Some patients report dizziness or vertigo after an auto collision. There are four leading causes of this condition after a crash.
The most typical cause of vertigo is because of neck injury - or what's called cervicogenic dizziness. Your spine comprises countless numbers of nerves referred to as proprioceptors, and these nerves 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 injured, the proprioceptors can be disrupted, and this crucial data is no longer available to the postural control system of your brain, resulting in vertigo.
Cervicogenic dizziness normally resolves on its own with specific treatment of the damaged neck structures.
Yet another type of dizziness is called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV. BPPV can be brought about by violent movement of your head, as you might endure especially during a car collision. 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 position to other parts of your inner ear. There, they send impulses to your brain that don't make sense, causing confusion in your postural control system, and dizziness.
Patients with BPPV frequently 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 vertigo after an auto collision is vascular damage. Sometimes, the arteries 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 grows 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 an extremely serious type of injury and it's essential to seek medical attention immediately if you have these symptoms.
The fourth potential kind of dizziness is brain injury. If your head struck something at the time of the accident or if the collision was very bad, you can suffer a mild traumatic brain injury. If you suffered a brain injury, you might suffer with fuzzy thinking, confusion, vertigo, or memory loss after the collision. It's important that you seek medical attention if you experience these symptoms.
Chiropractic care is a well-known, effective way to help people with dizziness, and we've been working with these types of injuries in Tulsa, OK since 1981.
If you have been in an auto collision and have signs of back pain, Dr. Bogan is here to help. We can help identify the underlying source of your pain and formulate a treatment plan to help you restore your health. We have helped many people in Tulsa, OK improve from these sorts of problems.
Call our office today at (918) 832-7880 for a consultation or for more advice.
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