Vertigo: What is it?

Vertigo is a false feeling of rotation of objects or a feeling of rotation of the patient himself/herself around objects. Moreover, it is described as dizziness along with nausea and is manifested due to the temporary brain dysfunction that leads to lack of control of body movements. Vertigo is not a disease but a symptom of energy disorders.    

Vertigo: Categories

• Peripheral type: it occurs in diseases related to the labyrinth of ear and accompanied by vomit and nausea. It usually deteriorates when changing position, it causes hearing loss, tinnitus and instability which can last from several minutes to a few days. In the inner ear, an inflammation may develop due to disease or several small crystals or stones that usually exist in the inner ear. These might move and cause irritation in the small hairy cells in the semicircular paths, resulting to vertigo. This is known as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV).
• Central type: with cause that originates from the nervous system (CNS) which includes the brain and the spinal cord and is usually milder, longer lasting. The main symptoms are weakness, instability, double vision and frequent numbness.

Meniere’s disease that relates to hearing loss and tinnitus (buzz in ears) and is caused by accumulated fluid inside the inner ear can also result to vertigos. Traumas of head can lead to damage of the inner ear and also cause vertigo. More rarely, a stroke, Multiple Sclerosis or certain tumors may lead to vertigo symptoms. Vertigo and dizziness afflict the 20%-30% of population, with the majority being older women.

Vertigo: Its treatment with Western Medicine

Western Medicine treats vertigo in various ways, depending on the diagnosed cause and treatments always focus on symptoms rather that the cause itself.

It is mainly treated with the help of medication, vestibular rehabilitation exercises and in some cases with surgery.

Medication: In the acute phase, the drugs administered are antihistamines, antiemetics and labyrinth suppressants in order to relieve symptoms. However, their chronic use may lead to their deterioration, as they prevent central nervous system (CNS) from developing mechanisms of damage compensation.

Treating Vertigo with Vestibular Rehabilitation: It is applied in various conditions of labyrinth such as: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, unilateral or bilateral hypoesthesia, accompanied by Meniere’s disease, vestibular neuronitis, labyrinthitis. Vertigo treatment includes a program of exercises aiming to induce rehabilitation through central nervous system.

Treating Vertigo with Surgery: Vertigo treatment with surgical methods is rarely successful. The exception is Meniere’s Disease where surgery on the endolymphatic sac or dissection of the vestibular nerve or labyrinthectomy can be performed. 

Vertigo and Medical Acupuncture

Traditional Chinese Medicine suggests that imbalance between internal organs lead to poor energy circulation and insufficient blood supply to the brain, resulting to the clinical manifestation of vertigo. The goal should be to re-balance energies of both liver yang and kidney yin.

Medical Acupuncture as a complementary treatment has a significant and immediate effect in reducing inconveniences caused by dizziness and vertigo. Patients feel relief since the very first days and usually after the first session. A series of Acupuncture treatments and an herbal treatment program are even more beneficial for eliminating the underlying causes.

Medical Acupuncture treatment aims to restore the energy flow, a consequence of the loss of the balance among various energy forces in the body. The number of Acupuncture sessions depends on each patient separately. The Doctor – Acupuncturists of our Institute will examine each patient’s case and will propose a number of required sessions to be followed so as the patient will be treated from vertigo in combination with individualized herbal therapy.