Car Accident Dizziness From a Collision

Dizziness is one of the symptoms that typically accompany whiplash after a car accident. Dizziness is the feeling of lightheadedness caused by sudden head movements and the sensation that you’re slowly moving even though you’re motionless.

What happens in a whiplash injury is that your brain suddenly accelerates and decelerates inside the skull in response to an external force like car collisions. The sudden flexion and extension of the neck cause the soft structures to stretch abnormally, resulting in small tears in the muscle fibers and tendons as well as painful neck movements.

But whiplash doesn’t affect just the soft structures of the neck, though. It can also affect the neural pathways responsible for balance perception, spatial awareness, coordination, and proprioception. If these are affected, there could be a disruption of the signals from the vestibular system to the part of the brain responsible for balance, spatial awareness, as well as coordination.

Vertigo from a car accident is also very common. You feel lightheaded when you suddenly move your head, or you always feel like the room is spinning around you even though you’re not moving. You feel unbalanced like you’re tilting to one side or pulled in one direction.

Vertigo could signify that there is a damaged nerve in your neck region. A nerve injury could disrupt the balance and coordination signals from your brain. 

Vertigo could also be a sign of cerebellum and brainstem affectation from the whiplash injury. These areas of the brain are responsible for coordinating and regulating posture and balance in relation to movements, as well as integrating and sorting sensory information. Located at the base of the skull, this region of the brain is often affected by whiplash injuries. 

The dizziness usually goes away in time, but if it persists, it could mean signs of a more serious injury. Some of the reasons for post-car accident dizziness are damage to proprioceptors, benign paroxysmal vertigo, blood vessel damage, and brain injury.

Proprioceptors are the nerves responsible for the perception of position and movement. Any damage to these nerves can result in disruption of signal transmission.

Benign paroxysmal vertigo is damage to the inner ear otoliths, which are small calcium crystals that move against the inner ear nerve endings during movement and tell the brain what your head position is. During trauma, these otoliths can be jarred out of their usual locations and affect their function.

Blood vessel damage could result in inadequate blood supply to the brain and affectation of its normal functioning. Lastly, brain injury can also cause post car accident dizziness, especially if the cerebellum and brainstem are affected.

Dizziness after a concussion typically lasts for a few days and resolves on its own. Although it’s not unusual for full recovery from dizziness, concussion, and other symptoms to take place months after the initial trauma.

Treatment for dizziness includes rest, anti-nausea medications, and pain pills for headaches and migraines. If these do not improve your symptoms, you can visit your doctor or a chiropractor for further assessment and additional therapy like vestibular and spatial awareness training, cervical decompression, or neuromuscular re-education training therapy.

These can be pretty expensive, especially if your insurance company won’t cover them. You may need these additional therapies, though, if the dizziness is starting to affect your personal, social, and professional life.