Exercise for Chronic Dizziness

Scientists are trying to determine why some people have persistent unexplained dizziness. They are finding some association between psychiatric or neurologic conditions and dizziness. I think what's in common between the two are things that raise cortisol levels. Here's the story.

The association between cortisol and psychiatric conditions is somewhat established. But how I am getting to an association between cortisol and dizziness?

Cortisol and Trigger Points

Well, cortisol can be created by muscular trigger points. And proponents of trigger point massage therapy claim that some dizziness may be caused by trigger points in the neck muscles. The idea is that the brain uses information from muscles of the neck, along with information from the eyes and ears, to judge position. So a trigger point in one muscle makes it more tense and the signals its sends are off a bit.

You get dizzy when the different signals used by the brain to judge position conflict. So if you have fluid in your ear, the hairs don't react to motion as quickly, and you get dizzy. I've experienced this problem when I had an ear infection.

Some people get dizzy when they're in the car but looking at something that isn't moving. The signals conflict and they get dizzy. Closing the eyes can actually help by removing the conflicting signal.

So what can you do to determine if trigger points in neck muscles are causing your dizziness? Should you learn how to massage your trigger points or try to find a massage therapist? You could, but is there something easier?

Exercising Your Sarcomeres

You can do exercises to resolve a trigger point. Trigger points are caused by the sticking of tiny structures in the muscles called sarcomeres. The collective action of these sarcomeres IS the force your muscle exerts. This action also pumps blood through the sarcomeres themselves, bringing nutrients and carrying away waste products.

In a trigger point, sarcomeres get stuck in their "on" position. Blood can't flow normally.

But I have found that doing gentle, high-repetition exercises can restore that blood flow and resolve a trigger point. And it seems that such exercise works better than massage, which can't work across the entire length of a muscle at once.

For the neck, I did about thirty repetitions twisting the neck from one side to another (gently!). Then do the same for bending the neck forward and backward. Then bending the neck from left to right.

IMPORTANT: Do contract and stretch completely, but don't contract or stretch hard. Hold contractions for a few seconds. But keep it gentle. You aren't trying to build muscle, but get the blood pumping. The range of motion is also unimportant; just do what you can easily do.