You might have heard most people say that vertigo isn’t something to worry about. Or that it goes away on its own if you don’t give too much thought to it. And while this may be true in some cases, it isn’t in some other cases. Vertigo can be a nuisance to people, even if it isn’t life-threatening in most cases. The dizziness, nausea, & vomiting associated with vertigo can very quickly cause a patient to become wary of social & professional situations, fearing that they might fall. As such, they start to pull away from appearing in public which leads to feelings of isolation. This causes most vertigo patients to feel anxious & depressed on top of their original treatment for vertigo and Dizziness symptoms.
Not knowing when you might get dizzy and nauseous is a constant problem to be living from. Thus, most patients look for the best vertigo treatments that are available to them. Treatment for vertigo generally consists of a bunch of vertigo exercises, vertigo medicines like the Stemetil Tablet, Stugeron Forte tablet, etc., along with some home remedies. Surgery, although rare, can also be a vertigo treatment method in some cases.
Type of vertigo Treatment
The kind of vertigo treatment that might be helpful to you depends on the exact type of vertigo you’re experiencing. There are mainly two types of vertigo; Peripheral Vertigo, & central vertigo. Peripheral vertigo is caused by an inner ear issue. The inner ear helps maintain the body’s balance & coordination. When something goes wrong with its functioning, patients feel dizzy, nauseous, motion sick, & experience vertigo-like symptoms.
Central Vertigo, on the other hand, is caused by an issue with the brain. The brain controls most bodily functions and gives adequate orders for the body to keep alive. When something, like a stroke or a brain injury, affects the areas of the brain that maintain balance, dizziness & other vertigo symptoms can occur.
Vertigo causes:
As there are two types of vertigo, their causes also differ. First up, we have peripheral vertigo.
The most common peripheral vertigo causes are:
BPPV:
Also known as Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. It is an inner ear disorder caused by the dislodged calcium crystals(called otoliths) from the middle ear into the semicircular canals of the inner ear. There they cause problems with the way the inner ear sends balance-related signals to the brain as they’re motion-sensitive. For this reason, BPPV attacks are often triggered when a person moves their head or performs a sudden action. BPPV is also one of the most common reasons for vertigo & dizziness in adults, & is easily treated with the help of vertigo medicines and exercises.
Vestibular Neuritis:
Vestibular Neuritis is an inner ear infection that affects the vestibular nerve. This nerve is responsible for sending balance-related signals to & from the brain. When this nerve gets infected, it interferes with this process and causes a person to feel nauseous, dizzy, and motion sick.
Labyrinthitis:
Labyrinthitis is an inner ear infection that affects the labyrinth. It is an organ inside the inner ear that houses the vestibular system. The vestibular system maintains the body’s balance & coordination. It also maintains the body’s position in space. When the labyrinth gets affected, it causes a problem with the way the body maintains balance & coordination. When a person is suffering from labyrinthitis, they often feel dizzy, nauseous, motion sick, & have other vertigo-like symptoms. Hearing loss, earache, & tinnitus is also quite common symptom of labyrinthitis.
Meniere’s Disease:
Meniere’s Disease is an inner ear disorder caused by an excessive buildup of fluid inside the ear. The excessive fluid causes problems with the inner ear’s functioning and leads to nausea, headaches, dizziness, motion sickness, tinnitus, & occasional hearing loss. Sometimes, an ear injury or a botched ear surgery can also cause Meniere’s Disease, although in most cases the exact cause is not known.
The most common central vertigo causes are:
Multiple Sclerosis:
Multiple Sclerosis is a central nervous system disorder that affects the lining of the nerves & causes a wide range of symptoms. Dizziness, vertigo, nausea, vomiting, headaches, tinnitus, & hearing loss can all occur. Patients might also lose the ability to walk, eat, bathe themselves, and perform a lot of everyday activities. Although this is often seen in the most advanced cases.
Other central vertigo causes include head injuries, serious infections, autoimmune disorders like Lupus, Lyme disease, etc.
Best Vertigo treatment for Peripheral Vertigo:
The best vertigo treatment for peripheral vertigo often includes vertigo exercises, vertigo medicines, and home remedies. In some rare cases, surgery can also be a viable option.
Let’s look at the most common peripheral vertigo treatment methods below.
Vertigo exercises:
Vertigo exercises are perhaps the best way to treat most cases of peripheral vertigo. These help place the calcium crystals back into their original position in the middle ear where they can’t cause any trouble with the way the body maintains its balance. These exercises are generally performed by licensed therapists and doctors, This helps make sure that your symptoms are effectively relieved when you perform the exercises.
The most common exercises are:
-The Epley Maneuver, also known as the Canalith Repositioning maneuver
-The Brandt-Daroff exercises
-The Semont Maneuver
-The Foster maneuver
Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy:
Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy is a set of specially designed exercises that help your body compensate for the malfunctioning of the vestibular system. These exercises consist of different types of eye movements, head movements, neck movements, & full-body balance training exercises. Yoga, tai chi, dancing can all be a part of vestibular rehabilitation therapy exercises. These exercises train your brain to make up for the losses of the natural vestibular system and employ other organ systems in their place.
Vertigo medicines:
Vertigo medicines are also some of the best vertigo treatment methods available in both vertigo treatment hospitals and outpatient departments. Some of the most well-known vertigo medicines are:
–Stemetil tablet
-Meclizine tablet
-Stugeron Forte tablet
-Dramamine
-antihistamines
-anticholinergics
-antidepressants
-anti-anxiety medications
Your doctor may also give you medicines like antibiotics and antivirals to root out any bacterial and viral infections that might be causing your vertigo.
Home Remedies:
Home remedies for vertigo include:
-Taking Ginkgo Biloba supplements
-Taking Vitamin D & Vitamin B12 supplements
-Including more Vitamin C in your diet
-Eating more green leafy vegetables, lean proteins, & more foliage as part of your diet
-getting a full 8 hours of sleep every night and drinking at least 8 glasses of water throughout the day.
Central Vertigo treatment:
Central Vertigo’s causes most often lie in the brain. Generally, a problem with the cerebellum & the brainstem causes central vertigo symptoms in people. Aside from these, central vertigo can be caused by migraines, multiple sclerosis, brain tumours, although the latter is quite rare.
If your doctor suspects that you’re suffering from central vertigo symptoms, they might conduct a few tests and run scans of your brain to know for sure. Central vertigo is most often treated with some vertigo medicines that work by reducing dizziness, nausea, & overall discomfort in patients.
In the case of Multiple Sclerosis, you will need constant monitoring & careful disease management along with medicines and other forms of therapy. Tumours, although rare, can be managed with the help of surgeries and medicines that inhibit their growth.