Brain Health D.C.

What Is Vertigo?

Vertigo is often described as the sensation that either you are spinning or the world around you is spinning, even when you’re completely still. It’s not simply feeling off—it’s a disorienting, often overwhelming experience that affects both body and mind.

To better understand vertigo, it's important to distinguish it from other terms that are often used interchangeably:

• Dizziness is a general feeling of being off-balance or unsteady.
• Lightheadedness feels more like you're about to faint or float away.
• Imbalance is a lack of physical stability, such as veering when walking or difficulty standing still.
• Vertigo, however, is a specific false perception of movement, often triggered by head motion or changes in position.

People with vertigo may experience:

• Nausea or vomiting
• A sense of being pulled in one direction
• Unsteadiness or loss of balance
• Abnormal or jerky eye movements (nystagmus)
• Sweating, anxiety, or panic during episodes

These symptoms are not random—they’re the result of a breakdown in the communication between your vestibular system (inner ear balance organs), your visual system (eyes), and your proprioceptive system (body's sense of position). These three systems must work in harmony for your brain to accurately interpret where you are in space. When they’re not synchronized, the brain receives conflicting signals—and that’s when vertigo strikes.

The Neurological Root of Vertigo

When most people think of vertigo, they think of inner ear problems—but the truth is, your brain plays the starring role in maintaining balance and spatial orientation. The sensations of movement, direction, and uprightness are governed by a complex network involving the vestibular system, cerebellum, brainstem, and eye-tracking centers. These structures constantly gather and process information to help you stay upright, focused, and stable in space.

The Brain’s Balance Network

• The vestibular system (housed in the inner ear) detects motion and head position changes.
• The cerebellum integrates these inputs and fine-tunes your movements, posture, and coordination.
• The brainstem acts as a relay station, linking the vestibular and visual systems and coordinating reflexes.
• Eye-tracking centers ensure that your visual field remains stable even when your head or body moves.

Together, these regions communicate in milliseconds to create a seamless sense of balance. But if any part of this system is not functioning optimally, the whole network is disrupted—leading to disorientation, spinning sensations, or a disconnect between your perception and reality.

Small Dysfunctions, Big Symptoms

The frustrating reality for many people with vertigo is that their imaging (like MRIs or CT scans) often shows “nothing wrong.” That’s because vertigo isn’t always caused by structural damage. More often, it stems from functional imbalances—subtle issues in how the brain is processing sensory input. Even a mild concussion, emotional trauma, or post-viral inflammation can shift this delicate balance.

This is why so many people are told “everything looks fine” even though they feel anything but fine.

Functional Neurology: A New Perspective on Vertigo

What Is Functional Neurology?

Functional Neurology is a non-invasive, drug-free approach that focuses on restoring function in the nervous system. Rather than looking solely for disease or damage, it assesses how well the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral systems are communicating. It’s not about identifying what’s broken—it’s about uncovering what’s disconnected, underperforming, or out of sync.

This method is especially powerful for conditions like vertigo, where traditional scans often show “nothing wrong,” but the symptoms persist. Functional Neurology looks deeper, evaluating reflexes, movement patterns, eye tracking, balance, and brain-body coordination to find the root cause of dysfunction.

How Is It Different from Traditional Neurology?

Traditional neurology typically focuses on identifying pathology—tumors, lesions, strokes, or degenerative diseases—and treating them with medications or surgeries. If no pathology is found, there are often few options offered beyond symptom management.

Functional Neurology, by contrast, works within the gray areas—those functional disruptions that are very real but not visible on standard imaging. It aims to optimize brain function, not just rule out disease.

The Power of Neuroplasticity

One of the foundational principles of Functional Neurology is neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to reorganize and adapt throughout life. This means that even if vertigo has been present for months or years, your brain can be retrained to interpret signals more accurately and restore balance.

Through carefully chosen therapeutic exercises and sensory inputs, we can help the brain create new, more efficient pathways. This retraining helps reduce hypersensitivity, stabilize balance, and reduce the disorienting symptoms of vertigo—even in cases where other treatments have failed.

