Homoeopathy management of vertigo

Dr Sayeed Ahmad

Vertigo, sensation of spinning around or of seeing nearby objects revolve. Vertigo tends to be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, headache, or sweating.

Diseases of the cerebral cortex, eye muscles, or cerebellum can cause true vertigo, but such diseases are rare. Inflammation, infection, or other diseases of the semicircular canals of the inner ear, such as labyrinthitis (inflammation of the labyrinth), are more common causes and are frequently accompanied by auditory sensations, such as deafness and ringing in the ear (aural vertigo), and by rapid eye movements (nystagmus). These diseases generally last only a few weeks, during which the vertigo is usually experienced briefly and intermittently.

In his article, David H. Frankel explained that Vertigo is one of the least pleasant symptoms one can think of. It is frightening, often sudden and unprovoked, and always miserable. It is not surprising, therefore, that vertigo is a symptom that brings patients to their doctors. Although the word “Vertigo” is commonly assumed to be the same as dizziness, it is actually a distinct type of dizziness.

“Dizziness is a general term for sense of disorientation”, writes Dr. Robert W. Baloh of the University of California in Los Angeles, in a recent issue of the international medical journal, The Lancet.
“Vertigo”, on the other hand, is “an illusion of movement, usually a sense of rotation … a sensation of linear displacement or tilt.” Another distinction between the two is that vertigo, unlike dizziness, is often accompanied by other unpleasant symptoms such as pallor, nausea, vomiting and sweating.

Vertigo can be caused by peripheral disturbances, such as diseases or conditions of vestibular system of the inner ear, or it can be central, due to tumours or other diseases of the brain or brain stem. Doctors can often tell the difference between peripheral and central vertigo by asking patients about their symptoms and then doing a few, simple maneuvers during the physical examination. One of the key findings doctors look for is nystagmus.
Nystagmus appears as rapid, jerky, rotary or up-and-down eye movements that may occur after a rapid change of position.

Sometimes, more advanced techniques, such as brain scans are needed to find the cause. Peripheral vertigo is usually accompanied by more pronounced nausea and vomiting. In addition, patients often complain of hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and the sensation of ear fullness or pain in the ear.
Many of these symptoms are caused by Menier’s syndrome. In this condition, attacks of vertigo are recurrent and accompanied by hearing loss and tinnitus. Occasionally, and most dramatically patients may experience sudden falling spells.

Migraine is another common cause of vertigo, and in fact up to 25 percent of patients with migraine may suffer from vertigo. The problem is most common in adolescent girls.
Vertigo often accompanies the headache, but not always. Sometimes migraine patients with vertigo also experience visual loss, double vision and difficulty in walking or speaking.
In older patients, transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs, are a common cause of vertigo. The attacks begin abruptly and last several minutes. They are due to atherosclerosis of arteries to the brain and patients with this condition often have a history of other atherosclerotic diseases such as heart attacks or poor circulation in the legs.

Positional vertigo is caused by changes in position. One condition, known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo typically occurs when turning over in bed, getting in or out of bed, stooping or bending the head backward to look up. It is caused by head trauma or viral infection. The vertigo is brief, lasting for less than half a minute.
More serious causes for positional vertigo include multiple sclerosis and tumours of the brain stem and cerebellum, the portion of the brain that helps fine tune body movements.

Treatment of vertigo, of course, depends upon the cause. In Menier’s syndrome, therapy consists of salt restriction and diuretics. Occasionally surgery is necessary. Vertigo due to migraine is treated with a variety of medicines intended to reduce the arterial spasm, and vertigo induced by vertibrobasilar insufficiency is treated with aspirin or other drugs that inhibit blood clotting.

But no matter what therapy is used to treat the underlying cause of vertigo, the annoying and often debilitating symptoms must also be attended. None of the agents for this is recommended for long-term use, as they may interfere with the normal compensation process of the body.

However, Homoeopathy has a better and most effective solution to different kinds of vertigo and it can be treated quite successfully in a shorter period of time.

