Cervicogenic Dizziness
Dizziness Associated With Neck PainWhat is Cervicogenic 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.
Similarly if you have stiffness in your neck and are not moving your head normally it will create an imbalance within the balance system within the neck.
What are the symptoms of Cervicogenic dizziness?
Neck pain, stiffness and dizziness or imbalance accompanied with neck movement. Symptoms can last several minutes to hours but will usually decrease as the pain eases
How common is Cervicogenic Dizziness?
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.
What causes Cervicogenic dizziness?
This can happen due to poor posture, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or trauma, for example after whiplash or head injury.
What can help with Cervicogenic dizziness?
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.
Timescales / Prognosis
As your neck pain and movement improves, so should your dizziness. The exercises should help within 4-6 weeks if performed regularly throughout the day.
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.
