By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
Vertigo is a feeling that your head is spinning and the room and your surroundings are whirling. It is more than just dizziness as dizziness is just a feeling of lightheadedness or nearly fainting and being weak. Vertigo affects balance. It throws you off balance so that when it occurs, you need to sit or stand still or hold on to the bed or chair and let it pass before resuming whatever you are doing. Usually, it is triggered by changes in head position like when you get up from a lying position or when you lie down, or when you turn over in bed, when looking up or down. When we were kids, we would simulate this feeling by spinning around many times. This is also the feeling after you ride a rollercoaster.
It is rarely serious but it can be bothersome and puts people at risk of falling. It usually lasts less than 1 minute but it could also last for hours. Severe vertigo can last for many days or months. It can go away on its own but if the root cause is not addressed, it can come back same or come back in another form of illness.
Vertigo is a symptom, not the disease itself. But it can lead or occur alongside other symptoms such as balance problems, lightheadedness, motion sickness, nausea and vomiting, ringing in the ears, a feeling of fullness in the ears. It can occur with high blood pressure, diabetes, migraine, stroke, head injury and ear injury.
It is usually caused by a problem in the inner ear or, rarely, a problem in the balance centers in the brain, including the following:
1. Inflammation in the ear from infection or autoimmune reaction.
2. Noncancerous growths in the ear or brain.
3. Meniere’s disease– more common in ages above 40 years, this is caused by a build-up of fluid in the inner ear, maybe due to blood vessel constriction (like what happens in high blood pressure), viral infection or autoimmune reaction. Vertigo is accompanied by ringing of ears and hearing loss.
4. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)- the most common cause of vertigo. To help understand how this occurs, let’s have a brief review of our ear structure, especially the inner ear where the problem of vertigo lies. Our ears are divided into external ear, middle ear and inner ear. The external ear is the part of the ear that we can see- the ear lobe and ear canal- these catch the sound waves. Then there is the ear drum, a thin film of plastic-like material that separates the external ear from the middle ear and prevents water and air from entering further. The middle ear converts sound waves to vibrations to be relayed to the inner ear. The inner ear contains semicircular canals and otolith organs which are filled with fluid and hair cells that hear and effect balance. How is balance achieved? These fluid and hair cells respond to gravity and the person’s position by sending messages to the brain and thus enables people to keep their balance when standing up or changing position. The hair cells in the otoliths carry crystals made up of calcium carbonate (limestome) and protein. Of course, these are so tiny we could not see it with our naked eyes. The theory is that in vertigo, these crystals are dislodged and fall into the canals so that during movement, “the brain receives inaccurate information about a person’s position and spinning dizziness occurs.” (medicalnewstoday.com)
The question is what causes the above conditions? You see, dear reader, in any problem, we have to dig up the root causes to be able to treat it. What causes infection, fluid retention, blood vessel constriction and dislodging of the crystals? Well, if you are a loyal reader of this column (thank you!), then you would know the answer. And the answer is unhealthy lifestyle. The excess sweets, meat, eggs, cholesterol, dairy coupled with sedentary lifestyle. What causes high blood pressure and diabetes could also cause vertigo. Tobacco-smoking is also a risk, perhaps because it damages the blood vessels. Remember that all parts of our body, even these tiniest parts in our ears, need blood so blood vessels are everywhere. Knowing the root causes then shows us how to prevent vertigo and treat vertigo.
Meantime, for those with vertigo, the following can be done as initial remedies:
1. Lie still in a quiet, dark room.
2. Sit down and close your eyes, slow breathing, as soon as dizziness occurs and hold on to something.
3. Go slow on movements that change the position of your head like getting up, looking upward or downward and turning head.
4. Squat instead of bending over when picking up something
5. Sleep or rest with 2 or more pillows.
6. Use a cane when walking, if necessary.
7. Do not drive or use a ladder.
8. Ginger, turmeric, sambong, lemongrass teas.
9. Ginger oil – massage around ears or in soles.
10. Brandt-Daroff exercises for BPPV or positional vertigo- from healthline.com:
– Start by sitting down on the edge of a couch or a bed.
– Lie down onto your left side, turning your head to look up as you do so. Try to do both of these movements within 1-2 seconds. Keep your head looking up at a 45 degree angle for about 30 seconds.
– Sit up for 30 seconds.
– Repeat these steps on your right side.
– Do this four more times, for a total of five repetitions on each side.
– Sit up. You may feel dizzy or light-headed, which is normal. Wait for it to pass before you stand up.
Do these set of movements 3X day for 14 days. I recommend that you see the video of these exercises.
That’s it for vertigo. Keep well, folks!
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Proverbs 29:1 “ He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.”**
