Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and Upper Cervical Treatment
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a condition that causes your heart to beat faster than normal when your change positions from lying down or sitting to standing up. This abnormal heart beat will cause a variety of symptoms.
POTS is often linked to dysautonomia which is dysfunction in the automatic portion of the central nervous system, the Autonomic Nervous System.
Dysautonomia is an umbrella term used to describe several different medical conditions that cause a malfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System. The Autonomic Nervous System controls the "automatic" functions of the body that we do not consciously think about, such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, dilation and constriction of the pupils of the eye, kidney function, and temperature control.
POTS is not rare. It affects about 1 to 3 million people in the United States and over 70 million people worldwide live with various forms of dysautonomia. People of any age, gender or race can be impacted with a higher tendency of females being affected.
Dysautonomia can be due to a degenerative disease (primary) or resulting from an injury or trauma (secondary). There are around 15 types of dysautonomia with the most common being neurocardiogenic syncope, which leads to fainting and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
Common symptoms include:
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An inability to stay upright
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Dizziness, vertigo, and fainting
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Fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat
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Low blood pressure
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Problems with the gastrointestinal system
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"Brain Fog"
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Disturbances in the visual field
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Weakness
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Breathing difficulties
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Mood swings
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Fatigue and intolerance to exercise
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Tremors
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Disrupted sleep pattern
How Our Chiropractors Can Help
How Our Chiropractors Can Help
While POTS can have various complexities from case to case. We have had success with patients suffering from this potentially debilitating condition.
Due to the proximity of the upper cervical spine to the autonomic processing portion of the brain stem/spinal cord, an upper cervical misalignment can cause these signals to become distorted and affect the way that your brain/body perceives information. The upper cervical region is also a choking point for fluid flow to and from the brain which can have a significant impact on some of the conditions listed above.
Pierce Upper Cervical Chiropractic uses a revolutionary healthcare procedure that focuses on the Upper Cervical Spine. This procedure identifies subtle misalignments of the top vertebrae in the neck and corrects them using a light-force instrument adjustment.
From Our Patients
I absolutely love Peirce Upper Cervical. Dr. Culig was very knowledgeable about my rare condition, POTS, and helped me with my cervical instability. When I first started going I had really bad migraines and now they are gone! 10/10 recommend for all of your back / neck problems.
-Chloe W
I recently was diagnosed with cervical dysautonomia and suffer a wide range of symptoms such as near passing out, black outs, spasms and twitching, breathing issues, dizziness, chest pain (costochondritis/ sternum related) because of it. I have seen upwards of 10 doctors and a naturopath without much improvement and Dr. Culig has created a super personalized plan that truly focuses on whatever issue I am having that week. It’s not just upper cervical adjustments, it’s muscle work, putting ribs back into place, etc. He truly cares about his patients and you can tell he’s super passionate about what he is doing. He really is a modern day healer- I had chronic eye twitching nearly every day for two years, he fixed it. My breathing issues, black outs, and costochondritis have greatly improved and I feel like I’m finally getting my life back.
-Caroline C.