What is Vertigo?
Feeling dizzy or off-balance is also referred to as Vertigo. This health challenge is most often assumed to be due to a problem with the inner ear, but there are many causes. Vertigo is a cluster of symptoms which indicate an underlying health condition.
Several systems in our bodies make sure that we feel balanced and grounded. These include the sensory-motor control system (the same system that controls our sight, and hearing), the proprioception system which is responsible for our sense of touch, and the vestibular system which helps us to run, walk, or hike without falling over.
The reason our inner ears are often associated with vertigo is because they are part of the vestibular system. This allows us to have an accurate sense of where we are in space.
Vertigo happens when the delicate parts of our inner ear can no longer accurately send information to the brain about our position in space. This impaired information transmission can happen due to inflammation, infection, an injury or simply due to the aging of the ear’s components.
Causes of Vertigo
Though our lifestyle choices may be causing vertigo, but dizziness and other symptoms associated with vertigo may also happen due to:
- A neck or head Injury
- Inflammation, or Injury within the inner ear (most common cause)
- Tumor in The Brain
Allopathic Cures for Vertigo
Often vertigo will get better all on its own. This is especially true if vertigo is the result of being on a moving vehicle like an airplane or cruise ship. Many people feel a type of uneasiness, or sea-sickness which is a form of vertigo when travelling.
However, other forms of vertigo are treated in different ways by allopathic medicine, with a primary focus on pharmaceutical drugs.
Aside from making sure one is not anemic, or has low blood sugar – two superficial reasons that a person may be experiencing dizziness – a doctor may prescribe:
- Water pills and a low salt diet
- Antihistamines such as Antivert
- Anticholinergics such as scopolamine skin patches
- Anti-anxiety medications
- Medications that control migraine headaches
Many of these medications can cause serious side effects ranging from suicidal tendencies to increasing the risk for heart disease, or even just causing weight gain and bloating. Some medications such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications can also be addictive.
In extreme cases, the removal of the inner ear is done via a surgical procedure, however, this may impair one’s ability to hear and sense the world adequately.
Natural Cures for Vertigo
Feeling woozy, unbalanced, as if the ground is uneven when you walk upon it, etc. is usually an outward manifestation of being imbalanced in how you use your energy in life. People who work too much, and don’t get enough sleep are prone to vertigo, but this is just one example.
Natural cures tend to look at the underlying cause of an ailment, and see the person as a whole, and not just from a biological perspective. Emotions, stress, diet, lifestyle choices like whether you smoke, drink, or over-work are all, also considered prior to prescribing anything.
Herbal Remedies for Vertigo
Herbal remedies for vertigo work primarily by reducing inflammation in the inner ear and associated organs. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, for example, the kidneys are thought to open into the ears. An imbalance in the kidneys, will therefore increase chances for vertigo and dizziness.
- Gingko Biloba increases blood supply to the inner ear and brain.
- Ginger has long been used by Asian cultures to get rid of nausea, dizziness, and vertigo.
- Valerian root is an anti-spasmodic, and nervous system soother.
- Chamomile is an herb that is usually used to reduce stress, and anxiety. It also helps to minimize vertigo.
- Black Cohosh is a powerful herbal remedy for vertigo. Known as snakeroot or rattleweed, Black Cohosh decreases high blood pressure which has been linked to some forms of vertigo.
- Butcher’s Broom helps to affect the vasodilation and circulation of the nerves and brain along with the inner ear.
- Cayenne pepper, a thermogenic herb helps to increase circulation and reduce platelet aggregation (blood clumping) which results in decreased vertigo.
- Indian Gooseberry – the high antioxidant and vitamin content in Indian Gooseberry can help to reduce inflammation which may cause problems in the inner ear.
Chiropractic Care for Vertigo
Utilizing head position corrections and spinal alignment, a chiropractor may be able to correct sensations of dizziness or feeling unsteady. By helping the spine re-align along its center axis, the nerve endings in the peripheral body, as well as in the ears begin to communicate with the brain more efficiently, and vertigo symptoms are minimized or eradicated.
