Have you ever wondered how you know where your fingers and toes are, even when you’re not looking at them? You may be surprised to learn your joints provide your brain with a great deal of information about the position of your body. This information is not only important for body awareness but also for maintaining your balance.
How Do Joints Keep Your Balance?
There are specialized nerve endings found in joints and muscles called proprioceptors. They feed directly to a part of your brain known as the cerebellum. Together with its connec¬tions to other areas of the brain that process sensory and motor information, the cerebellum helps coordinate body movements and posture.
Can Chiropractic Help Your Balance?
Research into trauma-induced vertigo reveals that people who have had injuries to the head and neck, such as whiplash, are more likely to benefit from spinal adjustments.One chiropractor reviewed 60 cases of chronic, trauma-induced vertigo that she treated over an 8-year period. Of these patients, 56 recalled having experienced trauma to the head and neck prior to developing symptoms. All these patients responded favorably to chiropractic adjustments to the upper cervical area. And 48 patients (80%) were completely symptom-free after one to six months of chiropractic care.
In another study, a research group followed 50 vertigo patients through orthopedic assessment, then treatment for their symptoms. Of the 50 patients, 31 were identified as having cervical spine dysfunction. The other 19 did not show signs of this problem. When the patients with cervical dysfunction were treated with manipulation and mobili¬zation of the cervical spine, 24 patients (77%) improved, and 5 patients were symptom-free.
In the other group, which did not receive manipulation because cervical spine dysfunction could not be identi¬fied – only 5 patients saw improvement (26%). And no one in this group became fully free of vertigo symptoms.
Are You Experiencing any of These symptoms?
Aside from vertigo, cervical sublux¬ations can affect you in more subtle ways. Are you getting clumsier? Losing dexterity in your fingers? Tend to bump into things more often?
If you said “yes,” you could be experiencing subluxations in your neck which, in most of the cases, can be resolved with natural drugless chiropractic care. If you or someone you know suffers with one or more of these conditions it is time to visit a chiropractor.