Vertigo and balance disorders: the Chinese medicine view in Grenoble
A spinning head, a floating sensation, unsteadiness when walking… **Vertigo** and **balance disorders** are deeply disorienting. In **Grenoble**, **traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)** offers a complementary framework: balance of Yin and Yang, quality of blood, and the flow of Qi towards the head.
Why does the body lose its balance?
In Chinese medicine, balance arises from **harmony between Yin and Yang** and from substances circulating well towards the upper body. Three main patterns recur. Rising **Liver fire**: vertigo with a distended head, red eyes, a bitter taste, irritability, tinnitus, a red tongue and a tight pulse. **Blood deficiency** (Heart and Liver): vertigo with a pale complexion, palpitations, fatigue and a fine pulse. And **Kidney deficiency**, whose Jing nourishes the marrow and the brain — the 'sea of marrow' — allowing vertigo, fatigue and reduced acuity to emerge.
What role do phlegm and dampness play?
When a deficient **Spleen** no longer transforms food and fluids properly, **Dampness** and then **phlegm (Tan)** accumulate. They can obstruct the orifices and prevent the **clear Yang from rising** to the head and ears: hence a heavy head, a foggy feeling, dizziness. This is common in sedentary or stressed people, or those with a fragile digestive terrain.
How does TCM support the person?
**Acupuncture** seeks to **regulate**: bring down runaway Yang, nourish the blood, tonify the Spleen, clear phlegm. Points such as **LR3 Taichong** (Qi flow, calming the Liver) and **ST36 Zusanli** (tonifying Spleen-Stomach) are classically used. **Chinese dietetics** — less fat, alcohol and refined sugar, lighter foods — supports digestive transformation, and **moxibustion** warms cold terrains.
And the inner ear?
In TCM, the ear remains the Kidney's opening; the Kidney-ear and Kidney-brain links illuminate the frequent association of vertigo, tinnitus and fatigue. Support therefore addresses the terrain, not only the symptom.
The link with stress and sleep
A Liver constrained by emotions, disturbed sleep and accumulated Dampness reinforce one another. Settling the mind, regularising meals and protecting rest are integral to the approach — which is where TCM can dovetail with sophrology.
What TCM observes day to day
Tradition pays attention to the **tongue** (red and dry in heat, pale in blood deficiency, with a thick coating in phlegm) and to the **pulse** (tight and rapid in Liver fire, fine in blood deficiency). These clues guide the reading of the pattern, never replacing medical investigations when vertigo is established or atypical.
Where does vertigo come from in TCM?
TCM does not look for a single cause but for an imbalance: rising Liver fire, blood deficiency, Kidney deficiency or phlegm obstructing the orifices. Identifying the dominant pattern guides the support.
In short
In TCM, vertigo reflects a **loss of balance between Yin and Yang**, or a substance that no longer nourishes the head: blood, Jing or clear Yang. The aim is to **regulate, nourish, descend or clear**, according to the pattern.
Severe vertigo, a fall, or a malaise with speech or vision disturbance require urgent medical assessment. TCM is a **complementary** approach.
More about sophrology and Chinese medicine in Grenoble : www.sophrologue-grenoble.fr/medecine-chinoise-a-grenoble-38000-38100
- Author:Ghislaine Morin
- URL:https://accu-grenoble.com/en/article/dizziness-balance-problems-grenoble
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