Been injured in a car crash? Dr. Messerschmidt in Juneau, AK has been taking care of patients with vertigo after auto injuries since 1983. Call our clinic today at (907) 789-1344 for an appointment or consultation.
Some patients report dizziness or vertigo after an auto collision. There are four leading causes of this problem after a crash.
The most widespread cause of dizziness is due to neck damage - or what's called cervicogenic vertigo. Your spinal column contains tens of thousands 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.
If your neck is sprained, the proprioceptors can be disrupted, and this crucial data is no longer supplied to the postural control system of your brain, resulting in dizziness.
Cervicogenic dizziness usually resolves on its own with specific treatment of the injured neck tissues.
Another type of dizziness is called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV. BPPV can be caused by violent movement of your head, as you could very well endure during the course of a car crash. Your inner ear contains tiny calcium crystals called otoliths. As you move your head, these crystals move against nerve endings in your inner ear, informing your brain about the position of your head. During a violent motion of your head, these otoliths can literally be jarred from their typical location to other parts 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.
Patients with BPPV commonly report vertigo that occurs when they move their head and neck in certain ways. Treatment of BPPV is accomplished 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 dizziness after an auto collision is vascular damage. On occasion, the blood vessels of the neck are injured, causing altered blood flow to the brain. This type of injury is often felt as a pain in the back of the head that becomes more intense over time, and it can be on either side of the head or in the middle. Occasionally the pain is felt as 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 right away if you have these symptoms.
The fourth possible kind of dizziness is brain injury. If your head hit something at the time of the crash or if the wreck was very bad, you can suffer a mild traumatic brain injury. If you suffered a brain injury, you might experience fuzzy thinking, confusion, dizziness, or memory loss after the collision. It's critical that you seek medical attention if you experience these symptoms.
Chiropractic adjustments are a well-known, successful way to help men and women with dizziness, and we've been working with these types of injuries in Juneau, AK since 1983.
If you've been in a crash and have symptoms of back pain, Dr. Messerschmidt is here to help. We can help establish the underlying cause of your pain and formulate a plan of action to help you reclaim your health. We have helped many people in Juneau, AK recover from these sorts of injuries.
Call our office today at (907) 789-1344 for an appointment or for more information.