Evaluation: How We Assess Vertigo Neurologically

A Holistic Neurological Examination

Your journey begins with a full neurological evaluation—tailored to explore:

• Balance and postural control
• Eye movement and visual tracking
• Vestibular reflexes and head-body coordination
• Motor accuracy, strength, and timing
• Gait and spatial orientation

These assessments help us understand how well your brain is processing input from your environment, body, and eyes—and how effectively it’s organizing a response.

Innovative Tools for Deeper Insight

We use state-of-the-art technologies to track subtle yet significant dysfunctions:

• Right Eye: Captures high-speed eye movement data to detect visual tracking and coordination issues that often correlate with vestibular dysfunction or concussions.
• BTracks Balance Testing: Provides objective balance measurements, identifying postural instabilities and fall risks with precise data.
• Senaptec Sensory Performance Assessments: Measures sensory and cognitive metrics like depth perception, visual clarity, and reaction time—key functions often disrupted in vertigo patients.

These tools allow us to see what the brain is struggling to process in real time—without relying on invasive imaging or subjective guesses.

Dynamic Testing for Real-World Function

We also include reaction time drills, movement pattern observation, and dynamic posture tests to evaluate how your brain responds under pressure or motion. This gives us a real-world understanding of your functional challenges, especially if your symptoms fluctuate with activity or stress.

The Value of What Traditional Scans Miss

Conventional tests like MRIs or CT scans are valuable when pathology is present—but they often miss functional imbalances that affect how you feel. Our advanced assessments are designed to uncover what standard testing cannot: how your nervous system is functioning moment to moment.

This functional insight lays the foundation for creating a targeted, effective therapy plan that retrains your brain and restores balance—offering lasting relief instead of temporary fixes.

Balance and Sensory Integration Therapy

Vestibular and Ocular Reflex Therapy

Your vestibular system and eye reflexes must work together to maintain visual stability and orientation. When these systems are out of sync, turning your head, walking through a crowd, or even watching a screen can trigger vertigo.

We use vestibular and ocular reflex therapies to retrain this coordination. These include head movement drills, gaze stabilization, and reflexive eye exercises that recalibrate the brain’s interpretation of movement and visual input.

Balance Retraining: BTracks and Motion Guidance

Tools like BTracks Balance Testing and Motion Guidance are used not just for assessment—but as active therapy. These devices provide visual feedback and real-time posture correction, helping the brain form more accurate spatial maps and improve core stability.

Over time, patients become more confident in their balance, leading to less fear of movement—and fewer vertigo episodes.

Sensory-Motor Integration

This therapy targets the way the brain integrates sensory input (from vision, touch, and movement) with motor output. Using techniques like fit light training, coordination drills, and targeted tactile input, we help reestablish precise brain-body communication.

This is especially important for people with POTS, concussion, or trauma-related vertigo, where disorganized sensory input contributes to overwhelm and dizziness.

Cognitive Rehabilitation & Eye-Tracking Drills

Cognitive fatigue, slow reaction times, and visual stress are common in chronic vertigo cases. We incorporate cognitive games and eye-tracking exercises that build visual endurance, processing speed, and attention—restoring mental clarity and reducing overstimulation.

Low-Level Laser Therapy (Cold Laser)

Vertigo symptoms are often worsened by underlying neuroinflammation. We use Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) to stimulate cellular healing and reduce inflammation in key neurological regions. This gentle, non-invasive therapy improves circulation and promotes recovery in affected neural pathways.

Regaining Your Balance

Vertigo may feel like your world is spinning out of control, but with the right approach, you can regain your footing—both physically and emotionally. Functional Neurology offers a new lens through which we view balance disorders—one that sees beyond normal scans and focuses on how your brain is functioning.

By retraining the neural pathways responsible for spatial orientation, eye movement, and sensory integration, we help restore the systems that keep you grounded and steady. Even if you’ve been told “everything looks normal,” your symptoms are real—and they are treatable.

At Brain Health D.C., Dr. Nisreen Tayebjee and her team offer in-depth evaluations and customized care plans for patients of all ages. Whether you’re local to Carlsbad or traveling from afar, we welcome you into a space of healing, hope, and renewal.

Let’s take the first step together:

📞 Call Us: (858) 208-0710
🌐 Book Online
📍 Visit: 1905 Calle Barcelona, Suite 234, Carlsbad, CA 92009
💌 Email: infochiro@fitnessgenome.net

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