How to treat vertigo according to traditional Chinese medicine

We are in a skyscraper. Inside the elevator, we go up to the roof, where an important appointment awaits us. Suddenly, the elevator stops: something is wrong.

Let’s imagine that the skyscraper is our bodyand the roof, the head, which governs and directs what happens in it; the elevator is bloodand we, the nutrients that it elevates.

The elevator motor, which is the Chidrives the elevator through the meridians, the system that communicates the whole body.

In an ancient Chinese medicine book it is said that “only the wind can reach the top of the mountain”.

The mountain is here the body, its top the head and the wind that rises, the pathogenic factor capable of disturbing the tranquility of the head.

This is nourished by jing chi (basal substance) of the kidney –the “sea of ​​the marrow”–, and this in turn needs to be nourished by the earth chi of the spleen and stomach system, which it acquires through food.

But for the chi and the blood to reach the head well, it is essential that the meridians are open and free of passage, And that’s what the liver, an organ that’s very sensitive to emotions, takes care of. Hence intense and negative emotions cause dizziness.

Vertigo according to traditional Chinese medicine

In Chinese, vertigo is not one word but two: xuan yun. They are used together because they refer to symptoms that usually appear together.

Xuan could be translated as “blurry vision” and yun means, in general, “dizziness”.

Dizziness is the feeling of being on a boat in a rough sea: everything spins and balance is lost. It can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sweating, tinnitus, hearing loss, and a pale complexion, and can even cause fainting.

These sensations, which do not usually include pain, occur in the headwhich in Chinese medicine is considered the “pure yang sea”in reference to the pure and light chi, since only the pure can be raised.

The head is where more yang chi must reach, and where more accumulates, to be able to hold all five holes -hearing, sight, smell, taste and speech- in good working order.

the five holes correspond to the five elementsand are the antennae through which the internal organs manifest their chi.

What types of vertigo are there and what can cause them?

For western medicine the causes of vertigo are several and almost all physical: hypertension or hypotension, hypoglycemia, anemia…

largely coincides with the Chinese medicinealthough this one has a more comprehensive approach.

1. Vertigo due to hypertension or hypotension

In Chinese medicine it is considered a rise of liver yang (fire) due to a liver chi blockage, which is usually due to a emotional disorder: disgust, anger, anger or frustration.

Another cause is the kidney (water) yin deficiencywhich fails to master liver yang, which causes its pathological ascent.

2. Vertigo due to hypoglycemia, arteriosclerosis, anemia or muscle contracture

It is a picture of insufficient chi and bloodmainly in the spleen and stomach because these are not capable of transform immediate principles in nutritive substance.

It can also be given by sequelae of a chronic disease It consumes chi and blood, preventing the nourishment of muscle tissue and the elevation of pure yang chi to the head.

3. Vertigo due to neck pain or Ménière’s syndrome

They are not exactly the same causes, but in the first case, neck pain, depending on the cervical lesion, can be considered bone wear which, according to Chinese medicine, is a kidney jing deficiency.

It usually appears in older peoplealong with vision and hearing loss, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

For its part, Ménière’s syndrome is a inner ear disorder, which when filled with liquid cannot fulfill its function of maintaining balance. It mainly affects people between the ages of 25 and 40, although there are more and more cases of older ages.

in chinese medicine ear disorders have to do above all with the kidney. In fact, the ear is considered the external opening of this organ.

4. Vertigo due to anemia and arterial hypotension

The cause of anemia is most commonly a spleen and stomach dysfunction which usually produces tan or stagnant pathological water.

It adheres to the meridians impeding the flow of pure chiwhich barely reaches the head and therefore the five nostrils do not receive pure yang chi and become cloudy.

In the case of anemia, the lack of chi and blood from the spleen/stomach is due to lack of nutritive substancebut the result is the same: it has neither the strength nor the quantity to reach the head, so the five orifices are not nourished.

Is there a psychological vertigo? The role of emotions

emotions play a fundamental role in imbalances of the organism. Some keys help keep it healthy:

Good humor. Negative emotional stimuli are very likely to block liver chi. It is convenient to maintain a good mood and a positive attitude, and Do not forget that we manage the head by our will and perseverance.

drop ballast You have to know how to digest, channel and do not accumulate bad feelingslike things unsaid, and admit what does not make us happy, those little things that we don’t give too much importance to until “the glass is full”; that which we usually express by saying: “I’m fed up”.

Lighten the mind. The head requires calm and lightness. In China the opposite of well-being is “heavy head and light feet”. Cloudy and heavy chi is in the wrong place, causing discomfort.

If the elevator works we arrive at our destination. On the roof we contemplate the panorama, clear and serene, without having to hold on to the railing; because there is no wind that bothers us.

How to reduce vertigo?

Acupuncture and phytotherapy help in these cases to release blockages, tone the insufficiency and eliminate the excess.

Acupuncture works points near the head that eliminate the wind. The brain needs calm to be able to govern, and the wind, due to its lightness, easily disturbs. It is advisable to combine it with self-massage and exercise.Self-massage for dizziness. The simplest thing is to massage your ear, inside and out, a couple of times a day, for 2 or 3 minutes. It is also very relaxing to massage your head with a thick-bristle brush or your fingers for 3 to 5 minutes: comb from the nape to the forehead, with the head tilted forward, starting at the center line and then edging ears; then it is repeated with the head erect and in the opposite direction, from the forehead to the nape of the neck, and it ends by drumming the crown of the head with the tips of the fingers.Stretches and exercises to mitigate vertigo: The exercise can consist of 20 minutes of stretching of the spine and the cervical part, mobilizing shoulders and neck. Exercises such as yoga, chi kung, tai chi, walking or swimming help prevent it, as well as good eating habits. Alcohol is discouraged as it activates liver fire and impairs stomach chi.