Is Dizziness And Vertigo Just All In Your Head?
Christian Goodman
Most of us think that the inner ear is the sole responsibility for maintaining balance. In fact, proper balance is attributed to several body systems working together to keep us steady, and when one of these systems does not work properly, it can lead to dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance. Ultimately, the brain is responsible for maintaining balance but it relies heavily on inputs from the inner ear, the eyes, certain muscles, tendons and joints, and lastly, even blood circulation aids the brain in keeping balance.
It's fairly common knowledge that an inner ear disturbance can cause balance problems. There are five delicate canals within the inner ear that are sensitive to any directional change. Three canals are devoted to detect changes in rotation. The other two canals sense any change in front to back, up and down, and side to side movement. The brain uses the information sent from these sensory canals to keep us oriented as to where we are in relation to the space around us.
The eyes also have two systems that interact with the brain about balance. One is the pursuit system, which allows us to focus objects using the eye's central visual receptors. The other is the saccadic system, which locates items in our peripheral vision and speeds us our eye movement so those objects are brought into our central field of vision. Problems that affect the eyes, like cataracts, also affect our balance.
Another system that we rely for our balance to prevent dizziness involves the muscles, the attaching tendons, and the joints. Changing pressure and positions are detected by receptors that are contained in our muscles.
Proper blood circulation is important for balance. Every time we make position changes, like from sitting or lying down to standing up, blood vessels contract to keep blood from pooling in the lower body. The vessels in the neck and lower part of the brain offer low resistance to the blood the heart pumps out regularly, which allows a continuous supply of blood to reach the brain.
The brain utilizes all the feedback it receives from all these systems to maintain balance and it does it without our having to think about it. When running or jumping, our eye position is automatically adjusted so the environment around us doesn't jump around or shift position. If we trip over something, brain signals are sent out to adjust the activity of our muscles so we're able to recover before actually falling. And for many activities we repeat a lot, our brain learns to recognize the pattern and actually anticipates the next move.
So if our muscles are tense, it prevents blood to reach the brain, or if the blood that reaches the brain in lacking in oxygen, we lose our sense of balance and we experience dizziness or vertigo. People who suffer from dizzy spells can become so bothered that their quality of life is affected.
I've developed a simple exercise plan to eliminate dizziness or vertigo caused by muscle tension in the head, neck, and shoulders that prevents adequate blood from reaching the brain. My Vertigo and Dizziness Program directly addresses these causes of dizzy spells by strengthening those muscles and increasing the amount of oxygen we take in through easy breathing exercises.
You can find natural relief from dizziness by using my Vertigo and Dizziness Program, often as rapidly as overnight. The simple exercises are easy to learn and take only a few minutes each day to perform. You'll enjoy the results for a lifetime.
Warm regards,
Christian Goodman
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