Vertigo has a way of making the ground feel unreliable — a spinning room, a sudden lurch of unsteadiness, a sense that you can’t quite trust your own balance. Some people experience it as a brief, occasional thing tied to standing up too fast; others deal with it as a recurring, disruptive presence that makes driving, working, or simply moving through the day feel genuinely uncertain.
Chinese medicine has a long, detailed history with this exact symptom, grouped under the classical term xuan yun (眩晕) — “dizziness and spinning.” One of the most quoted lines in the entire Huangdi Neijing addresses it directly: “zhu feng diao xuan, jie shu yu gan” — “all Wind, shaking, and dizziness belong to the Liver.” This single sentence has shaped how TCM approaches vertigo for two thousand years, though — as you’ll see below — the Liver is only one of several patterns actually responsible for dizziness, and figuring out which one applies to you matters enormously for treatment. At DAOYI Wellness in Eglinton, Toronto, our practitioners use acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and dietary guidance matched to your specific pattern, always alongside proper medical screening for the presentations that genuinely need it.
The Four Patterns Behind Vertigo and Dizziness
Liver Yang Rising (Liver Wind) is the pattern the classical line above refers to, and it’s genuinely common — dizziness or a spinning sensation that intensifies with stress, frustration, or anger, often alongside a headache, a flushed face, irritability, and a feeling of pressure or fullness in the head. This pattern is understood as Liver Yang failing to stay anchored and rising upward, disturbing the head — and it overlaps closely with dizziness related to elevated blood pressure, which is worth knowing if your dizziness tends to track with stress or blood pressure readings.
Phlegm-Damp Obstruction produces a heavier, foggier kind of dizziness — a thick, muddled sensation rather than a sharp spin, often with nausea, a feeling of fullness in the chest, and a tendency to worsen after rich or greasy food. This pattern is understood as turbid Phlegm-Damp clouding the head’s normal clarity, and it’s a very common pattern behind dizziness that comes bundled with nausea or a queasy stomach.
Qi and Blood Deficiency produces dizziness that’s worse with standing up quickly, worse with exertion or fatigue, and often accompanied by a pale complexion, fatigue, and a tendency to feel faint. This pattern is understood as insufficient Qi and Blood reaching the head to keep things stable and clear — genuinely one of the more common patterns behind dizziness that specifically worsens on standing, and closely related to the general fatigue patterns discussed on our Low Energy & Chronic Fatigue page.
Kidney Essence Deficiency produces a more chronic, gradually developing dizziness, often alongside tinnitus, low back or knee weakness, and memory difficulty — the same Kidney-based framework discussed on our Tinnitus page, since TCM sees hearing and balance as sharing a common root in Kidney Essence. This pattern becomes more common with age, as Essence naturally declines.
Many people present with a genuine mix — Liver Yang rising on a foundation of Kidney deficiency is a particularly common combination, since a depleted Kidney reserve makes it harder for Liver Yang to stay properly anchored in the first place.
Vertigo and the Neck
This connection has real, distinct evidence behind it and deserves its own section. Neck tension and restricted circulation through the vertebral arteries running up through the cervical spine can produce a specific presentation — often called cervical vertigo — where dizziness is triggered or worsened by particular neck movements or positions, sometimes alongside neck stiffness or headache. A 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials (914 participants) found acupuncture more effective than conventional medication for improving both symptom response rates and measured blood flow velocity through the vertebral-basilar arteries in cervical vertigo, though the evidence quality was rated low to very low. A more recent 2025 review reached a similar conclusion, finding acupuncture combined with standard medication outperformed medication alone on the same blood flow measures. If your dizziness seems connected to neck position or comes with neck stiffness, it’s worth reading alongside our Neck Pain page, since addressing the underlying neck tension is often central to resolving this specific presentation.
BPPV: When Vertigo Is a Mechanical, Inner-Ear Issue
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) — caused by tiny calcium crystals in the inner ear becoming dislodged and triggering brief, intense spinning with specific head movements — is different enough from the pattern-based dizziness above that it deserves honest, separate treatment. BPPV is a mechanical problem with a genuinely excellent, well-evidenced first-line treatment: the Epley maneuver, a specific sequence of head and body positioning performed by a trained clinician (or, with guidance, at home) that physically repositions the displaced crystals. If your dizziness comes in brief, intense episodes specifically triggered by rolling over in bed, looking up, or tilting your head, BPPV is worth raising with your doctor or an audiologist, since the Epley maneuver often resolves it directly and quickly. TCM’s role here is more supportive than primary — addressing the underlying Qi and Blood circulation pattern that may make someone more prone to recurrence, and supporting recovery from any lingering unsteadiness — rather than replacing a maneuver that already works well for the mechanical problem itself.