The Eply maneuver, for example, or head positioning maneuvers may be used address disturbances in the inner ear which may be affecting the nervous system.
Traditional Chinese Medicine for Vertigo
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), vertigo, or dizziness is caused by a number of contributing factors. The dizziness could be inflammation of the inner ear, vertigo caused by migraines, or some other reason.
It is likely that the constitution of the person is off balance, and that life conditions have contributed to an imbalance of qi, that leads to stagnation of the blood. Usually when blood is weak, and qi is sluggish we will be more prone to dizziness.
Treatment for dizziness or vertigo utilizing TCM will usually include herbal remedies like Suan Zao, Shen Jing, Qi Ju Di, Long Dan, etc. as well as acupuncture, moxibustion, and advice on how to eat, sleep, etc. to support the healthy movement of qi.
Yoga for Vertigo
Many thousands of years of observation and practice have revealed that certain yogic postures can train the body (via the nervous system) to have better balance. Yoga helps to strengthen the nervous system, so that it can communicate with all aspects of our body – our organs, our cells, our bones, and even our neurotransmitters.
Yoga asana also increases blood flow to parts of our bodies where qi and blood have become stagnant or sluggish.
Most restorative poses act as a calming balm to the over-worked and over-stimulated nervous system. They also re-channel our energy so that we are not over-feeding the monkey –mind that never stops thinking, and allows that energy to go back into restoring and nurturing the body and mind. These include:
- Balasana (Child’s pose)
- Paschimottanasana (Seated forward bend)
- Viparita Karani (legs up the wall)
- Supta Badha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose)
Meditation for Vertigo
It may seem outlandish, but the mind can cure just about any ailment — and that includes vertigo or dizziness. Recent research in neuroplasticity and the power of the mind to create our experience has proven that the mind has a powerful effect on our bodies. In fact, nine key regions of the brain are totally rewired with meditation.
Meditation also fortifies the corpus callosum – the bridge between the two hemispheres of the brain which allow for balanced, full-brain functioning.
Meditation also reduces inflammation – another cause of vertigo, and even reduces depression and anxiety, which can lead to feeling “off balance” in our lives.
Mediation also reduces stress which creates neurochemicals like cortisol that can increase inflammation in the body, thereby increasing a person’s chances of experiencing vertigo.
Meditation is one way in which we can change our current thought patterns from those that energetically support disease to thought patterns, and physiological processes, that support vitality and health – and NO DIZZINESS!
Vertigo is a complex set of symptoms which can include headaches and nausea, but most often a feeling of being ungrounded, dizzy, and off-center. These sensations indicate the emotional and psychosocial problems we face as well as the underlying biological problems which contribute to vertigo. In Western society, we are more likely to over-work, over-eat, and be sedentary (forget to exercise). These all lead to depleted kidney qi, what Chinese Medicine practitioners understand as the storehouse of our energy.
When this energy is depleted, we feel unbalanced – but this is a warning to start living a more balanced life. We should eat better. Slow down. Stop overworking. Get moderate exercise, and care for ourselves better. Vertigo – or a feeling of being unbalanced – echoes a deep inner knowing that our lives are also unbalanced.
By correcting this core issue, we can start to feel strong, and stable, grounded and centered.
Both pharmaceutical and natural cures for vertigo can help with the symptoms, but usually it is only our acceptance of our own responsibility in balancing our lives that nets lasting results in curing vertigo.
For immediate relief of vertigo, try yoga, meditation, acupuncture, herbal remedies, a diet based primarily on vegetables, fruits, buts, seeds, legumes, beans, whole grains, and clean water. Get moderate exercise every day. Reduce stress. Make an appointment with a chiropractor to rebalance the spine, and know that your ongoing work is to “work” less, and live more.