The treatment of dizziness by improving cervical lordosis: a Chiropractic BioPhysics® case report

Abstract

[Purpose] To present the case of the relief of idiopathic dizziness and the reduction of neck pains and headache by the improvement in cervical alignment using Chiropractic BioPhysics^® technique. [Participant and Methods] A 57 year old female presented with 30 years of chronic dizziness, neck pains and headache. Multiple testing ruled out known causes of vertigo. The patient was diagnosed with idiopathic dizziness. The patient scored 56 points on the dizziness handicap inventory. The patient showed a cervical hypolordosis of -13.7° and anterior head translation of 27 mm. The patient underwent a multimodal treatment of spinal manipulation, cervical extension traction, neck exercises as well as initial electrical stimulation. Traction procedures were slowly progressive due to the severity of the dizziness symptoms. [Results] Over a period of 12-months and 115 treatments there was a 20° increase in cervical lordosis. The patient reported significant reduction in neck pains, headache and dizziness frequency and severity. The patient had a 44-point drop on the dizziness handicap inventory; dizziness symptoms were reported to be very rare. A 1.5 year follow-up showed stability of the symptom relief and a negligible score on the dizziness handicap inventory. [Conclusion] Cervical hypolordosis may be an under-diagnosed cause of idiopathic dizziness in some patients.

Keywords: Cervical lordosis; Cervical spine; Dizziness.

Fig. 1.

Lateral cervical X-rays. Left: Initial image (5/21/18) showing a −13.7° lordosis (C2-C7 posterior tangents) and 26.6 mm anterior head translation (AHT); Second: 3-month follow-up image (8/29/18) showing a −27.3° lordosis and 26.3 mm AHT; Third: 9-month follow-up (2/7/19) showing a −29.4° lordosis and 29.5 mm AHT; Last: 12-month follow-up (5/14/19) showing a −33.2° lordosis and 24 mm AHT.

Fig. 2.

Top left: Traction progressed from laying head on a 3 cm high block; Top right: Traction over a foam circular roll; Bottom left: Traction over a medium size Denneroll; Bottom right: Traction performed in ‘Pope 2-way’ extension traction.