DIZZY? GIDDY? VERTIGO?

DIZZY? GIDDY?

Could be VERTIGO - THE ‘I CAN’T DO ANYTHING’ CONDITION

By

Pauline Ruminska Ph.D. Ac., Dip. Physio

‘Vertigo’ is the medical term for Giddiness or Dizziness, ‘dizzy’ sometimes being regarded as the state where the patient feels they are spinning round, and ‘giddy’ where they feel they are still, but everything is spinning around them. Stand still (if you can!) and close your eyes if you can, and if you still feel ‘spinning’, you are ‘dizzy’.

Other sufferers of milder states will describe a feeling of ‘head swimming’, or a brief ‘sensation’ of the world tilting when turning their head, or looking upward or down.

These effects can arise at any time, apparently for no reason. At its most incapacitating the patient may be unable to stand up or even sit up. The slightest movement - attempting to raise the head from their pillow, will have them clutching at the bed - to them the bed is tilting, and they feel they are being literally tipped out, and the natural reaction is to hang on for dear life! In fact, this is exactly what they find themselves doing, clutching at the pillow, the chair they are seated on, the table they are close to, the wall or door. Even if they are lying on the floor, being unable to stand, they will find themselves automatically clutching at the floor. The floor is tipping them off! And this is a true definition!

All this may sound absolutely ridiculous to a non-sufferer, but is a brief indication of the symptoms of Vertigo!

Probably the first medical conclusion will be ‘Ears’. A condition (quite common) of the middle ear can be a cause closely associated with Sea-sickness, (many people are affected with nausea along with the Vertigo), and the patient may spend some time having their ears closely examined – to be told in due course that there is nothing wrong ear-wise, as it were! This perhaps oddly can be a profound disappointment, because in order to find the appropriate treatment they hope for, a cause must be established! Although the cause may not be defined the symptoms may be treated - and this approach could afford some help - or perhaps not! Now the patient is quite incapacitated with no immediate solution in sight!

Moving on from ears other indications will be followed up (Sinus? Tumour? Imaginations run riot, quite naturally) mostly to no avail – the whole process probably ending with tranquillisers. Well, you still feel dizzy, and still can’t stand up - but are perhaps happier about it!

For some reason, many times a most natural and practical answer is overlooked – probably due to its simplicity! So you may feel it wise to have a go yourself.

The brain is supplied with blood/oxygen etc. by many minute – and some larger – blood vessels, and the brain is where your ‘consciousness’ resides. Anything which impedes the blood destined for any of these tiny vessels can and will cause chaos! Areas of the brain are as we know linked specifically to areas of the body, limbs, sight, touch etc. and a small change in the blood/oxygen supply to an area can be extremely noticeable.

Many knowledgeable people are convinced that the ‘mind’ is situated not in the head, but around the diaphragm area, and messages are forwarded from there to your brain – yes, in your head; the mind, intangible and the seat of your actual thinking process - being the ‘Director’ issuing information and orders, and the brain being the Factory where the orders are carried out. This is because the brain has no capacity for ‘awareness’. It does not of itself know what is going on. This is proved by the fact that in practical experiment it can be ‘fooled’ by stimulus to certain areas.

Some say that this is why an audience are upset/excited/amused by watching movies. The brain induces the body to react to what it perceives as truth, because the mind presents it as truth, just as it would an actual occurrence. This is the key concept to your ‘self- treatment’.

The first and simplest attempt is to use one of your senses to help another - in this instance, eyes to help ears! Look for a particularly noticeable point in front of you – something that shines is best, a gleaming doorknob for instance – stare at it and concentrate firmly on it. The fact is, one of your senses has been telling your brain, mistakenly, that you are being ‘tilted’, so the first and simplest solution is to use another of your senses to help. Engage your eyesight to convince your brain otherwise!

The most likely cause of this type of Virtigo is a slight alteration in the blood supply in a minute blood vessel to a tiny area in your brain. (Don’t worry, you have enough of these veins/capillaries to cope, there are many others to take over important areas.) This is usually the result of a slight pressure of a muscle on the vessel, impeding the blood/oxygen flow. And the reason for the pressure is usually quite simple. You have pulled a muscle in your neck/shoulder/back which has become stiff/tense/swollen/strained in some way, taking up a little bit more space than usual and thereby causing the pressure, and this pressure is ‘referred’, the end result being your Vertigo. Unfortunately the most usual reaction to Vertigo is a decision to keep your head absolutely still, strongly tensing the neck muscles in order to do so. This of course will have a completely adverse affect - multiplying the tension which is causing the problem!

The specific area which is affected by the ‘referral’ will most probably be the muscular system around the base of the skull at the back. Many people find that this area is so ‘solid’ that they do not even realise the presence of muscle – they think it is solid because it is bone! But if they press hard into the area it will HURT! Yes, muscle – and in a painful spasm, too! This is the area which is causing your Vertigo. So try to help it.

This is where your understanding of the Mind v. Brain applies. You are going to engage your mind to persuade your brain to relax that muscular spasm.

Sit on a chair and relax your shoulders – slightly backwards.

Imagine that you have an opening, like a pillar box, at the base of your skull around the back, where your head sits on your neck. Relax your neck as much as possible – let your head ‘loll’ – it won’t fall off! Take a deep breat and Breathe out through that opening at the base of your skull – if it helps, imagine your breath as puffs of blue, or pink. Continue this for a few minutes, until you notice a relaxation.

Then allow your head to ‘loll’ again. Gently exercise your neck, stretching left, right, forward and back - but do not look up to the ceiling, do not tilt your head backwards. At this stage, a little massage at the top of neck, and around the neck and shoulder area will be most effective.

Gently stretching the arms around in a circle, back and forward, allowing the exercise to include the shoulderblades, will also help.

This breathing exercise, carried out a few times a day – in bed if necessary, will help to free those compressed areas, and allow oxygen/blood to flow more easily to the brain – always good – and also alleviating the Vertigo.