We work with many auto injury patients in our Henderson clinic, and some of our patients report dizziness or vertigo after a car crash. There are four leading causes of this problem after a wreck.
The most widespread cause of vertigo is due to neck injury - or what's called cervicogenic dizziness. Your spinal column comprises countless of nerves called proprioceptors, and these nerve fibers tell your brain the position of your body. Proprioceptors are how you can control your body in the dark or with your eyes closed, and are an important part of how your body maintains balance.
When your neck is damaged, the proprioceptors can be disrupted, and this important information is no longer accessible to the postural control system of your brain, resulting in dizziness.
Cervicogenic dizziness usually resolves on its own with proper treatment of the injured neck structures.
Yet another kind of vertigo is called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV. BPPV can be caused by violent movement of your head, as you might experience during the course of a car wreck. Your inner ear contains tiny calcium crystals called otoliths. As you move your head, these crystals move against nerve endings in your inner ear, telling your brain about the position of your head. During a violent motion of your head, these otoliths can actually be jarred from their typical location to other areas of your inner ear. There, they send signals to your brain that don't make sense, which causes confusion in your postural control system, and dizziness.
People with BPPV frequently report vertigo that appears when they move their head and neck in certain ways. Treatment of BPPV is done with a simple procedure called the Epley Maneuver, which positions your head to move the otoliths back to their normal position.
The third possible cause of vertigo after an auto injury is vascular damage. Sometimes, the blood vessels of the neck are damaged, causing restricted blood flow to the brain. This type of injury is often felt as a pain in the back of the head that grows stronger over time, and it can be either on the side of the head or in the middle. In some cases the pain feels dull, and other times it might feel like a rise in pressure or a throbbing sensation.
This is a very serious type of injury and it's very important to seek medical attention quickly if you have these symptoms.
The fourth possible kind of vertigo is brain injury. If your head struck something during the crash or if the crash was very bad, you can suffer a mild traumatic brain injury. If you suffered a brain injury, you might experience fuzzy thinking, confusion, vertigo, or memory loss after the collision. It's important that you seek medical attention if you have these symptoms.
Chiropractic care is a proven, reliable way to help men and women with dizziness, and we've been working with these types of injuries in Henderson, NV since .
If you have been in an auto collision and have signs of back pain, Dr. Russell is here to help. We can help establish the underlying cause of your pain and formulate a treatment plan to help you restore your health. We've helped many people in Henderson, NV improve from these sorts of injuries.
Call our office today at (702) 990-2225 for a consultation or for more advice.