The word “remedy” often gets a bad wrap among healthcare providers. Mostly because it conjures up the thought of trial-and-error blog advice coming from non-experts. But in the case of balanced disorders and dizziness, the remedies are mostly benign. In fact, they are really just “remedies” for living a healthier life.
Below, we’ve curated the natural vertigo remedies that can not only help alleviate dizzy symptoms but will generally improve your quality of life across the board.
Natural Vertigo Remedies
Before we dive into the natural vertigo remedies we advise, we’d like to caution you from one particular remedy that is often circulated online. And that is any sort of attempt at doing a home vertigo maneuver (i.e. Epley Maneuver, Semont Maneuver, or Brandt-Daroff Exercises). Yes, these are the maneuvers we often use at our clinic to treat dizziness. But they should only be administered by a vestibular specialist, as you can do more damage than good if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Having said that, here are the natural vertigo remedies that are safe to try on your own. In fact, we encourage them.
Dietary changes – For certain vestibular disorders, specifically Meniere’s Disease and Vestibular Migraine, dietary changes can make a big impact on dizzy symptoms. Cutting back on foods that are high in salt, sugar, or caffeine are the main drivers. Even if your source of dizziness isn’t from either of those two disorders, the dietary changes may improve your symptoms.
Further reading on dietary changes: Meniere’s Disease Diet and Vestibular Migraine Diet
Better sleep – The brain is ultimately responsible for maintaining our balance by communicating with various systems in our body. Sleep is what helps our systems rest and recover. When we get bad sleep, our bodies don’t work at their optimal ability and that has an effect on our balance.
Further reading on better sleep: How Sleep Quality Affects Vestibular Disorders
Less screen time – Reducing screen time throughout the day, especially before bed, is vital. The longer you stare into those bright, glowing screens, the more you can feel the space right behind your eyes start to throb. The majority of our dizzy patients experience abnormal light sensitivity. This is because the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex is vulnerable in most dizzy patients. And this reflex is crucial to balancing ourselves in space.
Further reading on screen time: Light Sensitivity and Dizziness
More activity – Our somatosensory system (sense of touch) and muscles help anchor and balance. Generally speaking, an active lifestyle is a remedy for many conditions. In the case of balance disorders, physical activity can be helpful in strengthening our muscles and overall bodily control.
More hydration – Hydrating is another general guideline to a healthier life. Proper hydration keeps all of our systems running in tip-top shape. There is a loose correlation between prolonged dehydration and balance disorders. Water won’t cure your dizziness. But it’s an important foundational piece of the puzzle. (Also, this means less alcohol.)
Positive Stress Management – Anxiety and stress can be triggers for dizzy symptoms. It’s why our treatment process may also include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is meant to help you cope with stress in a healthy way. There are many ways we can have positive stress management – from exercising to meditating to low-stress hobbies.
Further reading on stress management: Can Stress Cause Vertigo and/or Dizziness
Medications – We prefer to caution against using medications to treat your dizziness, as it doesn’t actually treat the underlying cause of your dizziness. But for Vestibular Migraine, in particular, patients can find relief from certain supplements such as magnesium. Check out the two articles below for an accurate supplement plan.
Further reading on medications: Medications for Dizziness and 7 Magnesium Supplements for Vestibular Migraine
VRT is a Natural Remedy!
Now that we’ve covered everything you could try to alleviate your dizzy symptoms, here’s what we can do to treat your dizziness. And it’s called Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (or VRT for short).
VRT is a customized set of visual and physical therapies designed to alleviate the symptoms of vestibular disorders and other sources of imbalance.
There’s nothing generic or pre-planned about VRT. It’s tailored entirely to the dizzy patient’s situation. It’s entirely natural. We don’t introduce anything foreign to your body, but rather use specially-designed therapies that address the problems with your vestibular system.
Our VRT programs include:
- Balance Training – Strengthening the muscles used to balance.
- Gaze Stabilization – Reset the eyes’ perceived sense of balance.
- Habituation – Building up a patient’s internal defenses against dizziness triggers.
- Canalith Repositioning – Re-aligning the inner ear instruments used to detect balance.
We’ve linked a detailed guide on Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy here.
Overall, trying to fix your dizziness alone is like trying to reset a broken bone on your own. You may get lucky, but there are specialists that know how to fix your problem.
Our team at the Dizzy & Vertigo Institute specializes in bringing dizzy patients back to a dizzy-free life. And we’re eager to help YOU!
We offer in-person or telehealth appointments in order to fit your needs.
So if you or someone you know struggles with dizziness, then please reach out to us at (310) 683-4679 or by filling in our contact form.
We look forward to hearing from you!