Posted on11 August 2025,in

Understanding PPPD Doctor Sarasota – Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness

PPPD Doctor Sarasota: Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD) is a chronic balance disorder that can make everyday activities feel exhausting and overwhelming. Unlike vertigo—which typically involves spinning sensations—PPPD produces a persistent feeling of unsteadiness, rocking, swaying, or motion sensitivity that can last for months or even years.

People with PPPD often describe it as feeling like they are walking on a boat or floating in water, even when sitting still. This ongoing dizziness can be life-altering, affecting work, social activities, driving, and even simple tasks like grocery shopping.

Common PPPD Symptoms

Continuous feelings of rocking or swaying
Non-spinning dizziness lasting for most of the day
Worsening symptoms when upright, especially while standing or walking
Increased dizziness in visually complex environments (malls, busy streets)
Difficulty concentrating or “brain fog”
Fatigue and muscle tension in the neck or shoulders
Heightened anxiety due to symptom unpredictability

Triggers and Causes of PPPD

PPPD is not a primary condition—it’s usually triggered by another vestibular or neurological event. Common triggers include:

BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo)
Vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis
Meniere’s disease
Concussion or traumatic brain injury
Whiplash injuries
Severe migraine episodes
Prolonged vestibular stress

When these initial events disrupt the balance system, the brain can develop a maladaptive pattern of processing balance signals. Even after the original condition resolves, the brain continues to perceive instability, keeping symptoms alive.

Why PPPD Can Be So Hard to Treat

One of the biggest frustrations with PPPD is that standard diagnostic tests often come back normal. Patients are sometimes told “everything looks fine” or that their symptoms are related to stress or anxiety.

The truth is that PPPD is a brain and balance-processing issue—and it often has a structural root cause in the upper cervical spine that is overlooked in mainstream care.

When the top two vertebrae of the neck—the atlas (C1) and axis (C2)—shift even slightly out of alignment, they can:

Irritate the brainstem, which processes balance information
Disrupt communication between the brain, inner ear, and eyes
Alter posture and proprioception, creating a constant imbalance signal
Restrict blood flow or cerebrospinal fluid drainage from the brain

This mismatch of sensory signals is a primary reason vestibular conditions like PPPD linger for months or years.

Lavender Family Chiropractic – Your Sarasota PPPD Doctor

At Lavender Family Chiropractic, we’ve built a reputation in Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, and Bradenton as one of the most trusted offices for complex dizziness and balance disorders. Our doctors—Dr. Rusty Lavender, Dr. Jacob Temple, and Dr. Will Guzinski—specialize in upper cervical chiropractic care, a precise and gentle approach that focuses exclusively on the top of the neck where the brain and body connect.

We’ve helped countless patients with PPPD, chronic dizziness, vertigo, migraines, and other neurological conditions by correcting upper cervical misalignments that disrupt balance function.

What is Upper Cervical Chiropractic?

Upper cervical chiropractic is a subspecialty within chiropractic care that focuses solely on the top two bones in the neck. While traditional chiropractic may adjust multiple areas of the spine in one visit, upper cervical care is precise, gentle, and highly targeted.

Why the Upper Cervical Spine Matters for PPPD

The atlas (C1) and axis (C2) protect the brainstem, which acts as a relay center for sensory information—including balance signals from your vestibular system, vision, and body position sensors.

When these bones are misaligned, it can lead to:

Abnormal muscle tension that affects posture and gait
Mismatched sensory signals to the brain
Reduced ability to integrate visual and vestibular input
Ongoing dizziness, even without an active ear condition

By gently correcting the alignment, we help restore normal nerve function and balance coordination.

How Lavender Family Chiropractic Treats PPPD

Lavender Family Chiropractic – Sarasota’s Leader in Upper Cervical Care for PPPD

At Lavender Family Chiropractic in Sarasota, Florida, our mission is to help people reclaim their health, stability, and quality of life—especially those dealing with stubborn, complex conditions like Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD). We understand how deeply disruptive chronic dizziness can be. It’s not just about feeling lightheaded—it’s about losing confidence in everyday activities, avoiding places you once enjoyed, and constantly worrying about when the next dizzy spell will strike. That’s why we take a root-cause approach, focusing on restoring proper communication between your brain and body through gentle, precise upper cervical chiropractic care.

Our office is widely recognized as the best upper cervical chiropractic clinic in Sarasota, Bradenton, and Lakewood Ranch. We specialize in helping people with conditions that often stump traditional medical providers—things like vertigo, migraines, balance disorders, TMJ, occipital neuralgia, and post-concussion symptoms. With state-of-the-art technology and a compassionate, highly trained team, we’ve helped thousands of patients reduce or eliminate their dizziness and get back to living life fully.

