Home Remedies For Head Spinning

Head spinning may also be described as a sensation of giddiness, light-headedness or a sensation as if the surroundings are spinning. It may also be associated with loss of balance. The complaint of dizziness is often associated with trauma to the head, some illness, and change in position or turning the head. It is one of the most common out patient department complaints. It is capable of significantly hampering a person’s daily routine work.

What Are The Causes?

Dizziness or vertigo has several causes. It could be idiopathic, that is, no specific cause can be found and complaints resolve by themselves. Head spinning causes may be the following:

1. Inner or Middle Ear Problems: it is well known that the inner ear and eyes are responsible for maintaining the balance of our body. Quite often, dizziness is due to complaints associated with the ear.

Before I speak of ear problems, it is essential to understand what the middle and inner ear looks like. This will help you understand the next few points better.

• Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: This type of vertigo occurs suddenly and brief episodes. It does not affect hearing and is not associated with any neurological symptoms. It is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, and complaints arise from a change in position.
• Meniere’s disease: This type of vertigo occurs suddenly and lasts longer. Patients may complain of a sensation of tinnitus (loud noises inside the ear), the ear being closed and some degree of hearing loss too. The complaints may become persistent later on. The cause of this is building up of fluid inside the labyrinth (inner ear).
• Labyrinthitis: Infection of the inner ear, which may cause inflammation of nerves that connect inner ear to the brain (vestibular nerves). Complaints include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and tinnitus. Some degree of hearing loss is present. This condition responds to medications and resolves within few weeks.

2. Trauma: An injury to the head or directly over the ear causes sudden loss of balance and unconsciousness.

3. Infection: Infections of the middle ear result in pain, tinnitus and a sense of dizziness due to inflammation and fluid present inside the ear canal. Pus discharge from the ear is present in plenty of cases. Infection of the throat and tonsils may also travel upward to the ear from the Eustachian tube (a small tube like structure which connects the middle ear to the nasopharynx).

4. Allergic reaction to certain food substances or drugs may trigger an episode of dizziness or light headedness.

5. Anemia: In India, anemia is a very common problem as regards both males and females. A significantly low level of iron in the blood results in anemia. In anemia, the oxygen carrying capacity of the red blood cells reduces, resulting in less oxygen carried to the brain and other organs. Less oxygen supply to the brain results in a feeling of light headedness.

6. Low Blood Sugar Level: This results in sudden weakness, sweating and often giddiness with loss of consciousness. This is seen commonly in diabetic patients. In severe cases, hypoglycemic coma may also occur.

7. Hypovolaemia: This means a low blood pressure. It can occur from the reduced fluid intake, excess loss of blood or fluids from the body. In these cases, the amount of blood required by the brain is not fulfilled. This may also result in syncope.

8. Other causes include a migraine (acute and chronic), menopause, anxiety disorders, overheating, hypothermia and Parkinsons’ disease.

Dizziness or Head Spinning in Pregnancy

The sensation of dizziness or head spinning during pregnancy varies from person to person. The duration and severity of head spinning in pregnancy differ in different females.

Causes:

• Excess secretion of hormones during pregnancy with causes the blood vessels to dilate and relax. When this happens, blood supply to the brain is reduced, resulting in a transient episode of light headedness.
• Anemia during pregnancy is a common problem in India.
• Low blood sugar levels, as the nutritional demands of the body increase significantly.
• The growing uterus exerts pressure on the blood vessels, especially when a pregnant woman lies on her back. Major blood vessels to the heart experience external pressure, resulting in less blood supply to the heart and eventually to the brain also.

How to Reduce Head Spinning in Pregnancy

• Avoid prolonged standing, as the blood tends to pool in the legs and reduces backflow of blood to the heart.
• Avoid sudden change in position.
• Avoid lying on back, especially during second and third trimester of pregnancy.
• Maintaining a proper intake of food rich in iron or consuming nutritional supplements as advised by the doctor to avoid anemia.
• Avoid prolonged hot water showers, as hot water helps to dilate and relax the blood vessels.
• Avoid wearing clothes and footwear that restrict circulation. Loose clothing should be preferred.

Home Remedies To Reduce or Prevent Head Spinning

1. Maintain proper hydration by drinking plenty of water.
   
2. Ginger tea has proven effects in reducing nausea and dizziness. Ginger is equally beneficial to reduce dizziness arising from motion sickness.
   
3. Avoid hot water showers.
   
4. Vitamin C rich food is shown to have documented results in reducing vertigo and head spinning feeling. Foods such as amla, citric fruits, lemon, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli and green leafy vegetables are rich sources of vitamin C.
   
5. Apple cider has proven to have beneficial effects in maintaining the health of the human body. It reduced the feeling of nausea and dizziness that arise from infections.
   
6. If you are suffering from dizziness, it is advised to avoid changing position suddenly. Like getting up from the bed suddenly or rapid movements of the head.
   
7. Iron rich food such as whole grains, spinach, dates, dry fruits, fish, and eggs should be consumed by people who experience head spinning from nutritional anemia.
   

Although, there are plenty of home remedies that will help you alleviate dizziness, if the head spinning feeling persists or increases, you should visit a qualified physician for proper treatment. These home remedies will aid in reducing head spinning. These cannot be substituted for proper treatment of the same.