Author
Bowtie Team
Updated on
2025-08-13
Disclaimer: This article is translated with the assistance of AI.
While ear fluid imbalance isn’t life-threatening, an episode can trigger intense vertigo, tinnitus, and nausea lasting 20 minutes or more, leaving you unsteady on your feet. Beyond disrupting daily life and work, it may cause permanent hearing damage. What causes it? Are there options beyond Western medicine? Bowtie invites Chinese medicine expert Dr. Sung Chun-Kei to break down the key issues for you.
A patient shared that they’ve been troubled by “ear fluid imbalance” for nearly a year. Every morning, they’d experience dizziness attacks. Taking one anti-dizziness pill would stop it, but the issue kept recurring without serious attention. Last month, the patient visited the clinic, and after examination, it was determined that the dizziness was caused by hyperactivity of liver yang and phlegm obstructing the ear orifices. After taking medication to control blood pressure, there have been no recurrences so far.
Another patient recalled that “ear fluid imbalance” would flare up after every meal, leading to dizziness, heart palpitations, bloating, and belching. He thought it was due to “blood deficiency” and self-prescribed “blood-tonifying” Chinese herbs. In fact, his dizziness stemmed from spleen deficiency with dampness obstruction and acid reflux, unrelated to “blood deficiency.” Simply regulating gastrointestinal function led to a full recovery.
What is Ear Fluid Imbalance?
Indeed, many people don’t fully understand conditions like “ear fluid imbalance,” and some even mistakenly equate all “dizziness” with it. Actually, “ear fluid imbalance” is just one type of dizziness. Other causes include vestibular neuritis, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (ear stones dislodging), acoustic neuroma, low blood sugar, high blood pressure, acid reflux, head trauma, and more.
The proper name for “ear fluid imbalance” is Ménière’s Disease, an inner ear disorder affecting hearing and balance. Attacks come on suddenly, with symptoms often lasting several hours or even over 10 hours. Diagnosis is usually based on clinical symptoms. The peak onset age is 40 to 60, with women affected twice as often as men. If it recurs frequently without treatment, it could lead to long-term hearing damage.
Symptoms of Ear Fluid Imbalance
The main symptoms of “ear fluid imbalance” include:
- Dizziness, the primary symptom, often with a spinning sensation like the world is turning upside down
- Usually accompanied by nausea
- Tinnitus and ear fullness
- Over time, repeated attacks can affect hearing and cause balance issues
Causes of Ear Fluid Imbalance
Western medicine considers the cause unknown, attributing it to lymphatic system swelling leading to excess fluid and increased pressure in the ear. Treatments include anti-dizziness, anti-nausea, and diuretic medications.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) believes it’s often triggered by mental stress, excessive fatigue, overconsumption of salty or cold foods. States like “hyperactivity of liver yang” or “spleen deficiency with dampness obstruction” make it easy for phlegm-dampness to accumulate in the body, obstructing the ear orifices. Thus, treatments often involve calming the liver, strengthening the spleen, and promoting diuresis to dispel dampness.
People experiencing the following states should pay extra attention to self-care:
Main Symptoms of “Hyperactivity of Liver Yang”:
- Significant mood swings: Mental tension, emotional ups and downs
- Poor sleep quality: Possible night sweats or feeling hot at night
- Faster heart rate (80-90 beats per minute), occasional chest tightness or palpitations
- Other common symptoms: Headaches, flushed face, bitter taste in mouth
Main Symptoms of “Spleen Deficiency with Dampness Obstruction”:
- Indigestion: Feeling full after small meals, bloating, belching
- Sensitive gut: Gurgling, gas, abdominal pain or diarrhea after meals or when stressed
- Increased body fluids: Prone to leg swelling, throat phlegm, or postnasal drip
- Other common symptoms: Sensitivity to cold, itchy eczema with discharge
If “ear fluid imbalance” recurs frequently with persistent tinnitus and hearing loss, it indicates progression to spleen and kidney deficiency. At this stage, promptly tonify the kidneys, strengthen the spleen, and seek acupuncture to prevent further hearing impairment.
How Does TCM Use Medication?
During Severe Attacks
For those dealing with recurrent ear fluid imbalance, severe attacks can leave you “barely able to stand,” unable to even get out of bed to see a doctor. It’s wise to keep some effective Traditional Chinese Medicine on hand at home – it’s simple, fast-acting, and easy to take:
| Ze Xie Tang, from the Han Dynasty’s “Jin Kui Yao Lue” | |
| Ingredients | Ze Xie, Bai Zhu |
| Benefits | Stops dizziness, promotes diuresis |
| Dosage Instructions | |
| Compound Concentrated Powder | 5g Ze Xie, 2g Bai Zhu, mix with hot water, take twice a day |
| Decoction | 15g Ze Xie, 6g Bai Zhu, boil in 300ml water down to 100ml, take twice a day |
Recovery Period
In the recovery phase after an acute attack, when dizziness has mostly subsided, some may still feel slight nausea, poor appetite, or ear fullness. Taking Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang for 3 to 5 days can help eliminate inner ear labyrinth edema, improve cerebral circulation, and provide anti-emetic and diuretic effects.
| Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang, from the Qing Dynasty’s “Yi Xue Xin Wu” | |
| Ingredients | Jiang Ban Xia, Tian Ma, Bai Zhu, Fu Ling, Ju Hong, Gan Cao, Sheng Jiang, Da Zao |
| Dosage Instructions | |
| Compound Concentrated Powder | Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang, 5-10g each time, twice a day |
| Decoction | 12g Jiang Ban Xia, 10g Tian Ma, 10g Bai Zhu, 15g Fu Ling, 6g Ju Hong, 6g Gan Cao, 4g Sheng Jiang, 6g Da Zao, boil in 500ml water down to 100ml, take twice a day |
- * Before taking the above Chinese medicines, consult a registered Chinese medicine practitioner first and take with caution.
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