Are you someone who gets dizzy when looking up? Maybe the sensation is brief, but it gives you pause, concern for potentially falling. Has the medication the doctor provided not helped? If this sounds like you, then time to get to the root of the problem.

When people get dizzy looking up, there could be more than one issue at play. Each one will require a different form of treatment. A thorough history and examination is necessary to discover the cause and determine the best plan of treatment.

Potential issue number one is positional dizziness or BPPV. In this case, when a person looks up the “crystals” in a person’s ears move. This overstimulates their vestibular system and produces dizziness. Chances are if BPPV is the cause then other head/body movements trigger the dizziness. If for example a person also gets dizziness rolling over in bed and/or sitting up from bed, these are good indicators for BPPV as the cause. The good news is that this type is easily treatable with specific head/body repositioning maneuvers. A physical therapist can treat this kind of dizziness very successfully.

Another option is what is called cervicogenic dizziness. In this instance the movement receptors in a person’s neck are triggering dizzy symptoms. Often there is some small imbalance in the muscle/joint system at play. More specifically, the coordination of the small movements of the head/neck muscles are to blame. Again, this type of dizziness can be treated with specific hands-on treatments plus exercise. A physical therapist is the best provider to help this type.

A third potential issue, though rare, deals with blood flow to the brain. There can be instances where looking up can squeeze on blood vessels leading to temporary dizziness until head position is returned to neutral. Often there will be other signs or symptoms that can be determined by your doctor.

Regardless of the cause of the dizziness, it is time to get the dizziness issue looked at and addressed. Falls can result in further head trauma or other physical injuries.