Written by Dr. Sam McDonald, DC (Colorado Chiropractic License CHR.0007574), Omega Functional Health.

Dizziness has a way of shrinking your world. You start avoiding the grocery store, driving less, turning your whole body instead of your head. When you finally search for a “vertigo specialist near me,” you find ENT clinics, neurologists, physical therapists, and chiropractors, all saying they treat vertigo.

Each one approaches dizziness from a different angle. The right fit depends on what kind of dizziness you have and what has already been ruled out.

This guide walks through the options, what testing to ask about, where a vertigo chiropractor fits, and what a first visit looks like at our office.

Who treats vertigo and dizziness?

• Primary care physicians. Often the first stop. They can screen for causes such as blood pressure changes, medication side effects, and infections.
• ENT physicians (otolaryngologists). Evaluate the inner ear and can diagnose conditions such as Meniere’s disease or vestibular neuritis.
• Neurologists. Important when dizziness may be linked to migraine, the brain, or the nervous system more broadly.
• Audiologists. Often perform detailed balance and hearing testing.
• Vestibular physical therapists. Provide balance and gaze stabilization exercises and repositioning maneuvers for BPPV.
• Chiropractors with vestibular training. Look at how the neck, posture, and balance system interact. Approaches vary a lot between offices.

Many people move through several of these. The best outcomes often come when someone pulls the pieces together.

When does a vertigo chiropractor make sense?

A chiropractor with vestibular training is most likely to help when serious causes have been ruled out and your dizziness seems tied to movement, the neck, or a balance system that is not compensating well. That can look like:

• Dizziness with head turns, rolling over in bed, or looking up
• Dizziness that tracks with neck pain or stiffness
• Symptoms that began after whiplash, a concussion, or a fall
• Positional dizziness that lingered after BPPV treatment
• Normal ear testing but ongoing unsteadiness

If neck pain is part of the picture, our article on cervical vertigo explains how the neck, balance system, and tissue can keep dizziness going.

What testing should a vertigo specialist do?

Dizziness is too varied to treat by guesswork. A thorough evaluation should include:

• A careful history. What the dizziness feels like, how long episodes last, and what triggers them.
• Positional testing for BPPV. Because it is common and very treatable.
• Eye movement testing. Including how well your eyes stay steady when your head moves. That reflex, the VOR, is often overlooked. We explain it in VOR Dysfunction: Why Your Eyes Can’t Keep Up When Your Head Moves.
• Balance testing. Under different conditions, such as eyes closed or on an unstable surface.
• A neck and posture assessment. Since neck position sense feeds directly into balance.

Questions worth asking before you book

• How often do you work with dizziness and vertigo?
• What testing do you do at the first visit?
• Do you check for BPPV, and do you test eye movements?
• Do you examine the neck as part of a dizziness evaluation?
• How will we know whether care is working, and when will you re-test?
• What will this cost, and do you bill insurance?

How do the neck and upper cervical chiropractic fit into vertigo care?

Your sense of balance depends on three sources agreeing: the inner ear, the eyes, and position sense from your neck and body. When the neck sends inaccurate information, the brain has to resolve a conflict every time you move.

Think of a GPS getting a weak signal from one satellite. It still works, but the little blue dot keeps jumping around. Upper cervical chiropractic focuses on the top of the neck, guided by a posture check of weight distribution, hip and shoulder rotation, and head and neck tilt, with the goal of cleaning up that signal.

It is one part of the Omega Method, alongside vestibular rehab (balance and gaze stabilization retraining) and focused shockwave for stubborn neck tissue.

What does a first visit look like at Omega Functional Health?

• Complimentary consultation. We talk through your dizziness history and goals and decide together whether an assessment makes sense.
• Assessment. Eye movement and balance testing, a postural analysis, and an examination of your upper neck.
• Report visit. Ideally within a day or two, we walk through what we found and what we recommend before any care begins.
• Care and progress checks. Exercises are tested against your results before being assigned for home, and care is re-checked along the way.

We are a private-pay practice and do not bill insurance. Costs are explained up front, before care begins.

What if you have already tried vestibular therapy?

That is common, and it does not mean you are out of options. Vestibular rehab is very effective for many people. When it has helped only partway, the remaining piece is sometimes the neck, sometimes the specific exercises chosen, and sometimes both. A new evaluation should tell you what will be measured differently this time.

Does a vertigo chiropractor replace an ENT or neurologist?

No. Physicians play an essential role in ruling out serious causes of dizziness, and we work alongside them. Sudden dizziness with slurred speech, facial drooping, weakness, double vision, a severe headache, or trouble walking can be a sign of stroke and is an emergency.

Who may be a good fit at our office?

• Adults with dizziness triggered by head movement or position changes
• People whose dizziness travels with neck pain or headaches
• Anyone whose dizziness began after whiplash or a concussion
• People who improved partway with other care and then plateaued

What does the research say?

Clinical practice guidelines strongly support vestibular rehabilitation for vestibular hypofunction and repositioning maneuvers for BPPV. For dizziness linked to the neck, a randomized trial and a systematic review support manual therapy, and combining it with vestibular rehab appears promising. Research on upper cervical chiropractic specifically for vertigo is limited, so we present it as one part of a broader, measured approach.

What we do and do not claim

We do not claim to cure vertigo or guarantee results. We do commit to thorough testing, an honest explanation of what we find, and care that is measured and adjusted along the way.

Serving the Denver metro

Omega Functional Health is located at 6650 W 44th Ave #2b in Wheat Ridge, a short drive from Denver, Arvada, Lakewood, Golden, and Littleton. When you are ready, we would be glad to hear what you have been dealing with.

Schedule a Complimentary Consultation

References

• Hall CD, Herdman SJ, Whitney SL, et al. Vestibular rehabilitation for peripheral vestibular hypofunction: an updated clinical practice guideline. Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy. 2022;46(2):118-177.
• Bhattacharyya N, Gubbels SP, Schwartz SR, et al. Clinical practice guideline: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (update). Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. 2017;156(3 Suppl):S1-S47.
• Reid SA, Callister R, Katekar MG, Rivett DA. Effects of cervical spine manual therapy on dizziness in cervicogenic dizziness: a randomized controlled trial. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2014;95(9):1603-1612.
• Lystad RP, Bell G, Bonnevie-Svendsen M, Carter CV. Manual therapy with and without vestibular rehabilitation for cervicogenic dizziness: a systematic review. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies. 2011;19:21.
• Halmagyi GM, Chen L, MacDougall HG, Weber KP, McGarvie LA, Curthoys IS. The video head impulse test. Frontiers in Neurology. 2017;8:258.