Lazar Spinal Care Blog | Guides on Pain & Injury

How a Chiropractor for Vertigo Can Stop the Spinning

Written by Dr. Jonathan Lazar | Feb 3, 2026 7:46:22 PM

When that sudden spinning sensation hits, most people assume the problem is entirely in their inner ear. While that’s a common piece of the puzzle, it’s often not the whole story. There’s a critical, and often overlooked, connection between the alignment of your upper neck and your body's ability to maintain balance. The nerves at the very top of your spine are responsible for sending constant positioning signals to your brain. When a misalignment disrupts this communication, it can trigger intense vertigo. This article explores that surprising link and explains how a specialized chiropractor for vertigo can pinpoint and correct the structural source of your dizziness, offering a path to genuine, long-term stability.

Key Takeaways

  • Your spine's alignment is directly connected to your balance: A subtle misalignment in your upper neck can disrupt the nerve signals that control your body's equilibrium, often leading to the spinning sensations of vertigo.
  • Gentle, specific techniques target the true cause: Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, care plans use methods like the Epley maneuver for inner ear issues or precise upper cervical adjustments to correct the specific source of your dizziness.
  • Lasting relief is possible without medication: By restoring proper structure and function to your body, chiropractic care helps your system heal itself, offering a long-term solution that addresses the root problem instead of just masking symptoms.

What Is Vertigo and What Really Causes It?

If you’ve ever experienced vertigo, you know it’s much more than simple dizziness. It’s that sudden, disorienting sensation that the world around you—or you yourself—is spinning. This feeling can be intense enough to cause nausea, sweating, and a complete loss of balance, making it difficult to perform even the simplest daily tasks. While it can feel overwhelming, understanding the source of your vertigo is the first step toward finding lasting relief.

The causes can be complex, ranging from issues within the inner ear to problems with the central nervous system. Many people are surprised to learn that the root of their vertigo might actually be found in the alignment of their spine. At Lazar Spinal Care, we focus on identifying and addressing the underlying structural shifts that can trigger these episodes. We see a wide range of conditions helped by our approach, and vertigo is one where getting to the source is absolutely key. Instead of just managing the symptoms, we aim to correct the problem that’s causing them in the first place.

The Different Types of Vertigo

Most cases of vertigo are classified as peripheral vertigo, which means the problem originates in your inner ear. Your inner ear is home to a sophisticated system that acts as your body's internal compass, sending constant signals to your brain about your position and helping you maintain balance. When something disrupts this system, you can experience intense spinning sensations.

One of the most common causes of peripheral vertigo is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). This occurs when tiny calcium crystals, which are normally embedded in one part of your inner ear, break loose and travel into the ear's fluid-filled canals. These rogue crystals send confusing signals to your brain, triggering vertigo with certain head movements.

Getting to the Root of Dizziness and Balance Problems

Finding the true cause of your vertigo requires a thorough investigation. A chiropractor trained in this area won't just ask about your dizziness; they'll look at your entire health picture. Your first visit will involve a detailed discussion of your health history, followed by a comprehensive physical and neurological exam to understand how your body is functioning as a whole.

Specialized tests, like the Dix-Hallpike maneuver, can help determine if BPPV is the culprit by observing your eye movements as your head is gently repositioned. Chiropractors are skilled at diagnosing the many potential causes of dizziness, whether they stem from the inner ear, the nervous system, or the spine. This detailed diagnostic process ensures we can pinpoint the exact source of your problem before creating a care plan. You can learn more about what to expect as a new patient on our website.

The Surprising Link Between Your Spine and Vertigo

Your brain relies on a constant stream of information from your body to keep you balanced, and a significant portion of that information comes from the nerves in your upper neck. The top two vertebrae in your spine, the atlas and axis, are uniquely shaped to allow for a wide range of head motion. However, this mobility also makes them susceptible to misalignment from injuries or even poor posture over time.

When these vertebrae shift out of place, they can put pressure on the brainstem and interfere with the nerve signals traveling between your brain and your inner ear. This disruption can distort your brain's perception of balance and motion, leading directly to vertigo symptoms. Chiropractic care focuses on correcting these misalignments to restore clear communication, allowing your body's balance system to function as it should. Our QSM3 technique is a gentle and precise way to address these foundational issues.

How Chiropractic Care Targets the Root Cause of Vertigo

Instead of just managing the dizzy spells, chiropractic care aims to figure out why they're happening in the first place. It's based on a simple but powerful idea: your body is designed to be in balance, and sometimes it just needs a little help getting back on track. By focusing on the connection between your spine and your nervous system, we can address the structural issues that often lie at the heart of vertigo, helping your body restore its natural sense of equilibrium from the inside out.

How Spinal Alignment Affects Your Balance

Your spine is more than just a stack of bones; it’s the main highway for your nervous system. It protects the delicate nerves that carry messages between your brain and the rest of your body, including the systems that control your balance. When vertebrae in your spine—especially in your neck—are out of alignment, they can put pressure on these nerves, scrambling the signals. This interference can disrupt the communication needed to maintain your equilibrium, leading to that disorienting spinning sensation of vertigo. Chiropractic adjustments gently correct these misalignments, which can ease nerve pressure and allow your body’s balance system to function properly again. Many of the conditions we help stem from this same principle of restoring proper nerve function.

