Posted on21 October 2025,in

Lavender Family Chiropractic | Sarasota • Bradenton • Lakewood Ranch

An Intro About Living with Vertigo

Vertigo: If you’re reading this because the room won’t stop spinning—or because walking across your kitchen sometimes feels like crossing a moving boat—you are not alone. Every week at Lavender Family Chiropractic in Sarasota, Florida, we meet people who have been to multiple providers, tried medications or the Epley maneuver, and still carry a quiet fear that the dizziness could hit at any moment.

Our message to you is direct and hopeful: there is a real, root-cause solution for many cases of vertigo and dizziness, and it starts at the very top of your spine with Upper Cervical Chiropractic care. This form of chiropractic care is NOT your traditional form of care. It is gentle, precise, and requires no twisting, yanking, or popping of your neck. It quickly resolves the dizziness and corrects the underlying issues that contribute to vertigo.

We are a dedicated upper cervical chiropractor near me destination for Sarasota, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, and the surrounding Gulf Coast communities. Our mission is straightforward: get to the root cause, correct it gently and precisely, and help you reclaim your balance—naturally.

Why Vertigo Feels So Overwhelming

Vertigo isn’t just “dizziness.” It’s a whole-body stress event. You might experience spinning, tilting, swaying, lightheadedness, nausea, ear fullness, eye strain, head pressure, or a deep sense of motion sensitivity. You might avoid grocery store aisles, ceiling fans, or bridges. You might drive less. You might sleep poorly because you’re worried about turning over and triggering symptoms. When you can’t trust your balance, you can’t fully trust your day.

What many people aren’t told is that your upper neck acts like a master balance hub. The upper cervical spine (atlas C1 and axis C2) surrounds the lower brainstem, which coordinates balance information from your inner ears, eyes, and body’s position sensors (proprioception). Even a millimeter-level misalignment can create garbled messages between the inner ear and brainstem. When that happens, your brain interprets motion inaccurately—and the world can spin.

Upper Cervical Care: The Foundation of Our Recommendation

At Lavender Family Chiropractic, our #1 recommendation to fix vertigo is Upper Cervical Chiropractic because it aims at the most common, most overlooked driver of persistent dizziness: atlas/axis misalignment. Rather than chasing symptoms, we focus on restoring the head-neck relationship so your nervous system can re-calibrate the vestibular system and stabilize your world again.

Gentle, precise, no twisting or cracking: We use Knee Chest Upper Cervical adjustments tailored to your measurements.
3D CBCT imaging: We map your alignment in three dimensions so your correction is data-driven and individualized.
Functional nervous system scans (Tytron): We assess autonomic stress patterns that correlate with dizziness, head pressure, and neck irritation.
Objective progress checks: We re-scan to confirm that your nervous system is stabilizing and your correction is holding.

This combination is why people searching for a Vertigo doctor near me or chiropractor Sarasota Florida end up here: it’s gentle, targeted, and focused on lasting results.

How the Upper Neck Drives Balance (In Plain English)

Think of balance as a three-way handshake: inner ears (vestibular), eyes (visual), and body position (proprioception). Your brainstem integrates all three. When the atlas is misaligned:

Proprioceptive confusion: Tight, uneven neck muscles and irritated joints send distorted position data.
Brainstem interference: Subtle mechanical stress can alter how signals are processed.
Vascular/CSF influence: Alignment may affect the smooth flow of blood and cerebrospinal fluid around the cranio-cervical junction.
Head posture drift: Forward head posture or a tilted head changes how the vestibular system “reads” gravity.

Correct the alignment → reduce irritation → let the brainstem integrate signals accurately → vertigo calms.

Conditions We See Improve with Upper Cervical Care

BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo)
BPPV involves crystals (otoconia) drifting into the wrong part of the inner ear. Epley can help reposition them—but if your atlas is misaligned, the system that interprets motion remains hypersensitive. That’s why some patients say, “Epley helped… but it keeps coming back.” Correcting atlas alignment can reduce recurrences by improving brainstem integration and neck proprioception. We routinely help patients who have cycled through Epley and ENT visits without lasting stability—until their upper cervical spinal alignment is addressed.

MdDS (Mal de Débarquement Syndrome)
MdDS feels like the ground is gently rolling, long after a cruise or flight. It’s a perceptual mismatch—your brain has adapted to motion and can’t fully “turn it off.” Because the brainstem and cerebellum govern motion perception, any interference at the cranio-cervical junction can prolong that maladaptation. Precise upper cervical corrections often help patients feel more grounded and steady—less “boat mode,” more “solid earth.”

Vestibular Neuritis
After the acute viral phase, many people remain off-balance for months. If the atlas is misaligned, the neural circuits that coordinate compensation can stay irritated and slow to normalize. We frequently see improvement in recovery speed once the head-neck alignment is restored and the nervous system is no longer fighting static.

Cervical Vertigo (Cervicogenic Dizziness)
Neck input matters—a lot. Strained joints, ligaments, and muscles can flood the brain with faulty position signals. Whiplash, sports hits, poor ergonomics, or even years of side-sleeping on a tall pillow can set this up. Because we specialize in the upper neck, cervical vertigo is one of the most gratifying problems we help resolve.

