Headaches/Dizziness

Symptoms:  

Head pain, pressure, throbbing, tightening, pulsating, piercing, “heavy” head; Neck pain or stiffness; Jaw/Ear pain; Light sensitivity; Aura or visual disturbance; Sound sensitivity; Nausea; Vomiting; Dizzy; Vertigo; Spinning; Fuzzy; Giddy; Imbalance; Motion sickness; Light headedness; Faint; Fatigue; Difficulty concentrating; Anxiety

Causes:

Multiple forms of headaches exist, including neck-related (cervicogenic), stress-related, circulatory or blood pressure related, vision related, hormonal, migraine, dehydration, etc.  Causes of headaches and dizziness include physical injury to the head or neck, genetic predisposition, neurological disease, medication side effects, or a combination of the afore mentioned.

Related Conditions:

Cervicogenic headache; Tension headache; Cluster headache; Compression headache; Migraine headache; TMJ pain/headache; Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV); Inner ear pathology; Vestibular dysfunction or neuritis; Epley; Dix-Hallpike; Syncope; Meniere’s Disease; Low blood pressure; Orthostatic hypotension; Vertebral artery compromise

How Renew Physical Therapy Can Help: 

Differential diagnosis is key in eliminating headaches and dizziness/vertigo.  The initial evaluation will include special tests to determine if the cause of symptoms is from the neck, vestibular/inner ear, circulatory, or other system.  In addition to patient education and counseling in behavioral modification and prevention strategies, we will utilize our evaluation skills to determine the presence of upper neck restriction or positional faults and correct these mechanical headache/dizziness triggers with specialized manual therapy techniques.  We are trained in the Epley maneuver to treat BPPV.