A sense of being unbalanced and spinning. It may be a mild, brief symptom, or a more prolonged attack of vertigo, which usually brings nausea, sweating or fainting. The following chart lists the principal causes of dizziness:

A fall in blood pressure on rising from a lying or sitting position too quickly. Fatigue, Stress, anemia, low blood sugar, Meniere’s disease, brain hemorrhage or tumor, phobias, side effects of drugs.

Treatment

Severe, prolonged or recurrent dizziness should be reported to your doctor. The following treatments will help brief spells:

Practical Advice

Sit down, put your head between your knees and breathe deeply.

Dietary

If living in a hot climate, take vitamin B complex supplements and extra salt to help prevent recurrent attacks.

Homeopathy

Take 2 doses 10 minutes apart and repeat if necessary:

Worse on rising from a seat, better for keeping absolutely still: Bryonia 6c. Made worse by loud noise: Theridion 6c. Feeling trembly and dizzy, head feels heavy: Gelsemium 6c. Room seems to turn in a circle, sees stars before the eyes: Cyclamen 6c.

Chinese Medicine

Treatment will depend a lot on the cause, but mulberry fruit, Chinese angelica, wolfberry and dasdrodia tube are common herbal remedies.

Acupressure

Pinch hard between your eyebrows with the index finger and thumb.

Professional Help

Sometimes spinal misalignments can result in dizziness. It may be worth seeing an osteopath or chiropractor to check whether this is the cause. If so, treatment involving massage and adjustments to the spine may help.