Can Melatonin Help with Acute Vertigo?

By Cheryl Wylie, MSc (PT)

Acute vertigo attacks are scary and uncomfortable, and are common in various vestibular disorders such as Meniere's disease, vestibular neuritis, vestibular migraine and BPPV. Symptomatic management of vertigo generally comes in the form of pharmaceuticals, but what if there were other options? Melatonin has come to light recently, and the research is promising!

These vertigo attacks have been related to inflammatory reactions. To build on this, people with chronic vertigo disorders show higher levels of mediators. Some research shows the melatonin may be able to regulate this inflammation, which can help to:

• Regulate vertigo attacks

• Reduce the occurrence of vertigo attacks

Melatonin has also been proposed to be a prophylactic agent, meaning it may help in the prevention of migraine attacks in those with vestibular migraine.

Most of this research is theoretical still, and better clinical studies on effectiveness is needed. But what I like a lot is the safety of melatonin. Melatonin is a practically harmless hormone, making it potentially a safer option compared too many pharmaceuticals currently used to treat vertigo attacks. ⁣

So keep your eye out for the use of melatonin with acute vertigo attacks! Could this be a new therapeutic effect of this commonly available hormone?