Vestibular Dysfunction & Mixed Etiologies
Many patients present with a blend of vestibular complaints—light sensitivity, visual motion sensitivity, head pressure, and imbalance. Even when diagnostics are inconclusive, we often find upper cervical misalignment with predictable autonomic stress patterns on Tytron. Stabilize the alignment and the “mix” becomes more manageable—often dramatically so.

Migraines, POTS, and Autonomic Instability
A notable subset of vertigo patients also report migraines or POTS-like symptoms (lightheadedness, palpitations, intolerance to standing). The upper cervical region modulates autonomic tone. When alignment is restored, many patients notice fewer migraine days, better tolerance to upright posture, and a calmer nervous system overall. If you’ve searched Migraine doctor near me or upper cervical chiropractor near me because migraines and dizziness travel together, you’re in the right place.

Our Process at Lavender Family Chiropractic (Step by Step)

1) Discovery & Consultation
We listen first. What makes your symptoms worse? Which side do you sleep on? History of car accidents, sports hits, dental work, or a period of intense stress? These clues matter.

2) Three-Dimensional Clarity with 3D CBCT
We take a high-resolution 3D CBCT scan of your cranio-cervical junction. This allows us to visualize your atlas/axis from multiple angles, detect minute rotational or translational misalignments, and design your correction with precision.

3) Functional Nervous System Scans (Tytron)
We run paraspinal infrared thermography to map autonomic patterns that often correlate with dizziness, head pressure, or migraine cycles. It’s quick, painless, and gives us a baseline.

4) Custom Upper Cervical Plan
Based on your CBCT and Tytron findings, we build a targeted plan: specific Knee Chest Upper Cervical corrections, gentle pacing, and stability checks. No general neck twisting. No guessing.

5) Gentle, Specific Corrections (No Popping/Twisting)
Upper cervical adjustments at our office are precise and light. Using your scan-guided vectors, we correct the atlas/axis relationship without forceful rotation. Patients frequently remark, “That’s it?”—and then notice a shift in balance, clarity, or pressure within minutes to days.

6) Stabilization & Re-Checks
Holding the correction is where long-term wins happen. We monitor your scans, lend you simple posture/sleep tips, and gradually extend visit spacing as your body demonstrates true stability.

What Improvement Often Looks Like (Weeks 1–12)

Every case is unique, but patterns emerge:

Week 1–3: Sleep improves, neck tension softens, episodes shorten or feel less “intense,” head pressure eases.
Week 4–8: Confidence grows. You test old triggers (ceiling fans, grocery stores, bridges) with fewer symptoms.
Week 9–12: You feel “more you.” Episodes—if any—are brief and recover quickly. Tytron scans stabilize; posture improves.

We’ll be honest: some people improve fast; others need a steadier runway. But when the upper cervical root cause is corrected and the correction is maintained, the nervous system does adapt. That’s where durable change lives.

Why This Works When Other Things Haven’t

We fix signals, not just symptoms. Medications, Epley, and vestibular rehab can help—but if the brainstem is mis-processing because of atlas misalignment, you’re paddling against the current.
We personalize everything. Your CBCT gives us angles other providers simply can’t see on plain films.
We measure and re-measure. Tytron scans let us confirm when your body is in parasympathetic recovery, not just “feels better today.”
We never over-adjust. The goal is hold, not “get adjusted forever.” Less force, more precision, better longevity.

Patient Snapshots (De-identified, Real Patterns We See)

“Epley worked… then it came back.” A Lakewood Ranch patient had recurrent BPPV for two years. CBCT showed a right-sided atlas tilt with rotation. After correcting alignment, episodes stopped recurring; visual motion sensitivity decreased; grocery aisles no longer felt like a slalom course.
“Boat mode after a cruise.” A Sarasota teacher returned from a 7-day cruise with constant rocking (MdDS). After three corrections guided by CBCT and week-by-week Tytron stabilization, she reported “solid ground” days returning and was back to carpool duty without anxiety.
“Post-viral dizziness that lingered.” A Bradenton runner had vestibular neuritis months prior and still felt “washed out” with head turns. Upper cervical correction normalized her neck tone and balance re-training finally “stuck.”

Self-Checks You Can Try Today

These don’t diagnose, but they can reveal upper cervical stress patterns:

Head Tilt in Photos: Do you consistently tilt the same way?
Pillow Report: Do you wake with head pressure or a “stuffy” ear?
Trigger Consistency: Ceiling fans, busy patterns, bridges—if the triggers are consistent, the processing hub (upper neck/brainstem) may be the common denominator.
History Clues: Whiplash, sports hits, long dental sessions with your head turned, or years of one-sided side-sleeping can contribute.

If you recognize yourself in these patterns and you’re searching chiropractor near me or Vertigo doctor near me, you’re exactly who we help every day.