Homoeopathic Treatment for Vertigo

• Vertigo on turning the head. — Calc., Con., Kali-c.
• Vertigo on moving the head. — Bry., Calc., Con.
• Vertigo on looking up. — Puls., Sil.
• Vertigo on looking down. — Phos., Spig., Sulph.
• Vertigo from odour of flowers. — Nux-v., Phos.
• Vertigo on going down winding stairs. — Gins.
• Vertigo on blwoing nose. — Culex., Codein.
• Vertigo on watching or loss of sleep. — Cocc., Nux-v.
• Vertigo on the least noise. — Ther.
• Vertigo while walking. — Nat-m., Nux-v., Phos., Puls.
• Vertigo while studying or reading. — Am-c., Arn., Cupr., Cur., Graph.,Grat., Nat-m.
• Vertigo while or after eating. — Grat., Nux-v., Puls.
• Vertigo as if whirling. — Bry., Con., Cycl., Puls.
• Vertigo as if the bed turned. — Con.
• Vertigo with fainting. — Nux-v.
• Vertigo with staggering. — Arg-n., Gels., Nux-v., Phos.
• Vertigo with eyes closed. — Apis, Arg-n., Arn., Calad., Chel., Lach., Nat-m., Sil., Stram., Ther., Thuj.
• Vertigo with dimness of sight. — Cycl., Gels., Nux-v.
• Vertigo aggravated on lying on right side. — Mur-ac.
• Vertigo when rising from seat. — Bry., Phos.
• Vertigo when rising from stooping. — Bell.
• Vertigo while eating. — Kissingen
• Vertigo from lifting head. — Popul-c.
• Vertigo when rising from bed. — Bry., Chel., Cocc.
• Vertigo when stooping. — Bell., Nux-v., Puls., Sulph.
• Vertigo when ascending. — Calc.
• Vertigo when descending. — Bor., Con., Fer., Gels., Plat., Sanic., Vib.
• Vertigo when lying. — Con.
• Vertigo must lie down. — Bry., Cocc., Phos., Puls.
• Vertigo with occipital pain. — Gels., Clon., Petr., Sil.
• Vertigo after sleep. — Lach.
• Vertigo after suppressed menses. — Cycl., Puls.
• Vertigo of the aged. — Iod., Phos.
• Vertigo from indigestion. — Bry., Nux-v., Puls.
• Vertigo from congestion. — Bell., Gels., Glon.
• Vertigo from brain-fag. — Chin., Ph-ac., Phos., Sulph., Zinc.
• Vertigo from headache. — Apis, Bell., Calc., Con., Croc., Hydr-ac., Fer., Iod., Lac-c., Lil-t., Nux-v., Onos., Sil., Stro., Sulph.
• Vertigo from heart disorders. — Cact., Kali-c., Lach., Phos., Ver.
• Vertigo from feeble heart’s action. — Dig.
• Vertigo from ear diseases. — Caust., Gels., Stram.
• Vertigo after coition. — Bov., Ph-ac., Sep.
• Vertigo while crossing bridge. — Bar-c., Bro., Lyss.
• Vertigo while crossing running water. — Arg-m., Bell, Bro., Fer., Hyos., Lyss., Sulph.
• Vertigo in dark. — Alum., Arg-n., Kali-i., Pic-ac., Stram.
• Vertigo with deafness. — Merc-c.
• Vertigo after emissions. — Bov., Caust., Nat-s., Sars.
• Vertigo, falls backward. — Chin., Spig., Rhus-t.
• Vertigo, falls forward. — Nat-m., Rhus-t.
• Vertigo, falls to left. — Nat-m., Sil.
• Vertigo, falls to right. — Calc., Caust., Sil., Zinc.
• Vertigo, falls sideways. — Benz-ac., Calc., Cocc., Nux-v.
• Vertigo with female symptoms. — Cycl.
• Vertigo with fevers. — Carb-v., Cocc., Kali-c., Puls.
• Vertigo after fright. — Op.
• Vertigo from gas light. — Caust.
• Vertigo from hair binding. — Sulph-I
• Vertigo, as if intoxicated. — Gels., Nux-v.
• Vertigo with nausea and vomiting. — Chin-s., Cocc., Fer., Lapp., Lob., Petr.,Sel., Ther.
• Vertigo at night. — Tarn.
• Vertigo felt in occiput. — Bry., Carb-v., Con., Gels., Petr., Sil.,Ver., Zinc.
• Vertigo, periodical. — Cocc., Nat-m., Phos.
• Vertigo during pregnancy. — Alet., Gels., Nat-m.
• Vertigo with ringing in ears. — Lith., Ph-ac.
• Vertigo while sewing. — Graph.
• Vertigo while shaving. — Carb-an.
• Vertigo while sitting. — Apis, Meph., Phos., Puls, Sulph.
• Vertigo with sleepiness. — Aeth., Gels., Laur., Nit-ac., Nux-m., Sil.
• Vertigo while smoking. — Gels., Nat-m., Nux-v., Tab.
• Vertigo while sneezing. — Apis, Nux-v., Seneg.
• Vertigo with sparks before eyes. — Ign.
• Vertigo with stomach pain. — Cic.
• Vertigo in Summer. — Psor.
• Vertigo while facing Sun. — Agar., Glon., Kali-p., Nat-c.
• Vertigo followed by unconsciousness. — Sil.
• Vertigo while walking. — Anac.
• Vertigo with weakness. — Aeth., Colch., Crot-h., Echi., Sel.
• Vertigo while looking out of window. — Ox-ac.
• Vertigo while standing near window. — Nat-m.
• Vertigo while writing. — Graph., Kali-bi., Sep.
• Vertigo aggravated by Tea. — Nat-m., Sep.
• Vertigo with chocking of throat. — Iber.
• Vertigo with trembling. — Crot-h., Gels., Zinc.
• Vertigo as if falling of wall on her. — Arg-n., Saba.

N O T E : Any information given above is not intended to be taken as a replacement for medical advice. Therefore, it is very important that the patients should avoid self-treatment and rather consult the most abled and qualified classical homoeopath and take the treatment under his proper guidance and advice.