Every new patient we see at our Chiropractic Clinic has to go through through our initial examination, this is basically how we make sure it is safe to continue with management prior to doing any adjustments. Before any treatment begins we ask our patients to read and acknowledge our informed consent form, in some cases we get asked “can Chiropractic care cause vertigo?”.
ADVERSE OUTCOMES FROM CHIROPRACTIC CARE
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Temporary soreness, tenderness or bruising
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Fatigue, headache, dizziness or nausea (which usually resolve within 24hrs)
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Sprain/strain to ligament or disc in neck or low back
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Injury to the arteries of the neck
VERTIGO AND CHIROPRACTIC CARE
Vertigo is described as a peripheral or central vestibular disease with a lifetime prevalence of 10% and a yearly incidence of 1.4%(1). There are many different causes of vertigo, the more common being benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), Meniere’s disease and vestibular neuritis. There are other extremely rare causes which cannot be excluded without medical studies.
The vestibular system controls motion, head position and spacial orientation, while Chiropractic management is associated with muscles and joints of the body. These two do NOT intersect, which would mean that Chiropractic care does not cause vertigo. However, in extremely rare cases if there is damage to the arteries of the neck (1 in 1million to 1 in 5.8 million adjustments) this may be a potential risk to cause stroke like symptoms. These may include a feeling of dizziness. If there are any other associated symptoms such as nausea, double vision, trouble speaking or numbness please seek urgent medical care. Therefore, it is extremely rare for Chiropractic care to cause vertigo.
More commonly our Chiropractors are trained to manage dizziness symptoms through the use of different manoeuvres such as Epley’s for BPPV, manual adjustments when indicated, and dry needling. If you would like to see one us please contact the clinic in Morley on (08) 9275 6095 or book online.
It is important to understand that if a rare central nervous system cause of vertigo is underlying that it gets assessed by a medical practitioner and more-so referred to a neurologist. This is why it is important that each practitioner does a thorough history and examination prior to any treatment. This is general advice only and is not specific to you, we recommend seeking medical advice if your symptoms persist.
1. Kovacs E, Wang X, Grill E. 2019. Economic burden of Vertigo: a systematic review. Health Economics Review.