3 Easy At-Home Tests for Cervicogenic Vertigo or Dizziness

The first test is called the cervical torsion test. The cervical torsion test is performed with the patient seated on a swivel chair with the hip and knees flexed to 90 degrees. The patient closes both eyes and the examiner fixates the patient's head in neutral position as shown. The patient is then asked to actively rotate the body 45 to 90 degrees to one side and hold for 30 seconds. When returned to neutral position, the patient may open the eyes. The test is then repeated in the opposite direction, again with the eyes first closed. The test is positive if the patient reports any dizziness and/or any other symptoms other than normal. Other symptoms include visual disturbances, speech disturbances, motion sickness, nausea, trouble swallowing, lightheadedness, tinnitus, headache and/or paresthesias during or immediately after the test.

The head neck differentiation test is similar to the cervical torsion test. The head neck differentiation test is performed with the patient seated on a swivel chair with the hip and knees flexed to 90 degrees. The patient closes both eyes and the examiner fixates the patient's head in neutral position as shown. The patient is then asked to actively rotate the body 45 degrees with the help of the legs to the left and then right side in an alternating fashion at a metronome pace of 60 beats per minute for at least 30 seconds. The test is positive if the patient reports any dizziness and/or any other symptoms other than normal. Other symptoms include visual disturbances, speech disturbances, motion sickness, nausea, trouble swallowing, lightheadedness, tinnitus, headache and/or paresthesias during or immediately after the test.

The final test for cervicogenic vertigo is smooth pursuit neck torsion test. The smooth pursuit neck torsion test is performed by first having the patient sitting on a swivel chair. While the patient’s head is kept still in a neutral position, the patient is to track the examiner’s finger which is moved slowly side to side in a horizontal direction. While keeping the head still, the test is then repeated with the body rotated 45 degrees to one side. And then repeated again with the body rotated 45 degrees to the opposite side. The test is positive if dizziness is triggered in the rotated position compared to neutral.

If cervicogenic vertigo is suspected, please see your healthcare professional for further treatment guidance. A neurologist or a spine specialist are the doctors who specialize in treating this condition. There are also home exercises that can be performed to treat cervicogenic vertigo, but should only be performed if there is no pain and no numbness present.

• Intro (0:00)
• Smooth Pursuit Neck Torsion Test (0:50)
• Head Neck Differentiation Test (1:45)
• Smooth Pursuit Neck Torsion Test (2:39)

References:

Video created by Dr. Christopher Chang:

Actor Credit:
MJ Gordon @marinjayden
Certified Yoga Alliance Instructor (RYP500, RPYT, Yin)
Certified Fitness Instructor NCEP

[legolaslav]

Today i hospitalized a pacient and i was thinking about cervicogenic vertigo. But the patient also has anemia, hipotenssion, sinusitis and also spondylosis so the picture is bigger. Thank you! Tomorrow i will let you know what i found out with this test, and also with the many more investigations we have to make❤