Dizziness with neck pain
Why do I have a sore neck and dizziness?
It is common to get neck pain along with dizziness as the body’s natural response to dizziness is to hold the head still. This however causes tension in the neck muscles and stiffness in the joints which leads to pain.
Often with inner ear problems you may feel yourself pull to one side, if this is the case then your muscles will try to correct this so you don’t fall over. Often this causes pain on the opposite side. We need to treat the dizzy symptoms first to get the best outcome.
Similarly if you have stiffness in your neck and are not moving your head normally it will create an imbalance. Symptoms can last several minutes to hours but will usually decrease as the pain eases.
Neck pain can also happen due to poor posture, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or trauma, for example after whiplash or head injury.
Is this common?
It is common to have neck pain with dizziness. In order to treat effectively, you need to think about what happened first the neck pain or the dizziness?
If it was the neck pain then try following the advice and exercises on the MSK neck pain page.
If it was the dizziness or you are also pulling to the side then see the BPPV and balance pages for more information on exercises to help.
What can help?
If the dizziness is caused by the pain and stiffness in your neck it will improve by treating your neck.
If this does not improve or only gives a short term benefit then it may be we need to address the dizziness first, for information on this see our vestibular physiotherapy page.
When to speak to a health professional
If your neck pain and/or dizziness increases with doing the exercises or if symptoms occur out with neck movements.
Help and support
 If, after following the above advice, your symptoms have not improved, a referral to the ENT Vestibular Service may be useful.
You can contact your GP to refer you if they think it’s appropriate.
Your Feedback – comments, concerns and complaints
NHS Lanarkshire is committed to improving the service it provides to patients and their families. We therefore want to hear from you about your experience. If you would like to tell us about this please visit our feedback page.