Our Gentle Upper Cervical Approach

The very top of your spine, where your head meets your neck, is a critical area for balance. This region houses the atlas (C1) and axis (C2) vertebrae, which surround the brainstem—the body's control center for countless automatic functions. Even a tiny misalignment here can disrupt the signals flowing to and from your brain and inner ear, directly impacting your vestibular system. At Lazar Spinal Care, we focus on this delicate area with a gentle upper cervical approach. We use precise and careful adjustments to correct these specific misalignments, restoring proper function without any forceful twisting or popping. Our goal is to address the problem right at the source, using specialized techniques designed for accuracy and comfort.

Restoring Your Body's Natural Communication

Think of your nervous system as your body's internal communication network. When everything is aligned and functioning correctly, messages flow freely, and your body can regulate itself effectively. But a spinal misalignment acts like static on the line, disrupting that flow. Chiropractic care works to clear up that static. By restoring proper alignment, we help re-establish clear communication between your brain and your body. This allows your body to tap into its own incredible ability to heal and maintain balance. It’s why many of our new patients find lasting relief with us, often after trying other treatments that only addressed the symptoms. We focus on restoring your body’s natural state of health.

Finding Relief Without Medication

While medication can sometimes offer temporary relief from vertigo, it often acts as a band-aid, masking the symptoms without fixing the underlying issue. This can lead to a frustrating cycle of recurring dizziness and dependency on drugs that may have unwanted side effects. Chiropractic care offers a different path—one that is natural, non-invasive, and completely drug-free. By identifying and correcting the structural root cause of your vertigo, we aim to provide a lasting solution, not just a quick fix. Our approach empowers your body to heal itself, reducing the need for medication and helping you regain control over your health. If you're ready to explore a solution that gets to the bottom of your dizziness, you can request an appointment to see if our approach is right for you.

Chiropractic Techniques That Bring Relief from Vertigo

Finding the right way to manage vertigo starts with understanding its specific cause. At Lazar Spinal Care, we use a combination of advanced diagnostic tools and targeted techniques to create a care plan that’s just for you. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, we focus on gentle, precise methods that address the root of the problem, whether it’s in your inner ear, your nervous system, or your spine. Our goal is to help your body restore its natural balance so you can get back to living your life without that disorienting spinning sensation.

The Epley Maneuver for BPPV

One of the most common causes of vertigo is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). This happens when tiny crystals in your inner ear, which help you sense gravity, become dislodged and move into the wrong place. The Epley maneuver is a specific and highly effective technique designed to guide these crystals back where they belong. It involves a series of gentle, controlled head and body movements performed in our office. For many people experiencing BPPV, this simple maneuver can bring surprisingly fast relief from their dizziness and spinning sensations, often in just one or two sessions. It’s a non-invasive way we can address one of the most frequent conditions we help our patients with.

Gentle Adjustments with Quantum Spinal Mechanics (QSM3)

When vertigo is linked to your spine, a gentle and precise approach is key. We specialize in Quantum Spinal Mechanics (QSM3), an advanced upper cervical technique that focuses on restoring your body’s balance without any popping, twisting, or cracking. Misalignments in the top of your spine can interfere with the nerve signals that travel between your brain and body, disrupting your sense of balance. By using light, targeted adjustments, we can correct these misalignments, reduce nerve interference, and allow your body’s internal communication system to function properly again. This gentle method helps restore stability and can significantly reduce or eliminate vertigo symptoms over time.

A Clearer Picture with PostureIQ™ and Insight™ Scans

Guesswork has no place in your healthcare. To truly understand the source of your vertigo, we use advanced diagnostic tools to get a clear and objective picture of what’s happening inside your body. Our process includes PostureIQ™ and Insight™ neurological scans, which give us detailed information about your spinal alignment and nervous system function. These scans help us see exactly how your body is compensating for stress and where interference might be occurring. By combining this data with a thorough physical exam, we can determine if your vertigo is related to your spine, nervous system, or another issue. This detailed assessment is a core part of our techniques and allows us to create a truly personalized and effective care plan.

Our NeuroBioStructural Analysis Approach

Our entire approach is built on NeuroBioStructural Analysis, a comprehensive method for identifying the root cause of your health challenges. We look at how the structure of your spine impacts the function of your nervous system and your overall health. For vertigo sufferers, this means we don’t just focus on the dizziness itself. Instead, we investigate the underlying structural shifts that could be disrupting your body’s balance-control centers. This big-picture view allows us to connect the dots between your spine, your brain, and your symptoms. As a new patient, your initial visit will include this in-depth analysis, ensuring we design a plan that addresses the true source of your vertigo for lasting relief.

Why Choose Chiropractic Care for Your Vertigo?

