What Causes Vertigo?

If you’ve ever suffered from vertigo, it’s no joke to say it can turn your world upside down. Unlike lightheadedness or minor dizziness, vertigo feels like everything around you is spinning out of control. It can be severe enough to cause nausea, vomiting, loss of balance and the inability to walk without falling.

There are two common kinds of vertigo; peripheral and central. Peripheral vertigo originates in your inner ear and is one of the most common kinds of vertigo that people experience. Your inner ear houses something called your vestibular system, which controls balance. It works with your vision and proprioception (a big word for the sense of where you are in space) to monitor and adjust for movement as a way to maintain your balance.

Symptoms associated with peripheral vertigo include nausea, vomiting, sweating and uncontrollable eye movements, called nystagmus. Sometimes these eye movements go away when you focus on a fixed object, and in many cases, the nystagmus goes away after the first few days of symptoms.

Some common inner ear conditions that can cause vertigo include:

• BPPV, or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. The name of this condition explains a lot about it. It’s benign, meaning you may feel awful, but you’re not going to die from it. Paroxysmal means that it comes and goes fairly quickly. And positional describes the fact that changing positions, especially moving your head triggers your symptoms. BPPV is caused by tiny crystals in the tubes of your inner ear that break loose and move around, causing a disruption in your ability to balance.
• Vestibular neuronitis, which is an inflammation of the cranial nerve that affects your vestibular system can also cause serious vertigo. Scientists believe that this condition is caused by an infection or virus. It typically resolves in two to three weeks.
• Meniere’s disease is an illness that causes vertigo combined with loss of hearing. It’s not clear what causes this condition, but some doctors believe that stress can play a role, along with high salt consumption and overdrinking caffeine or alcohol.

Treating peripheral vertigo in Western medicine may involve a series of head movements, such as the Epley maneuver or similar protocols, to reposition dislodged crystals in BPPV patients. This is a relatively quick process and can be done in your health care provider’s office. Medications for vertigo may include anti inflammatory drugs, motion sickness medications and anti-nausea drugs to reduce and control symptoms. In addition, in cases of Meniere’s disease, cutting salt, alcohol and caffeinated drinks may also help.

Central vertigo originates in your brain, and can be caused by illness or infections, traumatic head injuries, migraines, strokes and brain tumors. Unlike peripheral vertigo symptoms that tend to come and go quickly, central vertigo symptoms tend to last longer and be more severe. With central vertigo, eye movements (nystagmus) often last longer, and focusing doesn’t relieve the problem. Hearing issues that occur with peripheral vertigo are uncommon with central vertigo conditions, however headaches, weakness and difficulty swallowing can occur.

Standard treatments for central vertigo hinge on the underlying cause of the issue. For example, migraines may be managed with medication and stress reduction. However, if the vertigo is caused by a stroke, tumor or multiple sclerosis, treatment may be focused on keeping symptoms under control through medications for nausea and motion sickness.

Treating Vertigo with Chinese Medicine

In Chinese medicine, many conditions take on patterns that are similar to bad weather patterns, but in the body, such as heat, cold and dampness. Vertigo and its cousins, dizziness and lightheadedness, are considered to be conditions called internal wind. The character of wind is that it comes and goes fairly quickly, usually affects your upper body and often moves from place to place. Simply put, internal wind is movement affecting your body where there should be none. In addition to vertigo and dizziness, other conditions attributed to wind include tremors, tics, twitching and numbness. In most cases, wind is caused by some kind of depletion, such as being run down, exhaustion, anemia or a long illness. Less frequently, vertigo may also be caused by what we call an excess of damp or phlegm.

In treating vertigo with Chinese medicine, your acupuncturist will first determine the underlying cause of your condition.  Acupuncture can increase circulation and reduce inflammation in your vestibular area. Using a number of acupuncture points and point combinations that are specifically aimed to treat dizziness and vertigo, your practitioner may combine body, scalp and ear points for the best results. In fact, research conducted on emergency room patients experiencing vertigo concluded that acupuncture provided significant and quick relief of dizziness and vertigo symptoms. It’s also important to note that a great deal of research supports the use of acupuncture for treating stress, which can play a role in aggravating some types of vertigo.

Chinese herbs are also a good adjunct therapy for vertigo conditions. The herbs can be combined into a formula to treat your depletion, reduce the causes and symptoms and support the healing process.

Dietary therapy is also helpful in treating vertigo and dizziness. If your practitioner is well-trained and experienced healing through foods, they can assess your diet and recommend foods to include and those to avoid as a way to treat any depletion, reduce wind, control phlegm if necessary and support healing.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be an effective way to treat vertigo. Often the combination of acupuncture, herbal medicine and dietary changes can help calm your symptoms and heal your vestibular system. If you’re struggling with vertigo or other kinds of dizziness, please call our clinic to learn more about how we can help.

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