Dizziness Helped by Chiropractic According to Study

The Journal of Contemporary Chiropractic published the results of a case series on December 14, 2023, documenting chiropractic care helping to alleviate dizziness in a series of patients. Each of the people in this study had been suffering from significant dizziness for at least three months.

The study begins by noting that dizziness is the most common complaint that brings people aged 75 and above to see their doctor. They also report that medical care for dizziness can vary and commonly relies on several medications for a variety of non-specific diagnoses. The authors point out that one study showed that half of the people medically treated for dizziness still had significant dizziness related impairment ten years later.

This case series reviewed the records of 8 patients who were suffering with severe dizziness for a minimum of three months. Six of these patients had been diagnosed with chronic dizziness by neurologists, one by a general practitioner, and the remaining patient had been to a number of specialists.

Each of the people in this study filled out a "Dizziness Handicap Inventory" (DHI) prior to their initial chiropractic examination. A DHI is a comprehensive objective dizziness form used to measure the self-perceived level of handicap from dizziness. All 8 patients were then again asked to fill out another DHI after 30 days of chiropractic care.

All 8 patients received a physical and chiropractic examination which included neurological testing, spinal palpation, supine leg-length inequality testing, a postural analysis, and neck x-rays. Based upon the examinations, specific forms of chiropractic adjustments were given to address misalignments (subluxations) in the upper necks of the patients in this study. All 8 patients received specific chiropractic care and some form of specific rehabilitative exercise of maneuver.

The results of the care as measured by the 30-day follow-up DHI form showed that all participants had improved with their dizziness. The highest level of improvement after just 30 days of chiropractic care was 92.11% while the lowest level of improvement in 30 days was 28.57%. On average, the group showed a 67.18% level of improvement after only 30 days of chiropractic care.

The authors of the study commented, "The purpose of this retrospective case series is to document the objective improvement in 8 patients with differing forms of dizziness while undergoing chiropractic intervention…" In summing up their results, the authors reported that, "All cases were re-examined at 30 days and found to have subjective and objective improvement with their DHI scores decreasing significantly."