When you're dealing with the disorienting effects of vertigo, you want a solution that does more than just manage the symptoms. You want to understand why it's happening and find a way to stop it for good. That’s where chiropractic care comes in. Instead of offering a temporary patch, a chiropractor looks at your body as a whole system, searching for the underlying issue that’s throwing your world off balance. This approach is about finding and fixing the root cause, whether it’s a misalignment in your upper spine or an issue with your body's internal communication system. By focusing on restoring your body's natural function, chiropractic care offers a path to genuine, lasting relief. It’s a partnership where we work with you to create a personalized plan, giving you the tools and support you need to regain your stability and get back to living your life without the constant fear of a dizzy spell.

Personalized Care Plans, Not One-Size-Fits-All Fixes

Your experience with vertigo is unique, and your treatment plan should be too. We begin by listening. When you become a new patient, we’ll go over your complete health history and perform a thorough physical and neurological exam to understand the full picture. We use specific diagnostic tools, sometimes including tests like the Dix-Hallpike maneuver, to pinpoint whether the issue stems from your inner ear, like with BPPV, or from your neck. This detailed assessment allows us to create a care plan that is tailored specifically to you. Our goal is to understand your body’s specific needs so we can provide the most effective and targeted care possible. This isn't about guesswork; it's about a precise, personalized approach to your health.

Lasting Solutions, Not Just Temporary Relief

The goal of chiropractic care isn't just to get you through the next dizzy spell—it's to significantly reduce how often and how severely they happen. By addressing the structural misalignments that interfere with your nervous system, we help your body heal itself from the inside out. Many of our patients report feeling better after just a few sessions, with a majority finding complete freedom from their symptoms within a handful of treatments. We focus on creating stability in your spine and nervous system, which provides a foundation for long-term wellness. You can read about the experiences of other patients who have found lasting relief through our care.

A Safe, Gentle, and Non-Invasive Path to Wellness

If you’re looking for a natural, drug-free way to manage your vertigo, chiropractic care is an excellent option. Our approach is centered on the idea that your body has an incredible capacity to heal when it's properly aligned and functioning correctly. We use gentle, precise adjustments to correct spinal misalignments, which can ease pressure on nerves and restore clear communication between your brain and body. This non-invasive method can provide profound relief, especially when other treatments have fallen short. By focusing on our techniques, we help you find balance and wellness without relying on medication or invasive procedures.

Supportive Exercises and Lifestyle Tips

Your journey to recovery doesn't end when you leave our office. We believe in empowering you with the knowledge and tools to support your healing at home. To complement your in-office adjustments, we often recommend specific home exercises, known as vestibular rehabilitation, which can help retrain your brain and inner ear to work together more effectively. We may also suggest simple lifestyle changes that can make a big difference in your recovery. This comprehensive approach ensures you’re an active participant in your own wellness, helping you build strength and stability that supports your long-term health.

Is It Time to See a Chiropractor for Your Dizziness?

If you're tired of vertigo controlling your life and you’re looking for answers, it might be time to consider a different approach. Chiropractic care is a highly effective option for many types of vertigo, especially when it’s related to issues in your neck or inner ear. If you've been struggling for a while and other treatments haven't provided the relief you need, we may be able to help. Don't let dizziness and imbalance keep you from doing the things you love. We invite you to request an appointment with us to find out if your problem is something we can fix and take the first step toward a clearer, more stable future.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my vertigo is the kind a chiropractor can help with? That's the most important question, and it's exactly what we figure out during your first visit. Through a detailed conversation and a comprehensive NeuroBioStructural exam, we identify the root cause of your dizziness. Our advanced scans give us a clear picture of your spinal alignment and nervous system function. This process allows us to determine if the problem stems from a structural shift in your neck, an issue with your inner ear like BPPV, or something else, ensuring you get the right care for your specific situation.

Are the chiropractic adjustments for vertigo forceful or painful? Not at all. We specialize in an advanced upper cervical technique called QSM3, which is incredibly gentle and precise. There is absolutely no popping, twisting, or cracking involved. The adjustments are light and focused, designed to restore your body’s balance and alignment with minimal force. Our priority is to make corrections that are both comfortable and effective, allowing your nervous system to function properly without interference.

How is this approach different from what my medical doctor might recommend? While medication can be helpful for temporarily suppressing the sensation of dizziness, it doesn't address what's causing it. Our focus is on finding and correcting the underlying problem. We work to restore proper communication between your brain, spine, and inner ear so your body can regulate its own balance system naturally. The goal is to provide a lasting solution that reduces your reliance on medication, rather than just masking the symptoms.

How quickly can I expect to feel relief from my vertigo? Every person's body responds differently, so the timeline for relief can vary. For individuals with BPPV, a single session with the Epley maneuver can sometimes resolve the issue completely. If your vertigo is related to a spinal misalignment, you may notice a gradual improvement over a series of visits as your body stabilizes and heals. Our focus is on creating lasting change, which helps ensure the symptoms don't just keep coming back.

What if my vertigo is caused by an inner ear issue like BPPV and not my spine? We can still help. Our thorough diagnostic process is designed to differentiate between the various causes of vertigo. If we determine that you have Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), which is caused by displaced crystals in your inner ear, we can perform a specific technique called the Epley maneuver. This is a simple and highly effective series of movements that guides the crystals back into place, often providing immediate relief.