Vertigo is a sensation of spinning, a feeling of the surroundings moving, & being disoriented. When you have vertigo, you might often feel as if you’re sitting in a rocking boat or a chair, & can’t keep your balance. You might tilt or sway to one side when you’re walking, & might get dizzy, nauseous, & motion sick during an attack. Vertigo is rarely a condition on its own; it’s almost always a symptom of some other underlying illness or disorder. In this article, we are providing details about some best home remedies for vertigo and dizziness.

Most often, vertigo cases are harmless and usually go away on their own after some time. However, in some cases, the symptoms may linger on for a long time & may cause certain health problems in people. Although rare, Vertigo can point to some potentially serious & life-threatening conditions like cardiac diseases, brain tumours, stroke, & TIA(Transient Ischemic Attacks, also known as mini-stroke).

In these cases, it becomes absolutely necessary for your doctor to evaluate your condition effectively & give you timely treatment.

Vertigo symptoms:

Vertigo has a range of symptoms. It’s possible that not every person affected with Vertigo has similar symptoms. However, there are some common symptoms that affect almost every vertigo patient equally.

These common Vertigo symptoms include:

Dizziness
Sudden spinning sensations or a feeling that the room around you is moving uncontrollably
Nausea
Vomiting
Migraine headaches
Lightheadedness
Rapid, abnormal, & jerky eye movements, also known as nystagmus
Excessive sweating
Chills
Rapid heartbeat
Swaying to one side
Tilting to one side of the body
Hearing issues
Vision problems
Ringing, buzzing, or whistling sound in the ears. Also known as Tinnitus.

Depending on the exact medical condition you’re suffering from which is the cause of your vertigo, your symptoms may be mild to severe. They may also come & go in specific intervals or may occur randomly, out of the blue.

Vertigo treatment:

Vertigo treatment usually depends on the exact cause of your vertigo. It also depends on your medical history, & any existing conditions that you have. Vertigo treatment generally involves vertigo exercises, vertigo medicines, & some home remedies.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo:

BPPV is an inner ear disorder that is caused by tiny calcium crystals called otoliths, that normally reside inside the middle ear, breaking loose & depositing inside the semicircular canal of the inner ear. These crystals are motion-sensitive & hence they cause problems with the way the inner ear sends balance-related signals to the brain. This mismatch causes symptoms like dizziness, spinning sensations, nausea, motion sickness, & migraine headaches in patients. BPPV can be easily treated with the help of vertigo exercises, vertigo medicines, & some home remedies.

Vertigo exercises used to treat BPPV include:

-The Canalith Repositioning manoeuvre (also known as the Epley Maneuver)
-The Brandt-Daroff exercises
-The Semont Maneuver
-The Foster manoeuvre

Vertigo medicines used to treat BPPV include:

-Meclizine Tablet
-Stemetil MD tablet
-Stugeron Forte tablet
-Vertin Tablet
-Antihistamines like Dramamine, Diphenhydramine
-Anti-anxiety medications to control a patient’s anxiety & calm their nerves
-Antidepressants
-Antibiotics for BPPV induced ear infections
-Antivirals & rest, along with plenty of fluids for fast recovery

Home remedies for BPPV treatment include:

-Taking Ginkgo Biloba supplements
-Taking Vitamin D & Vitamin B12 supplements
-Drinking herbal tea with ginger & honey
-Indulging in stress-reduction activities like meditation, yoga, dancing, knitting, gardening, etc.
-Indulging in regular, mild to moderate exercise to keep oneself fit.
-Practicing deep breathing exercises & mindful meditation sessions
-getting up or changing positions slowly rather than abruptly & swiftly.
-walking & climbing stairs slowly with some kind of support to avoid falling after getting dizzy in the middle.
-getting 8 hours of good-quality sleep every day.
-drinking 8 glasses of water every day to prevent dehydration.
-maintaining an active, healthy, stress-free lifestyle

Vestibular Neuritis:

It leads to swelling & inflammation inside the Vestibular Nerve which causes problems with the transfer of balance-related signals between the inner ear and the brain. This causes symptoms like dizziness, nausea, motion sickness, headaches, & spinning sensations in those affected by Vestibular Neuritis. Antiviral medicines, along with plenty of fluids & rest can also be prescribed if the infection is due to viruses.

Home remedies like ginger honey tea, chamomile tea, & Ginkgo Biloba supplements can also help in speeding up the recovery process of vestibular neuritis. In most cases, a Vestibular Neuritis infection often resolves on its own, without any medical intervention necessary. However, in cases where this is not the case, you should visit a doctor & get adequate consultation from them regarding your condition and subsequent treatment.

Labyrinthitis:

Labyrinthitis is an inner ear infection similar to Vestibular Neuritis. Although, the infected part of the inner ear in this case is the labyrinth. The labyrinth is an organ inside the inner ear that houses the Vestibular System of the body. The Vestibular system helps maintain the balance & coordination of the body, along with specifying its position in space. When a person suffers from Labyrinthitis, their labyrinth, the organ that contains the Vestibular system, becomes swollen & inflamed. It is thus unable to perform its functions properly.

This leads to feelings of dizziness, nausea, motion sickness, spinning sensations, & other vertigo-like symptoms in the affected individual. Labyrinthitis, similar to Vestibular Neuritis, can be treated with the help of antibiotics, antiviral medications, plenty of fluid intakes, & rest. Taking Vitamin C & Vitamin D supplements to boost one’s immunity are also good natural remedies for vertigo & dizziness.

Labyrinthitis also leads to hearing loss & earache in patients, which can be treated with the use of hearing aids & painkiller medications. These can include paracetamol(Tylenol), &/or ibuprofen. Your doctor may also give you certain antipyretic medications to reduce the fever & discomfort.

While labyrinthitis may resolve after some time, the symptoms may remain for quite some time afterwards, in some cases even for months. This is why each case of Labyrinthitis should be treated with complete caution & care so that the incidence of it lasting for months on end can be reduced.

Meniere’s Disease:

This causes feelings of pressure inside the ear, ringing, buzzing, or whistling sound in the ears(also known as Tinnitus), hearing loss(usually in the affected ear), dizziness, nausea, motion sickness, & Vertigo. Meniere’s Disease can be caused by an infection, head injury, perilymph fistula(a tear on the window membrane separating the middle ear from the inner ear), & other causes. Sometimes, a genetic structural abnormality can also cause Meniere’s in some people. Other medicines can also be used to relieve the patients of symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, motion sickness, & vertigo.

Natural remedies for dizziness and vertigo that can be effectively used for Meniere’s Disease include:
-performing certain vertigo exercises,
-drinking herbal tea,
-reducing salt intake,
-eating more fibrous foodstuff
-removing earwax blockage
-keeping the ears clean
-not letting water get inside the ears
-using doctor-recommended hearing aids
-using appropriate sound-masking devices
-staying away from loud sounds
-getting 8 hours of sleep every night
-drinking an adequate amount of water throughout the day
-eating less fried, processed, & salty food.
-including more greens, vitamins & minerals in your diet.

Aside from this, you can also try certain pain-relieving medicines like paracetamol(Tylenol) & Aspirin for headaches.