Why We Specialize in Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care

The upper cervical spine—the top two bones in your neck, known as the atlas (C1) and axis (C2)—is one of the most neurologically sensitive and structurally important areas in the human body. These vertebrae surround and protect the brainstem, which acts as the “control center” for balance, coordination, and sensory integration. If these bones shift even slightly out of alignment due to injury, posture strain, or other trauma, they can distort the signals traveling between your body and brain.

For PPPD patients, these distorted signals often create a constant sense of unsteadiness, motion sensitivity, or disorientation—even when standard balance and imaging tests come back “normal.” Upper cervical chiropractic care is designed to correct these subtle but powerful misalignments with the goal of restoring clear, balanced nervous system communication.

At Lavender Family Chiropractic, we use a gentle, non-invasive approach—no twisting, cracking, or popping. Instead, our adjustments are extremely precise and tailored to your unique anatomy, guided by advanced 3D imaging and functional nerve testing. This allows us to correct misalignments in a way that is comfortable, safe, and highly effective.

Our Advanced Technology for Dizziness & Balance Disorders

Many PPPD patients have been told, “There’s nothing wrong” or “It’s just anxiety,” simply because their standard MRI or CT scan came back normal. The problem is that these imaging methods are not designed to detect the small but critical misalignments that can disrupt your vestibular system.

That’s why we use two powerful diagnostic tools in our office:

3D CBCT Imaging – Our Cone Beam Computed Tomography scan allows us to view the bones of your upper neck in high definition, from every angle, without the distortion of traditional 2D X-rays. This gives us precise measurements so we can determine the exact degree and direction of misalignment.
Functional Nervous System Scans (Tytron Infrared Thermography) – This non-invasive tool measures subtle changes in skin temperature along your spine, which reflect nervous system function and inflammation patterns. It helps us identify whether your brainstem is under stress and track your progress throughout care.

By combining these technologies, we can create a customized correction plan that directly addresses the root structural cause of your dizziness.

A Gentle, Precise, and Personalized Healing Process

Every PPPD patient is unique. Your misalignment pattern, symptom triggers, and recovery timeline will be different from anyone else’s. That’s why our care process begins with a thorough consultation and examination, including your detailed health history, 3D imaging, and nervous system scans.

Once we’ve identified your upper cervical misalignment, we create a personalized correction plan that is focused on precision and stability. Instead of adjusting you every single visit, we focus on helping your body hold the correction for as long as possible—because healing happens when your spine is in proper alignment, not during constant readjustments.

Most patients describe our adjustments as surprisingly light—often feeling like a gentle pressure behind the ear. Yet, these small corrections can create profound changes in balance, spatial awareness, and overall energy.

Real Results for PPPD and Chronic Dizziness

While no single treatment works for every case of PPPD, our experience shows that many patients with this condition respond remarkably well to upper cervical chiropractic care. By reducing irritation to the brainstem and improving communication between the vestibular system, eyes, and proprioceptive sensors in the body, many patients notice improvements in:

Stability when standing or walking
Ability to tolerate busy environments without dizziness
Reduced motion sensitivity
Clearer thinking and less “brain fog”
Decreased tension in the neck and shoulders
Better overall energy and mood

We have seen patients who had suffered with chronic dizziness for years finally return to activities like driving, traveling, exercising, and socializing without fear of losing their balance.

A Caring Team You Can Trust

At Lavender Family Chiropractic, our doctors—Dr. Rusty Lavender, Dr. Jacob Temple, and Dr. Will Guzinski—are passionate about helping people overcome life-limiting conditions through upper cervical care. Each doctor has extensive training in advanced upper cervical techniques, as well as years of experience helping patients with PPPD, vertigo, migraines, and post-concussion symptoms.

We believe in educating our patients every step of the way, so you’ll understand what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and how it can help you. We’re here to listen, answer your questions, and celebrate your wins—no matter how small they may seem at first.

Serving Sarasota and Beyond

Our office is located at 5899 Whitfield Ave, Suite 107, Sarasota, FL 34243, making us easily accessible to patients from Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton, Parrish, Ellenton, Venice, Osprey, Punta Gorda, St. Petersburg, Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Lido Key, and Myakka City. Many of our PPPD patients travel from outside the local area because they’ve heard about our results and want answers they haven’t been able to find elsewhere.

Your Next Step Toward Relief from PPPD

If you or a loved one is living with Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness, don’t settle for “managing” symptoms with medications or coping strategies alone. While those may offer temporary relief, they don’t address the underlying communication breakdown in your nervous system that may be contributing to your dizziness.