Lifestyle Supports That Complement Upper Cervical Care

Sleep neutral: Keep your nose and sternum aligned; avoid a tall pillow that kinks the neck.
Hydrate and mineralize: Hydration supports CSF dynamics; adequate electrolytes support vestibular function.
Visual breaks: Give your eyes regular micro-breaks during screen time.
Gentle vestibular hygiene: Once your neck is stabilizing, your nervous system will better accept graded exposure to motion/visual patterns.
Nasal breathing and calm walks: Support parasympathetic tone to speed recovery.

These are not replacements for correction; they are multipliers once your atlas is aligned.

Why Choose Lavender Family Chiropractic

Exclusively Upper Cervical: We focus where balance is controlled.
3D CBCT + Tytron: Objective data before, during, and after care.
Knee Chest technique: Gentle, specific, no twisting or cracking.
Three-doctor team: Dr. Rusty Lavender, Dr. Jacob Temple, Dr. Will Guzinski.
Local leaders: People looking for a chiropractor Sarasota Florida or upper cervical chiropractor near me rely on our blend of advanced imaging and precision care.
Real-world outcomes: From BPPV to MdDS to cervicogenic dizziness, we help patients get out of survival mode and back into life.

Service Areas

We proudly serve Sarasota, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Parrish, Ellenton, Venice, Osprey, Punta Gorda, St. Petersburg, Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Lido Key, and Myakka City, Florida.

If you’re anywhere near these communities and you’ve been searching “Vertigo doctor near me,” “upper cervical chiropractor near me,” or “Migraine doctor near me,” our team is ready to help.

Top 15 Vertigo FAQs (Straight Answers)

What actually causes vertigo?
Vertigo happens when your brain receives mismatched information from your inner ears, eyes, and body position sensors. Upper cervical misalignment is a common, overlooked driver of that mismatch.
How do you know my neck is involved?
We correlate your history (whiplash, posture, triggers) with findings on 3D CBCT and Tytron. If your atlas is off and your thermography shows autonomic stress, there’s a strong neck-based component.
Can Upper Cervical Chiropractic help BPPV if Epley already failed?
Yes—Epley repositions crystals; upper cervical correction helps the brainstem process motion normally so recurrences diminish.
What about MdDS after a cruise or flight?
We see many MdDS cases benefit from upper cervical corrections because motion perception is orchestrated in brainstem/cerebellar networks influenced by atlas alignment.
Is it safe?
Yes. Our Knee Chest Upper Cervical approach is gentle and specific—no twisting, popping, or yanking.
How soon could I feel a change?
Some feel shifts in balance or head pressure within visits 1–3; others build steadily over several weeks as the correction holds.
Do I need a referral?
No referral is required. Call us directly at (941) 243-3729.
What if imaging elsewhere was “normal”?
Regular X-rays or MRI can miss the tiny vector-level misalignments we identify on 3D CBCT. Different test, different answers.
Will I be adjusted every visit?
Not necessarily. Our goal is for you to hold your correction. We only adjust when scans and exam say it’s needed.
Can migraines, ear fullness, or POTS improve too?
Yes—many patients notice fewer migraines, less ear pressure, and better tolerance to standing as the upper neck stabilizes.
I’ve had vertigo for years. Is it too late?
No. Chronic cases often respond once the root cause is corrected and the nervous system is given time to stabilize.
What does a visit feel like?
Calm, focused, and precise. The adjustment is quick and gentle; many patients are surprised by how light it is.
Our office & insurance
Our office is out of network with insurance. Many of our patients receive a superbill to submit to their insurance for reimbursement based on their coverage. We offer many different payment options as well as finance options.
How long does care last?
The correction phase is front-loaded; as you hold better, visit spacing increases. We’ll outline expectations after your CBCT and initial responses.
How do I get started?
Call (941) 243-3729 or visit www.chiropractorsarasotaflorida.com to schedule your consultation, 3D CBCT scan, and Tytron nervous system evaluation.

A Clear Next Step (And a Word of Encouragement)

You don’t have to organize your life around the fear of spinning. You don’t have to avoid ceiling fans or keep a “safe wall” within reach. With a root-cause plan that begins at the upper neck, your nervous system can relearn steadiness. We’ve watched it happen over and over in Sarasota, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, and beyond—and we’re ready to help you be the next success story.

Lavender Family Chiropractic in Sarasota Florida offers complimentary consultations to learn more about you. Click the link below!

https://intake.chirohd.com/new-patient-scheduling/724/lavender-family-chiropractic

Visit our Website!

To learn more about us go to http://www.chiropractorsarasotaflorida.com

We also service Bradenton, Parrish, Ellenton, Ruskin, Venice, Tampa, St. Pete, Osprey, Longboat, Lakewood Ranch, Myakka City.

If you are in Tampa, Fort Myers, or Salt Lake City, you can visit my other locations! NeckWise Upper Cervical. Visit, www.neckwise.com

If you are not local, visit www.uccnearme.com to find a doctor in your area

Call today: (941) 243-3729
Visit: www.chiropractorsarasotaflorida.com
Address: 5899 Whitfield Ave Ste 107, Sarasota, FL 34243
Follow: @lavenderfamilysrq (Instagram) • @drrustylavender (TikTok)

Lavender Family Chiropractic—Your trusted upper cervical chiropractor near me, delivering gentle, precise care to fix vertigo at its source.