Dizziness During Pregnancy
Dizziness is a common pregnancy complaint, and in TCM terms it fits naturally into the Qi and Blood deficiency pattern described above — a significant share of Blood and Qi is being directed toward supporting the developing baby, which can leave less in reserve for stabilizing the head, particularly in the first trimester and again as pregnancy progresses. Treatment during pregnancy focuses on gentle, safe Qi- and Blood-nourishing support rather than the stronger Wind-calming or Phlegm-resolving approaches used for other patterns.
An Important Safety Note
Most vertigo is benign, but a specific combination of symptoms needs emergency medical attention rather than any complementary treatment: sudden, severe vertigo accompanied by slurred speech, facial drooping, arm or leg weakness, double vision, or a severe headache unlike any you’ve had before can indicate a posterior circulation stroke — a stroke affecting the part of the brain responsible for balance — and is a genuine medical emergency. This is uncommon, and the large majority of vertigo is not this, but we’d rather you know the warning signs clearly than assume every dizzy spell is automatically benign. If you experience this combination, call emergency services rather than booking an appointment with us.
Chinese Herbal Medicine by Pattern
Formulas follow the four patterns closely. Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin (“Gastrodia and Uncaria Decoction”) is the classical formula for Liver Yang Rising, built to anchor Yang and calm internal Wind. Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang (“Pinellia, Atractylodes, and Gastrodia Decoction”) is one of the most famous formulas in Chinese medicine specifically for Phlegm-Damp dizziness, pairing Phlegm-resolving herbs with Gastrodia, a root long used specifically for dizziness and Wind-related head symptoms. For Qi and Blood deficiency, Gui Pi Tang (the same formula used for the fatigue pattern discussed on our Chronic Fatigue page) is a common base. For Kidney Essence deficiency, a Kidney-nourishing formula like Zuo Gui Wan is typically used, adjusted based on whether Yin or Yang deficiency predominates.
Diet Therapy by Pattern
For Liver Yang Rising, reducing alcohol, caffeine, and spicy or greasy food helps avoid feeding the pattern’s upward, Heat-generating quality. For Phlegm-Damp, the same Damp-reducing guidance used elsewhere on this site applies — less dairy, sugar, and fried food, more warm, easily digested meals. For Qi and Blood deficiency, regular meal timing and Blood-nourishing foods (dark leafy greens, dates, and adequate protein) matter, alongside simply not skipping meals, which tends to worsen this pattern’s characteristic standing-up dizziness. For Kidney deficiency, the same Kidney-nourishing foods discussed on our Hormonal Imbalances and Tinnitus pages — black sesame, walnuts, black beans — apply here as well.
What Treatment Looks Like at DAOYI Wellness
Your first visit includes a thorough intake — when your dizziness happens, what triggers or relieves it, whether it’s spinning or more of a foggy unsteadiness, and any accompanying symptoms like nausea, neck tension, or fatigue — along with tongue and pulse diagnosis to identify which of the four patterns, or combination, best explains your presentation. From there, treatment typically combines acupuncture, a customized herbal formula, and dietary guidance specific to your pattern. If your presentation suggests BPPV or a neck-related cause, we’ll be direct about that and point you toward the evaluation or maneuver most likely to help quickly, alongside any complementary support we can offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does vertigo usually last? This depends entirely on the cause — BPPV episodes are typically brief (seconds to a minute) but recurring, while pattern-based dizziness from an underlying deficiency or Liver imbalance can persist as a lower-grade, more constant unsteadiness until the underlying pattern is addressed.
What’s the difference between vertigo and general dizziness? Vertigo specifically refers to a spinning or rotational sensation — the feeling that you or your surroundings are moving when they’re not — while dizziness is a broader term that can include lightheadedness, unsteadiness, or faintness without true spinning. The distinction matters clinically, since it points toward different underlying causes.
Can anxiety cause dizziness? Yes — anxiety is a well-recognized cause of dizziness and lightheadedness, often through hyperventilation and heightened nervous system arousal, and in TCM terms this overlaps significantly with the Liver Yang Rising pattern given the Liver’s close connection to emotional regulation.
Is vertigo linked to migraines? Yes, vestibular migraine is a recognized condition where vertigo occurs as a migraine symptom, sometimes without a headache at all. If your vertigo has a pattern connected to typical migraine triggers, this is worth discussing with your doctor alongside any TCM treatment.
Book an Appointment
If you’re in the Eglinton area of Toronto and looking for a pattern-based approach to vertigo or dizziness, our practitioners at DAOYI Wellness are happy to talk through what that could look like for you. Call us at 647-825-5061, or Book an appointment online.
