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TRAUMATIC DIZZINESS, VERTIGO, NAUSEA AND BALANCE PROBLEMS Dizziness, vertigo, nausea, balance problems, confusion and exhaustion have come on without warning. Were you injured in an on the job accident, motor vehicle accident or assault? You may have thought your problems were limited to a bump on the head or a mild whiplash. Now the neck pain will not go away. Within days you discovered that you couldn’t walk a straight line with your eyes closed. You had to put a hand on the wall to walk in the dark. Without visual cues your balance system just didn’t work anymore. You may have suffered a traumatically induced balance disorder. Although the exact cause may never be clear in your case the relationship between trauma and balance disorders is clear. THE BALANCE TRIPOD Your balance system depends on input from three interdependent components: your eyes, inner ear and peripheral muscles and nerves. Think of the system as a tripod, without all three legs it becomes unstable. The brain processes information from the three systems allowing you to maintain balance and equilibrium. When damage to this system occurs you suffer nausea, dizziness or vertigo, an extreme form of dizziness, and other effects that can greatly impair your ability to function normally. In ability to walk in the dark without falling is a clear sign of vestibular damage. Think of the brain as a computer. The brain regulates all bodily functions and runs memory and information processing continuously. Much of what the brain does is regulate automatically. When one of the automatic systems breaks down the load on the processor is increased. If the vestibular system is damaged the function of the inner ear is placed on the visual and musculoskeletal systems. The brain has to compensate. As a result you find yourself tired, confused and increasingly emotional in addition to the physical symptoms of dizziness and vertigo. Your ability to perform day to day tasks such as reading or adding up a column of numbers will be impaired. A trip to the store can become an ordeal, not simply because of the dizziness, vertigo and nausea but because the sudden dependence on the visual system for equilibrium robs the brain of processor space. TWO COMMON INJURIES CAUSING DIZZINESS The following drawing illustrates major structures of the inner ear. Normally the perilimphatic and endolymphatic systems are completely separated by tissue. One cause of post traumatic vertigo is the development of a hole, a fistula in medical terms, in the periliymphatic system. This affects the chemical composition of the perilymphatic fluid and also the pressure sensors within the inner ear. 
Another commonly seen cause of post traumatic dizziness is known by the abbreviation BPPV, benign paroxisimal positional vertigo. With this condition symptoms can come and go with frightening unpredictability. This condition is also referred to as canalithiasis and it can be terribly disabling. At the top of the drawing are the semi-circular canals. Inside the canals are tiny hair fibers and tiny granules known as canaliths. These work together to tell your brain where your body is in relation to gravity. Like the bubble in a level the canaliths move within the canals as the head moves. The hairs send signals to the brain. BPPV occurs when these small granules become lodged in one position. The condition was once virtually untreatable in many cases. Dr. John Epley of Portland Oregon devised a simple procedure to reposition the canaliths. http://www.epleymaneuver.com/ At first rejected by some in the medical community the “Epley Maneuver” has gained wide acceptance. If you have any of the symptoms discussed in this article discuss them with your Medical Doctor or Chiropractic Physician. If you were injured and suffer these symptoms you should also contact a lawyer familiar with these conditions.
William D. Robison
Attorney At Law Caron, Colven, Robison & Shafton, P.C.
900 Washington Street, Suite 1000
Vancouver, WA 98660
(360) 699-3001
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