Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Sep 12:7:12.
doi: 10.1186/s40945-017-0040-x. eCollection 2017.

How to diagnose cervicogenic dizziness

Alexander S Reiley  1 , Frank M Vickory  1 , Sarah E Funderburg  1 , Rachel A Cesario  1 , Richard A Clendaniel  1
Affiliations
Review

How to diagnose cervicogenic dizziness

Alexander S Reiley et al. Arch Physiother. .

Abstract

Cervicogenic dizziness (CGD) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the presence of dizziness and associated neck pain. There are no definitive clinical or laboratory tests for CGD and therefore CGD is a diagnosis of exclusion. It can be difficult for healthcare professionals to differentiate CGD from other vestibular, medical and vascular disorders that cause dizziness, requiring a high level of skill and a thorough understanding of the proper tests and measures to accurately rule in or rule out competing diagnoses. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic diagnostic approach to enable healthcare providers to accurately diagnose CGD. This narrative will outline a stepwise process for evaluating patients who may have CGD and provide steps to exclude diagnoses that can present with symptoms similar to those seen in CGD, including central and peripheral vestibular disorders, vestibular migraine, labyrinthine concussion, cervical arterial dysfunction, and whiplash associated disorder.

Keywords: Cervical dizziness; Cervical proprioception; Cervical spine; Cervicogenic dizziness; Diagnosis; Disequilibrium; Vertigo; Whiplash.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

At the time this article was completed, Alexander Reiley, PT, DPT, Frank Vickory, PT, DPT, Sarah Funderburg, PT, DPT, and Rachel Cesario, PT, DPT were all recent graduates of the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, Class of 2017 at Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, United States. Richard Clendaniel, PT, PhD earned his PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed a 2-year post-doctoral fellowship in Neuro-Otology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters on vestibular system neurophysiology, vestibular rehabilitation and cervicogenic dizziness. He is co-editor of the text: Vestibular Rehabilitation (4th edition). He is currently a faculty member in the Duke University Doctor of Physical Therapy program, and he has an adjunct appointment at the University of North Carolina in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences. He also serves on the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Vestibular Disorders Association. Dr. Clendaniel has no competing interests to report.Not applicableNot applicableThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Stepwise algorithm for diagnosing cervicogenic dizziness
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ryan GM, Cope S. Cervical vertigo. Lancet. 1955;269:1355–1358. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(55)93159-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lystad RP, Bell G, Bonnevie-Svendsen M, Carter CV. Manual therapy with and without vestibular rehabilitation for cervicogenic dizziness: a systematic review. Chiropr Man Therap. 2011;19(1):21. doi: 10.1186/2045-709X-19-21. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wrisley DM, Sparto PJ, Whitney SL, Furman JM. Cervicogenic dizziness: a review of diagnosis and treatment. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2000;30(12):755–766. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2000.30.12.755. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reid SA, Callister R, Katekar MG, Rivett DA. Effects of cervical spine manual therapy on range of motion, head repositioning, and balance in participants with cervicogenic dizziness: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014;95(9):1603–1612. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2014.04.009. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reid SA, Rivett DA. Manual therapy treatment of cervicogenic dizziness: a systematic review. Man Ther. 2005;10(1):4–13. doi: 10.1016/j.math.2004.03.006. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources