By Nour Salman | Physiotherapist at KINETIKA Physiotherapy Dubai
One question often comes up, and the answer is, yes. It’s a condition known as cervicogenic dizziness, and it’s more common than many people realize.
Cervicogenic dizziness occurs when dysfunction in the cervical spine, such as joint restrictions, muscle tension, or altered posture, leads to distorted sensory input from the neck to the brain. Since the brain relies on coordinated signals from the inner ear, eyes, and neck to maintain balance and spatial awareness, any mismatch in this input can cause symptoms like a sense of fogginess, unsteadiness, dizziness when turning the head or holding certain neck postures
We often see this in individuals with whiplash, neck injuries, or those with chronic postural strain, especially people spending long hours at a desk or on screens.
Diagnosing cervicogenic dizziness can be tricky because there’s no single test for it. Instead, it’s identified through a thorough clinical assessment, ruling out other vestibular causes while observing the relationship between neck movement, muscle tone, proprioception, and dizziness.
Management typically includes a combination of manual therapy to restore neck mobility, vestibular rehabilitation to retrain balance pathways,and targeted exercises to improve head-neck coordination and sensorimotor control
If your dizziness comes with neck pain, stiffness, or worsens with neck movement, the neck may be a key factor. Recognizing this link is essential to finding the right treatment.
