Can Dizziness Be Caused by Your Pillow?
Dizziness or vertigo, can be caused by a number of different things. Infections of the ear, tumors in the head, dehydration, diseases of the inner ear and reactions to medications. 
Under normal circumstances, these conditions are found by medical doctors and can be treated.
However, one cause of dizziness is having pinched or stretched nerves in the upper part of the neck. You see, you have nerves in the upper part of the neck that circle back up into the head. These nerves transmit messages that control things like blood flow and positional sense to the brain. When a nerve in the upper neck gets irritated, it can send signals to the brain that tell it your body is doing something that it is not. You then start feeling light-headed and dizzy.
I have been treating people with dizziness more frequently over the past few years. The type of chiropractic adjustments I do, can really help people with dizziness. And, I would encourage anyone who continues to suffer from “benign positional vertigo” to get help from a chiropractor experienced in treating it. The drugs for dizziness are pretty nasty.
As I’ve been treating more and more people, I’ve been seeing a significant percentage of people that have one thing in common. They sleep on memory foam pillows and mattresses.
The memory foam is not supporting the spine correctly and it causes the upper cervical nerves and spinal cord to become stretched. After a while of sleeping on the pillow, people wake up dizzy. This is especially true if they are sleeping on their back.
What’s the answer ? Well, its simple. Throw out the pillow and see if it helps. Try sleeping flat on your back with little or no pillow. If you sleep on your side, make sure the pillow is high enough to prop up your head slightly. Play around with different pillow heights until you are comfortable.
If you are still having the dizziness, chiropractic care may be a good option for you. For more information on dizziness log on to: www.stopvertigonow.com.
Comments
If the pillow height is correct, it works, if not it won’t work. Its as simple as that. I tell people to stay away from memory foam pillows because they can cause dizziness. The dizziness is likely due to low grade pressure on the spinal cord and possibly other types of nerve pressure. It can be very difficult to treat and not something you would want to go through, especially if it was caused by a bad pillow !
January 8th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
I just purchased a memory foam pillow and experienced some dizziness the first few nights using it. It is the variety that maintains a traditional pillow shape rather than the curved profile. I found this article helpful and as a result have simply made sure to place the pillow such that it reaches far enough to fully support both my head and neck. Thus, don’t throw out the pillow. You may just need to make sure it is positioned properly!