Vertigo Treatments: If Vertigo Is Making You Feel Dizzy And Disoriented - Don't Despair, As Natural Remedies Can Put A Stop To Distressing Symptoms

Do you sometimes feel an uncomfortable sensation of swaying or rotating, accompanied by nausea or loss of balance? If you do, you are probably suffering from some form of vertigo. Motion sickness, for example, is a temporary form of vertigo and symptoms such as nausea soon clear up. Yet whilst symptoms can pass quickly, in some cases they can persist for hours or even days, causing the sufferer a great deal of distress.

Benign Positional Vertigo (BPV) is another common form of vertigo, caused by small crystals of calcium accumulating in your inner ear. Symptoms can take up to six months to improve and include nausea, loss of balance or light-headedness, which are often made worse by certain head movements. Simply rolling over in bed or looking up with your head bent back can aggravate an attack.

Numerous causes of vertigo are thought to exist, and the condition has been linked with tinnitus (ringing in your ears), loss of hearing, headache, double vision, stiff neck, depression, anxiety, head injuries, infections of your inner ear, multiple sclerosis, brain tumours, and age-related damage of your inner ear or brain. Statistics show that one out of ten patients visiting their doctor suffers from vertigo, and your chances of developing the condition increase with age (Rev Ger 1997, 22(7) 456-462).

Conventional treatments for vertigo are not always successful and surgery can be traumatic
It is important that the actual cause of your vertigo is identified. To establish this, your doctor may check your blood pressure, conduct special hearing tests, scans of your brain, or carry out a rotatory chair test - the severity of your condition is assessed whilst you're seated in a chair and are turned around in different directions.

In many cases a definite cause cannot be found, and so general measures are conventionally used to treat overall symptoms. Doctors routinely prescribe the drugs Cinnarizine (Stugeron) and Betahistine (Serc), which aim to balance the fluid levels within your inner ear. And drugs, such as Prochlorperazine (Stemetil), are administered to treat nausea. These drugs can cause unpleasant side-effects, however, such as drowsiness, skin rashes or headaches.

Surgery is performed as a last resort for more serious forms of vertigo. This involves drilling holes in your inner ear to drain fluid, but can cause a great deal of pain and discomfort, and does not necessarily guarantee successful results.

Complementary and alternative remedies can improve your symptoms without harmful side-effects
The following treatments for vertigo are proving to be highly effective alternatives to drugs and surgery:

Piracetam is a chemical derived from the amino acid, gamma amino butyric acid (GABA). It has been used to treat older patients suffering from vertigo with good results (Pharmacopsychiatry 1999 32(1) 54-60), but is currently only available on prescription under the brand name Nootropil. The usual dose is based on 2,400-4,800 mg a day.

Hydergine is a synthetic compound which is used to stimulate your brain, and has been found to be effective in reducing many symptoms of vertigo (Tokai J Exp Clin Med 1998 23(4)187-192). It increases the blood supply to your brain, improves the metabolism of your brain cells (including those responsible for your sense of balance), and prevents free radical damage in your inner ear. The dose is 5-10 mg a day and, again, this treatment is only available on prescription.

Ginkgo Biloba, the extract of the maidenhair tree, has been shown to be successful in boosting blood circulation within the small vessels of your inner ear (Inv Med Int 1997 24(2) 31-39).

At the end of a three-month study of 67 people with vertigo, 47 per cent of participants taking 160mg of ginkgo biloba every day made a full recovery, compared with just 18 per cent in the placebo group (Presse Med. 1986;15:1569-1572). Take a 'standardised' dosage of 120 mg once or twice a day.

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is a plant extract that reduces inflammation processes within your inner ear and improves blood circulation -- this increases the amount of nutrients and oxygen reaching the parts of your inner ear responsible for maintaining balance. It is available in both tablet and liquid form.

Vinpocetine, another general brain stimulant, is extremely beneficial in helping to reduce symptoms of vertigo. Vinpocetine is the extract of the periwinkle plant, which improves oxygen supply to your brain (Jap Pharmacol Theur 1997 25 (12) 81-88).

Many medical trials have shown that vinpocetine may even protect your brain against toxic damage. The recommended dosage of vinpocetine is 15-40 mg a day.

If you suspect you might be suffering from vertigo, make sure you get the cause diagnosed by your doctor straight away, as the condition responds very well to treatment. It is especially important that older people seek help to prevent potentially life-threatening falls caused by dizziness. For more information visit the website: http://www.vertigo-dizziness.com/, or contact the Royal National Institute for the Deaf help line 0808 8086666.