At Lavender Family Chiropractic, our goal is to help you restore proper alignment, improve brain-body communication, and give your vestibular system the stability it needs to function normally. We offer a no-obligation consultation so you can learn more about whether upper cervical care could be the missing piece in your recovery.

You don’t have to live in fear of the next dizzy spell. You don’t have to keep canceling plans or avoiding activities you love. Relief is possible—and we’re here to help you find it.

Contact us today at (941) 243-3729 or visit www.chiropractorsarasotaflorida.com to schedule your consultation and take the first step toward a steadier, more confident life.

1. Comprehensive Consultation

We start by listening. We want to know when your symptoms started, what might have triggered them, and how they impact your daily life. Many of our PPPD patients have seen multiple doctors before coming to us, so we take extra care to connect the dots.

2. 3D CBCT Imaging

Our Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scanner provides a 3D view of your upper cervical spine from every angle. This level of precision allows us to identify misalignments as small as a fraction of a millimeter—misalignments that traditional imaging often misses.

3. Functional Nervous System Scan (Tytron)

We use infrared paraspinal thermography to assess nerve communication and detect imbalances in the autonomic nervous system that may be contributing to dizziness.

4. Gentle, Specific Adjustments

Unlike traditional chiropractic adjustments that may involve twisting or cracking, our upper cervical adjustments are performed with a light touch in a precise direction to correct misalignment without force. This allows the body to begin healing naturally without added stress.

5. Ongoing Care and Progress Tracking

We monitor your progress through follow-up scans, post-adjustment imaging, and symptom tracking. Our goal is not just temporary relief, but lasting correction and stability.

Why Patients Choose Us for PPPD in Sarasota

Specialized in complex dizziness and balance disorders
Gentle, non-invasive approach
Advanced technology for precise diagnosis and monitoring
Focus on long-term resolution, not short-term symptom suppression

Patient Testimonial

“After struggling with dizziness for over a year and seeing ENT specialists, neurologists, and physical therapists with no answers, I found Lavender Family Chiropractic. Within a few weeks of upper cervical care, the constant swaying finally started to fade. Now I can walk through the grocery store without feeling like I’m on a boat. I’m so grateful for Dr. Lavender and his team!” – Sarah M., Sarasota, FL

Top 15 FAQs About PPPD and Upper Cervical Chiropractic

1. What is PPPD?
Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness is a chronic condition causing constant non-spinning dizziness and unsteadiness, often triggered by a vestibular event.

2. Can upper cervical chiropractic cure PPPD?
While no treatment can guarantee a “cure,” upper cervical care addresses the underlying neurological imbalances that can keep PPPD active, often leading to significant symptom reduction or resolution.

3. How long does it take to see improvement?
Some patients notice changes after just a few adjustments, while others require several months of care. It depends on the severity and duration of your condition.

4. Is the adjustment safe?
Yes—upper cervical adjustments are gentle, precise, and involve no twisting or cracking.

5. Do you treat children or seniors with PPPD?
Yes, our technique is safe and effective for all ages.

6. Can a neck injury cause PPPD?
Yes, whiplash or concussion can trigger vestibular dysfunction that leads to PPPD.

7. What makes PPPD different from vertigo?
Vertigo typically involves spinning sensations, while PPPD causes a constant feeling of imbalance without spinning.

8. Is PPPD permanent?
Not necessarily—many patients recover with the right neurological and vestibular rehabilitation.

9. Do you accept insurance?
Our office is out of network with insurance. Many of our patients receive a superbill to submit for reimbursement. We also offer payment plans.

10. Will I need lifelong care?
Once your spine is stable, we’ll move you to a maintenance schedule to prevent relapse.

11. Can stress make PPPD worse?
Yes—stress increases nervous system sensitivity, which can heighten dizziness symptoms.

12. What technology do you use?
We use 3D CBCT imaging and paraspinal thermography for precise diagnosis and progress tracking.

13. Can PPPD be misdiagnosed?
Absolutely. Many patients are told they have anxiety or “nothing wrong” before discovering PPPD.

14. Do you work with other doctors?
Yes—we often collaborate with ENTs, neurologists, and physical therapists for comprehensive care.

15. How do I schedule an appointment?
Call us at (941) 243-3729 or visit www.chiropractorsarasotaflorida.com to book a consultation.

Serving Sarasota and Beyond

Lavender Family Chiropractic proudly serves Sarasota, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Parrish, Ellenton, Venice, Osprey, Punta Gorda, St. Petersburg, Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Lido Key, and Myakka City.

Take the First Step Toward Recovery

If you’ve been searching for a PPPD doctor in Sarasota, Florida and are tired of living with constant dizziness, there is hope. Upper cervical chiropractic care at Lavender Family Chiropractic can help restore balance, improve brain-body communication, and give you back your quality of life.