Well-Adjusted: The Chiropractor's Corner

After a car accident or an unfortunate tackle in a pick-up game of football, the vertebrae located at the base of the head may become misaligned, disrupting signals to and from the brain and throwing the body off balance. The result? Vertigo. If this is the case, a chiropractor can solve the problem by realigning the offending vertebrae. But there are other kinds of vertigo that call for different kinds of treatments.

A recent case study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Theapeutics features a 46-year-old woman who suffered from frequent dizzy spells, nausea and nystagmus. She was diagnosed with Benign Positional Vertigo. Normally, movement of the fluid in the semicircular canal of the ear signals head movement, but in a BPV patient, particles in the inner ear become dislodged, giving the brain the false impression that the head is moving. Her doctor of chiropractic performed the Epley maneuver—which usually takes 15 minutes— and promptly relieved the woman of her vertiginous burden.

Road Trip 101: Perhaps the mere thought of a New York City taxicab makes your stomach churn. Motion sickness is another brand of vertigo, caused not by a knock on the head or rogue ear particles but, rather, by conflicting signals from the inner ears, eyes and body. It can be prevented with visual fixation, a technique that involves keeping the eyes on a certain point in the horizon. Sitting in the front of a car or train, or near the wings of a plane, may help as well.

Skip the Wash: Keep your world upright and vertigo-free by avoiding certain head positions—like the one used in salons for shampooing hair, which involves bending the neck back while looking up at the ceiling.

Ancient Power: Ginkgo biloba is the oldest living tree species and is approved in Germany for treating dementia. It has been found to reduce symptoms of vertigo in several studies; in one, 47% of the subjects who took Ginkgo biloba extract reported a full recovery, versus 18% of the placebo group.