Vertigo and sleep have a lot more in common than people realize. According to studies, getting ample restorative sleep plays a vital role in helping patients cope with spinning sensations. Sadly, even if this is a widely-known fact, many people still fail to tap into quality sleep as one of their natural remedies for vertigo. If you're among these individuals, maybe our short discussion on sleepless nights and their effects on the inner ears and central nervous system can help you understand things better.
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The latest numbers reveal that more than 70 million Americans have sleeping problems. Sadly, many of these people also experience spinning sensations, disorientation, and dizziness. Here’s a closer look at the different sleep disorders afflict many Americans.
This is probably the number one vertigo causing sleep disorder for people. When you have sleep apnea, your brain’s blood supply gets reduced while you sleep, leading to headaches and vertigo-related dizziness during the day.
Suppose you suspect that this is the cause of your vertigo. In that case, it helps to consult with healthcare professionals or seek natural remedies for vertigo and sleep apnea, such as upper cervical chiropractic. As a specialized and focused type of chiropractic care, it aims to relieve tension on the neck and correct misalignments that affect breathing when you sleep. In addition, a misalignment in the neck can disrupt the connection between your brain and respiratory system.
Restless legs syndrome may result in fewer sleep hours each night. When you have a severe restless leg syndrome, you're lucky to get as much as five hours of sleep at night, but even those with a milder case do not get a restful night's sleep. Poor sleep quality can trigger an onset of vertigo when you wake up in the day.
Insomnia is a widespread sleep disorder that prevents a person to fall asleep or stay asleep. In some cases, insomnia can also cause you to wake up too early and find it difficult to return to sleep. When you have insomnia, you also feel tired when you wake up. Sadly, sleep deprivation due to insomnia triggers vertigo symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, or vomiting.
Some vertigo cases (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) develop because of displaced crystals inside the inner ear. These tiny crystal particles impede your vestibular function. As a result, when you tilt your head at the wrong angle, you experience dizzying and spinning sensations.
If you have BPPV, you might find it helpful to keep your head slightly elevated when sleeping. You can also try to use specialized wedge-shaped pillows or arrange your pillows to support your head. We also strongly recommend putting a pillow under the neck to avoid additional neck injuries.
Sleeping on your back will benefit your spine, but it's also an optimal position to keep inner ear fluids from building up that can cause vertigo. This position can also help prevent calcium crystals in your ear from shifting positions and interfering with your inner ear’s function. We strongly recommend finding the right pillow to support your body when you change to this new sleeping position.
While it might be tempting to jumpstart your day immediately after your alarm goes off, we suggest taking things a bit slow if you have vestibular or vertigo-causing conditions. To help minimize the chances of vertigo episodes, move slowly and gently from a lying to a sitting position. You should also avoid making too many head movements so your body can regain its balance and prevent the risks of slipping, tripping, or falling. Do this even if you're just about to take a bathroom break in the middle of the night.
Shaking off your stress or blowing off some steam can help you enjoy a restful night and uninterrupted sleep. It can also help you avoid vertigo attacks when you’re awake. Many doctors, chiropractors, and other healthcare professionals recommend developing a routine that relaxes or calms the mind. Here are things you can try to combat stress:
There are many options for natural remedies for vertigo. Some you can choose to do at home, such as getting a good night's sleep, staying hydrated, and adjusting your diet. Others also try physical therapy, The Epley Maneuver, and The Brandt Daroff exercise. If these don’t work for you, or if you have a history of injuries like post-concussion syndrome and whiplash, you can try upper cervical chiropractic. It’s a unique and focused approach to restoring balance in the body by applying precise chiropractic adjustments to re-align the C1 and C2 bones to the head and other vertebral bones.
A misalignment in your upper cervical spine prompts a lot of medical conditions and symptoms, including those that trigger vertigo attacks. When the two bones start to misalign (even just for a tiny fraction), the connection between the brain and spine tends to get disrupted. It can also cause other problems that eventually lead to spinning sensations, such as:
Thankfully, you can cancel out these things with the help of upper cervical chiropractic care. It’s one of the most well-known natural remedies for vertigo, and it has been around for quite some time, providing massive relief to many patients.
This type of care is not always top of mind, but you'll be surprised by how much this method can help you prevent your brain from detecting false motion. Seek a licensed upper cervical chiropractor so you can begin receiving upper neck bone adjustments today!
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TV show host Montel Williams describes how specific chiropractic care has helped his body.
The content and materials provided in this web site are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to supplement or comprise a medical diagnosis or other professional opinion, or to be used in lieu of a consultation with a physician or competent health care professional for medical diagnosis and/or treatment. All content and materials including research papers, case studies and testimonials summarizing patients' responses to care are intended for educational purposes only and do not imply a guarantee of benefit. Individual results may vary, depending upon several factors including age of the patient, severity of the condition, severity of the spinal injury, and duration of time the condition has been present.
