The word vertigo comes from the Latin word vertere which means to turn, whirl or spin. When the room spins or we have that light-headed feeling, it does feel like a wind blowing through our head – and we aren’t wrong.

Eastern medicine has long understood the Wind element to be a pernicious influence. When the Wind element is in excess we can also experience things like tremors or twitches, rashes that migrate, headaches that also move around the head, joint pains that move around the body, and any symptoms that come on rapidly or move rapidly, or where there is an excess of movement are said to be caused by the Wind element. In the case of vertigo or dizziness, the excess Wind element is in the head.

Three main causes of vertigo which I will cover here are:

1. Extreme Heat Generating Wind
2. Liver Fire Generating Wind
3. Deficiency of Liver Blood leading to Liver Wind

Extreme Heat Generating Wind

Symptoms that fit this pattern include elevated body temperature, stiff neck, spasms, tremors or convulsions, opisthotonus or extremely arched neck

and spinal column as seen with meningitis and tetanus, and there may be loss of consciousness, delirium.

Signs of Extreme Heat include: complaints of feeling hot, poor tolerance to hot weather, when I take the pulse I can feel their skin feels abnormally hot, the pulse will often be fast, which in Eastern medicine terms is anything over 80 beats per minute (bpm), but in this case 100 bpm would also be very common. and the tongue will often be bright red, and/or have a yellow coating.

If the heat is long-standing, there may be cracks on the tongue as well. Some people with a heat-related vertigo also have ringing in the ears that has a high-pitched tone.

The head is the area of most Yang (Heat) because it is the highest point on the body. In thermodynamics heat always rises to the uppermost point. When the head gets hot enough, then Wind is generated just like this wildfire storm. The main problem here is the Heat. The Wind issue (vertigo) is secondary (caused by) that Heat. So in terms of healing, the main priority is to clear the Heat (aka inflammation) and once the heat is cleared, the Wind and its’ manifestation, the vertigo, will abate naturally.

This scenario is similar to the way a windstorm is generated during a wildfire. Here you can see these palm trees getting fiercely blown during a wildfire. In fact, what also happens here is that wildfires draw in wind. In other words, the Yang of Fire generates more Yang in the form of Wind where they synergistically feed off each other to create more Fire and Wind.

For this type of vertigo, I have seen good results using Fire-clearing guas on the channels most indicated by the tongue and pulse. The Small Intestine channel carries the most heat in the body, and second to that is the Heart channel, and experience has shown me how clearing heat from these two channels is very effective in this instance. When the body starts to cool down, the vertigo tends to dissipate, and the person comes back into balance.

Liver Fire Generating Wind

Here the experience of dizziness will feel more like strong vertigo or the room spinning.

The pathology is in the Liver channel primarily, often with Liver Stagnation that lead to the development of Liver Heat. In this case the tongue is red or purplish-red colour or the sides of the tongue are curled. The pulse may be fast and/or showing fullness or wiry-ness on the Liver pulse position. Some may have headaches behind the eyes or ringing in their ears with a high-pitched sound indicating Liver Fire.

The Liver system has the most affinity with the Wind element. Poorly balanced Liver energy will create Internal Wind disturbances such as those listed above. In this case, regulating the Liver energy will cause the Wind element to dissipate. The acupuncture treatment here is a about descending Liver Heat from the head as well as balancing both the

Liver and its’ sister organ, the Gall Bladder system to dissipate the Wind. Using the Five Element system, the Liver and Gall Bladder channels are controlled by the Metal element (Metal Cuts Wood) so a Metal Gua is helpful in controlling the Excesses of the Liver. Points on the Governing Vessel channel are also effective in controlling the excess Yang (Wind and Fire) at the same time.

Deficiency of Liver Blood leading to Liver Wind

In this case the dizziness is felt more as a light-headedness. Often people with this pattern will feel better from lying down, because the dizziness is coming from a deficiency and a hallmark of deficiency patterns is improvement from rest. There can be weakness, fatigue or faintness with this picture. There can also be blood sugar issues, hypo-glycemia. The tongue will be pale, and can also have paler sides. In extreme cases the sides may be orange. The pulse will be weak overall and even weaker in the Liver and Spleen positions.

With Liver Blood deficiency, the healing is about nourishing the Liver both energetically and with the Liver Blood-building foods. Acupuncture is targeting the Liver and Stomach/Spleen to allow for the Earth element

to harmonize with the Wood element (Liver) according to the Five Element system. When the Spleen and Stomach energy are stronger there will be improved absorption of nutrients. We aren’t just what we eat, we are what we can digest. In this case, Earth guas on the Liver, Gall Bladder, Stomach and Spleen channels are used.

If you or someone you love is experiencing vertigo or light-headedness, Eastern medicine and acupuncture have much to offer in terms of diagnosis and effective treatment. Reach out to me at 647-378-3182 and let’s get you on a path to good health.

Yours in health,

Cynthia McGilvray, R.Ac.