Do you ever feel like you are spinning in circles even when you are on solid ground? Or the feeling of pressure building behind your ears, often to the point that it affects your hearing? You might have Meniere’s Disease. This disorder causes intense feelings of vertigo. This causes the feeling that the world is tilting and swaying around you.
Meniere’s disease disrupts with your body’s sense of inner balance. Few diseases have symptoms that are as debilitating as this one. Chronic nausea, dizziness and hearing loss are common. These bouts can last hours at a time and cause extreme, debilitating dizziness. Sufferers are unable to do anything but lie in bed until the attack passes. Meniere’s disease can be a frustrating diagnosis to receive. Suffering from vertigo is common in the United States today. It affects about 615,000 people every year.
There are several commercial treatment options for treating Meniere’s disease based on Western Medicine. A new wave of herbal medications based on TCM practices are beginning to enter the market. Relying on centuries-tested herbal treatments, Chinese herbal supplements are effective. Herbal treatments for vertigo are an excellent way to control the symptoms of Meniere’s.
Causes and Symptoms of Meniere’s Disease
The official cause of Meniere’s disease is still debated by science. A popular theory is that Meniere’s comes from a buildup of endolymph fluid within the inner ear. Endolymph fluid works like a natural level for the body. It stimulates the body’s balance receptors as it flows around. The inner ear labyrinth contains the semicircular canals and otolithic organs. These are the parts of the body responsible for balance and hearing. An excessive build up of fluid affects their functioning. This disrupts the receptors between the inner ear and the brain and damages the signals they send.
This break down in communication causes the body to sense that it is no longer level. Feelings of intense dizziness are the result. Endolymph fluid also prevents sound waves from getting transmitted. This can cause bouts of hearing loss and tinnitus, a perception of ringing in the ears.
Some doctors suggest Meniere’s Disease comes from a constriction of head blood vessels. Other theories blame viral infections and allergies. Because Meniere’s often runs in families, some speculate that it has a genetic component.
Conventional Treatment Options for Meniere’s Disease
As of now there is no known cure for Meniere’s disease. There are conventional treatments that can reduce the severity and frequency of vertigo attacks. When it comes to hearing loss, there are few treatments available.
You might find relief for your vertigo symptoms through conventional medical options. These methods only benefit about half of all patients. They leave many patients unsatisfied with the amount of improvement they experience.
Below are some of the most common conventional treatments:
Motion Sickness Medications
Motion sickness medications like Meclizine and Valium reduce spinning symptoms and control nausea. Anti-nausea medications such as Promethazineuring can help to control during a vertigo attack. In some cases, a doctor might prescribe a diuretic to reduce the fluid retention of the inner ear. Combined with a low salt diet, diuretics are effective in reducing Meniere’s disease symptoms.
Middle Ear Injections
Middle ear injections may provide relief from symptoms but sometimes have other effects. Gentacmicin is one of the best options for treating the inner ear. It is an antibiotic that works by reducing its balance function. This allows the other ear to take full control of the body’s balance. Your symptoms of vertigo will may lessen, but your hearing loss may get worse. Another option is to take steroids like Dexamethasone, which works to control vertigo symptoms. Steroids are usually less effective than Gentamicin but they produce less hearing loss.
You might need surgery if other vertigo treatments don’t help. When vertigo attacks are severe and debilitating, surgery can make a big difference. The endolymphatic sac, which regulates inner ear fluid. When it removed, the build up of fluid goes away. A typical procedures will remove the sac or cut the vestibular nerve. This nerve connects balance sensors to your brain. Because these surgeries are invasive, they are only recommended as a last resort.
Keep in mind that these treatments at best reduce symptoms of vertigo. They are not cures and your symptoms are likely to come back. These treatments leave you still suffering through bouts of dizziness. There is a more natural way to treat the root of the problem.
Herbal treatments for vertigo from Traditional Chinese Medicine have existed for centuries. These remedies have an excellent record of success and that is why they still exist today.
Using Traditional Chinese Medicine for Treating Meniere’s Disease
Traditional Chinese medicine (also called TCM) evolved over thousands of years in China. It relies on a variety of practices like acupuncture, tai chi, and herbal medicines. Based on Daoism, TCM focuses on the connection between humans and the universe. This method seeks holistic health, addressing the whole person. TCM looks not just at syptoms but the causes of them as well.
Western scientists are only just beginning to study traditional Chinese techniques for treating vertigo. These initial studies are promising. Chinese herbal supplements are a good choice for anyone. They are especially good if you are looking for a different health solution. They are best for someone who hasn’t responded well to conventional treatments for Meniere’s.
Within traditional Chinese medicine, Meniere’s disease goes by the name “xuan yun”. This translates to dizziness in the head. This side effect is an overabundance of yang energy in the body that needs balance from more yin energy. A lack of yin within the liver and kidney are the main cause. This produces an imbalance in the body, and is likely to cause vertigo for the sufferer.
Acupuncture therapy and herbal supplements are both traditional Chinese medical treatments. Both are ways of restoring the balance of yin and yang. They can bring balance to the internal organs and reduce the symptoms of vertigo. In TCM, herbs are often combined into potent formulas and administered to patients. This can be through teas, capsules, liquid extracts, and powders. Traditional herbal treatments help vertigo symptoms like dizziness, ringing ears, and head pressure. These treatments also relieve the patient of anxiety from anticipating the next vertigo attack.
Herbal Treatments for Vertigo
Incorporating TCM into your treatment can be as easy as taking a daily herbal supplement. When looking for a supplement to take, find one that uses traditional Chinese herbs. You’ll look for herbs like ginseng, angelica root, or common peony root.
TCM herbs nourish the yin energy in the body while also regulating the circulation of blood. When they combined, they regulate the blood flow from the brain to the inner ear. The best natural herbs can are the most effective and healthiest for the body. All herbal supplements will have different daily requirements. Often users will need to take capsules several times a day to stave off vertigo attacks.
Meniere’s Disease is a hard diagnosis to receive, but it doesn’t have to be crippling. Western medicine is only now learning the benefits of TCM for vertigo. Modern science is beginning to back up these ancient methods because of their effectiveness. By taking an herbal supplement filled with high quality ingredients, you can find relief. Herbal treatments for vertigo can provide better relief than the medical advances of today.