 

As an example, a patient I’ll refer to as Dorothy came in for lower back and neck pain treatment. She was not aware that we also treat vertigo, but during the history and examination on her first visit, she explained that she had been suffering for months with dizziness. She had been diagnosed with BPPV but could not tolerate the medication that she had been prescribed. While the Epley Maneuver helped somewhat, the relief was temporary.   

While we successfully treated her other complaints, we also used therapies that focused on releasing restrictions of the connective tissue in her upper neck, jaw muscles, and muscles at the base of the skull. This fibrous connective tissue is called fascia, and in Dorothy’s case, it responded well to gentle hands-on treatment. She reported a 60 percent decrease in her vertigo symptoms after just one session. Within a few more visits, Dorothy was elated to see that her vertigo symptoms were gone.    

Position Sense 

The reason that fascia release treatments were able to relieve Dorothy’s vertigo is because of the most important sense in our bodies—proprioception. This is the medical term for position sense, our ability to know where all the parts of our bodies are in space.  

The millions of nerve endings that give us position sense are found throughout our entire bodies, located in fascia and other fibrous tissue. They give us the information that makes all coordinated movement possible, along with upright posture, stability, and muscular balance. In the case of vertigo, fascia restrictions in the jaw, upper neck, or skull can distort position sense, which causes the disorienting sensations of a spinning motion and loss of balance.  

At our office, we release restrictions in fascia through a non-invasive combination of therapies such as gentle tissue compression, stretching, and pulsed microcurrent. Restoring normal flexibility and movement to fascia helps return to normal position sense. Most of our vertigo patients achieve significant relief with these fascia treatments—even when other treatment methods fail. This relief is usually more sustainable than other therapies. 

When vertigo symptoms are extreme or persistent, it’s crucial to be evaluated first by a physician who specializes in this area.  If vertigo or dizziness occurs with other symptoms such as blurred vision, rapid heartrate, or mental confusion, an urgent medical evaluation is necessary.   But many cases of vertigo don’t have serious underlying conditions, as the most common cause is often overlooked. Exploring fascia release therapy with a practitioner who has experience with vertigo treatment could be the key to lasting relief.  

Eric Winder, D.C., uses gentle manual therapy and rehab techniques to help patients with a wide range of pain and injury problems. Dr. Winder’s office is in the Gulf Gate area of Sarasota. For more information, call 941-957-8390 or visit https://gentlebay.com/