Can a Chiropractor Help With Vertigo?

If you have ever stood up and felt the room start spinning, you already know how unsettling vertigo can be. It stops you mid-step, makes everyday tasks feel risky, and can leave you feeling anxious about when the next episode will strike. Many people assume vertigo is just something they have to live with, or that the only options are medication and waiting it out. The good news is that chiropractic care, particularly from a board-certified chiropractic neurologist, can address the root causes of vertigo rather than just masking the symptoms.

At Inland NW Neurology, Dr. Pupo brings a rare combination of credentials to vertigo care: he is both a board-certified chiropractic neurologist and a Certified Brain Injury Specialist. That level of neurological training means he approaches dizziness and vertigo from a much deeper clinical perspective than a general practice can offer.

What Are the Symptoms of Vertigo?

Vertigo is more than just feeling dizzy. It is a specific sensation that the world around you, or your own body, is spinning or moving when it is not. Understanding what are the symptoms of vertigo can help you describe your experience accurately and get the right care faster.

Common symptoms include:

• A spinning or tilting sensation that comes on suddenly
• Nausea or vomiting triggered by movement
• Difficulty keeping your balance or walking in a straight line
• A feeling of fullness or pressure in one ear
• Involuntary eye movements, known as nystagmus
• Headaches or a sense of brain fog following an episode

Symptoms can last anywhere from a few seconds to several hours. Some people experience vertigo once and never again. Others deal with recurring episodes that significantly impact their quality of life.

What Causes Vertigo?

To understand how treatment works, it helps to know what causes vertigo in the first place. The most common cause is a condition called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, or BPPV. This happens when tiny calcium crystals in the inner ear, called otoliths, become dislodged and move into one of the ear's fluid-filled canals. When you change positions, these crystals send confusing signals to your brain about where your body is in space, triggering that familiar spinning sensation.

Other common causes include:

• Cervicogenic vertigo — dizziness originating from dysfunction in the neck and upper cervical spine
• Vestibular neuritis — inflammation of the nerve connecting the inner ear to the brain
• Meniere's disease — a disorder involving fluid buildup in the inner ear
• Concussion or head injury — which can disrupt the vestibular and neurological systems simultaneously
• Migraines — vestibular migraines in particular can produce significant vertigo without headache

Identifying the underlying cause is the critical first step, and it is exactly where a chiropractic neurologist's training makes a meaningful difference.

Does Vertigo Go Away on Its Own?

This is one of the most common questions people ask after their first episode. Does vertigo go away on its own? In some cases, particularly mild BPPV, symptoms may resolve within a few weeks without intervention. However, for many people, vertigo that is left untreated either persists or returns.

Waiting and hoping often leads to months of disrupted sleep, avoidance of physical activity, and a growing fear of movement. Research consistently shows that early, targeted treatment produces better outcomes than watchful waiting. If your vertigo has lasted more than a couple of weeks, or if episodes keep coming back, that is a strong signal that your body needs help resolving the underlying cause.

How Can a Chiropractor Help With Vertigo?

This is where chiropractic neurology stands out. How can a chiropractor help with vertigo? The answer depends on what is driving it.

For BPPV, a trained provider can perform the Epley maneuver, a series of precise head and body movements designed to reposition the displaced crystals in your inner ear. This procedure has a high success rate and often brings significant relief in just one or two sessions.

For cervicogenic vertigo, gentle chiropractic adjustments to the upper cervical spine can restore proper joint mechanics and reduce the faulty sensory signals traveling from your neck to your brain. The cervical spine has a dense concentration of proprioceptors, sensory receptors that help your brain track head position. When that system is disrupted by injury, poor posture, or spinal dysfunction, dizziness is a predictable result.

Dr. Pupo's background as a board-certified chiropractic neurologist also allows him to assess the neurological pathways involved in balance and spatial orientation. This matters enormously for patients whose vertigo stems from a concussion, traumatic brain injury, or complex vestibular disorder. As a Certified Brain Injury Specialist, Dr. Pupo is equipped to address the neurological dimension of dizziness that many providers simply are not trained to treat.

Treatment at Inland NW Neurology may include a combination of repositioning maneuvers, cervical adjustments, vestibular rehabilitation exercises, and neurological therapies tailored to your specific presentation.

Vertigo Treatment: What to Expect

Your first visit will involve a thorough evaluation of your inner ear function, cervical spine, balance system, and neurological status. This comprehensive intake is what allows Dr. Pupo to identify whether your vertigo is coming from your ear, your neck, your brain's processing centers, or some combination of all three.

From there, vertigo treatment is customized. Some patients experience dramatic improvement after a single session. Others with more complex presentations work through a series of appointments over several weeks. Either way, the goal is the same: to resolve the underlying dysfunction so that your balance system can do its job reliably again.

If you have been living with dizziness, spinning sensations, or recurring balance problems, you do not have to keep managing it on your own. The team at Inland NW Neurology is here to help you get to the bottom of what is happening and put a clear plan in place.

Ready to stop the spinning? Reach out to Inland NW Neurology to schedule your evaluation and take the first step toward lasting vertigo relief.