Can NUCCA Help Inner Ear Disorders?
The most common misconception about NUCCA care is that it only helps back and neck pain. Although our doctors can certainly help those who come to us seeking relief from back and neck pain, these patients represent a small percentage of those helped by NUCCA doctors. Patients suffering from a variety of conditions, including inner ear disorders, have had their health restored through NUCCA care. NUCCA chiropractors recognize that the body is a self-healing organism controlled and coordinated by the central nervous system, which is protected by the skull and spine.
NUCCA Care – A Simple Concept
NUCCA care is based on the universal law of cause and effect. For every effect or symptom, physical or mental, there must be a cause. NUCCA doctors focus on locating and removing interference on the nervous system that can be the cause of the health condition. Removing this interference allows the body to heal itself naturally without drugs or surgery. A NUCCA correction is very controlled; there is no twisting, popping or cracking of the spine. This precise yet gentle touch allows the head, neck, and spine to return to the proper position, thus removing the interference and restoring balance to the body.
Inner Ear Disorders
There are several inner ear disorders that cause dizziness or vertigo, nausea, hearing loss, and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Although symptoms may differ from patient to patient, there is often a common link with inner ear disorders and injuries and/or trauma to the upper cervical spine (neck).
Vertigo or Dizziness
Vertigo is the false sensation of movement or dizziness as if the world was spinning. This can range from mild episodes to severe, extended attacks. Vertigo is sometimes accompanied by nausea, vomiting, malaise, hearing loss, tinnitus (ear ringing), and a feeling of ear fullness or pressure. There are several different types of vertigo, including positional, post-traumatic and cervicogenic vertigo (dizziness caused by the neck).
Meniere’s Disease
Meniere’s disease is a disorder characterized by sudden, recurring attacks of disabling vertigo (a whirling sensation), hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and nausea and vomiting. These symptoms can usually last two to three hours, but can sometimes last for days. A sufferer sometimes feels fullness or pressure in the affected ear. Hearing tends to fluctuate but worsens over the years. Tinnitus, which may be constant or intermittent, may be worse before, during or after an attack of vertigo. Both hearing loss and tinnitus usually affect only one ear. In some cases of Meniere’s disease, hearing loss and tinnitus precede the first attack of vertigo by months or years.
In the book, What Time Tuesday?, Dr. Kevin Broome, an Upper Cervical doctor from Hickory, N.C., describes his battle with Meniere’s disease. As a child, Broome was so sick that he fell on the floor with dizziness, hearing loss, nausea, and projectile vomiting. He writes, “I was told that the only medical solution was to destroy the ‘balance’ nerve in my inner ear. As a result of the surgery, I would never run, play soccer, go swimming. and, worst of all, never go to bed with a light on because the surgery would destroy my body’s computer mechanism.” A shunt was put into Broome’s ear to reduce the amount of fluid that built up. This helped with the hearing loss, but all the other symptoms remained. “By this time, I was missing more than 90 days of school a year!”
Inner Ear Disorders & Trauma
Available research shows the relationship between inner ear disorders (vertigo, tinnitus, Meniere’s disease, etc.) and trauma. Trauma which can range from a mild bump on the head to a fall, a concussion, or even whiplash from a motor vehicle accidents or sports injury. Inner ear disorders can appear immediately after trauma or take months or years to develop.
Inner Ear Disorders & Trauma
NUCCA doctors have extensive education, training and experience in the upper cervical spine, brain stem and inner ear disorders. Our goal is to not treat the inner ear disease, but to correct or reverse the vertebral misalignments that cause nerve irritation in the upper neck and inner ear that can trigger vertigo. A NUCCA examination will assess whether the patient is suffering from an inner ear disorder can benefit from upper cervical care.
Our team at Corrective Spinal Care of Colorado is always ready to answer any questions you have, call us today!
