Resolve Tinnitus and Vertigo with Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine

Any bout of dizziness can be frightening. Living with persistent dizziness, vertigo or tinnitus, especially when medications and other therapies offer little relief can be deeply distressing. In my Cheltenham shiatsu clinic over the past six months, I’ve seen a noticeable rise in women presenting with tinnitus, dizziness/ vertigo. These symptoms often appear to have different causes, but when we look more closely, common patterns emerge. I have yet to meet a woman who feels dizzy and is not also fatigued — and almost always under prolonged stress.

This is where Chinese Medicine and Shiatsu offer a very different and often profoundly effective perspective.

Resolve Tinnitus and Vertigo with Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine.

What Causes Dizziness and Tinnitus in midlife?

First and foremost, it’s essential to rule out any medically serious causes. For the sake of this blog, I’m assuming you’ve already seen your GP, undergone investigations, and perhaps tried medication or other therapies without resolution. As a menopause specialist, the women I see are typically over 40, and there are often physical and energetic imbalances we can work to rebalance. Contributing factors may include:

• Hormonal fluctuations

  Oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone influence blood vessels, the inner ear and balance centres in the brain. Fluctuations can cause dizziness, light-headedness and head pressure.

• Anxiety

  Anxiety and dizziness reinforce each other — one can both trigger and worsen the other.

• Hot flushes

  Sudden dilation of blood vessels can create sensations of light-headedness or disorientation.

  
  

• Blood sugar imbalance can easily trigger dizziness or faintness.

  
  

• Muscle tension

  Cold, tight muscles — especially in the neck and shoulders — can contribute to headaches and dizziness.

  
  

• Extreme fatigue

  In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the ears are linked to Kidney energy. When this energy is depleted through exhaustion, tinnitus and dizziness often appear.

  
  

If you’re experiencing a combination of symptoms — dizziness, tinnitus, vertigo, double vision, headaches, neck pain, shoulder tension, back issues, or recent periods of stress and fatigue — these are not random. They are interconnected signals showing how your body is currently struggling to hold itself upright, quite literally. Western medicine does not always connect these dots, but Chinese Medicine looks at the whole energetic pattern — and this is where Shiatsu becomes so effective.

Click image to jump right to treatment options

Don’t Wait on Test Results to Seek Relief

A diagnosis does not always equal a solution. For example, Ménière’s disease has no clear known cause, yet the symptoms themselves can often be significantly reduced or resolved with the right approach. A holistic practitioner does not treat your ears in isolation. Instead, we look at your entire health pattern — fatigue levels, stress load, digestion, sleep, emotional wellbeing and musculoskeletal balance. If medical tests show “nothing”, this can actually be good news. Your symptoms are real, but they may not show up on scans or blood tests. In Chinese Medicine, your symptom pattern provides invaluable insight into what is happening beneath the surface.

Resolve Tinnitus and Vertigo with Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine

In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), the internal organs are reflected outwardly through the senses and orifices. For example, yellowing in the whites of the eyes points us toward Liver imbalance — something widely recognised even in Western medicine What is less known is that the ears are directly linked to Kidney energy (the closest Western equivalent is adrenal function). This is why tinnitus, vertigo and dizziness are so closely related. When your energy reserves are depleted over time, the body manifests this through the ears and balance system. Anxiety is almost always part of this picture during peri- and menopause, because anxiety is adrenaline-driven. Hormonal changes place greater demand on the adrenals, and prolonged fight-or-flight further drains this system.

Headaches, Neck Tension and the Struggle to Stay Upright

Many women experience headaches or jaw tension alongside dizziness and tinnitus. This often comes from the sheer effort of “holding it all together” — pushing on when the body is asking you to stop and rest.

Over time, this leads to secondary symptoms:

• Neck and shoulder tension

• Migraines

• Nausea or that “sicky” feeling

I write this from personal experience. Shiatsu and cranial osteopathy resolved these symptoms for me earlier in life, but during perimenopause they returned with greater intensity — even with regular treatments. This is why I speak so passionately about listening to the body. If you’re functioning daily with these symptoms, you have extraordinary willpower. But this is not sustainable. True healing begins when you stop overriding your body’s signals.

 

Chinese Kidney Energy and Deep Fatigue

If you wake up tired even after a full night’s sleep, this is not normal tiredness. In Chinese Medicine, this reflects depletion of Kidney energy — your constitutional, life-force energy. This is different from daily fatigue. It’s deeper, slower to recover, and foundational to your health. Modern life places unprecedented demands on women, and this is one reason perimenopausal symptoms are far more intense now than in previous generations.

Think of It as Your Petrol Tank

Imagine your life energy as a petrol tank. When it drops into the red, your body sends warning signs:

• Fatigue

• Anxiety

• Loss of joy or libido

Then comes the alarm — tinnitus.

Dizziness and vertigo follow because the body no longer feels safe keeping you upright. It is a survival response, not a malfunction.

Western medicine treats the ears in isolation. Chinese Medicine understands that the ears reflect your energy reserves.

The Chinese Medicine View of Fatigue

Ask yourself: when do you crash?

For many women, it’s the mid afternoon slump. If a 20-minute nap around 3pm restores you, the imbalance is mild — but still significant. If you crash for hours, feel unable to function, or have had to give up work due to exhaustion, this is serious depletion. Sleep alone is no longer enough to restore you.

These symptoms build slowly over years:

• Increasing tiredness

• Rising anxiety

• Reduced resilience to stress

• Loss of joy and libido

Eventually, the body sounds the alarm through tinnitus, dizziness and vertigo.

Shiatsu, Meridians and Balance

In TCM, dizziness and vertigo often relate to imbalances in the Gallbladder, Bladder and Kidney meridians, particularly where they support the head and neck. The Gallbladder meridian runs up the sides of the body and around the head and plays a crucial role in holding the head upright. When depleted — which is very common in women — the neck (Bladder meridian) must work harder, leading to tension, headaches and dizziness.

Shiatsu works directly with these meridians, gently restoring balance through hands-on treatment. No other physical therapy addresses the energetic relationship between posture, fatigue and the ears in the same way.

Gallbladder meridian energy in the head

The good news is that when you address the root imbalance, multiple symptoms often improve together.

Resolving Tinnitus Through Lifestyle and Shiatsu

If tinnitus is a sign of depletion, the resolution requires replenishment.

Key lifestyle changes include:

• Increased nutrition (including plant based supplements)

• Managing rest and sleep

• Reducing high-impact exercise (which triggers adrenaline release)

• Mindfulness and energy conservation

• Rebalancing your energetics with Shiatsu

  
  

Learning to say no is powerful self-care. The old badge of honour of “pushing through”  does not serve your long-term health.

Click image to download my free supplements guide

A Holistic Approach to Tinnitus and Dizziness

Your symptoms are not random. They are meaningful signals asking for change.

Through Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine, combined with lifestyle support, it is possible to restore balance, reduce symptoms and regain energy.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Tinnitus and dizziness rarely have a single cause. They require a multi-layered approach which I provide including:

• Shiatsu

• Nutrition

• Gentle movement

• Lifestyle changes

If you feel that you’ve “tried everything”, this may be your sign to approach your symptoms differently. Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine do not treat the ears in isolation — they work with your whole body, your energy levels and your nervous system to address the root cause of why these symptoms are happening in the first place.

I work with women in any stage of menopause and afterwards at my Cheltenham-based Shiatsu clinic, supporting fatigue, anxiety, tinnitus, dizziness and stress-related symptoms through gentle, hands-on treatment and personalised lifestyle guidance.

If you’d like to explore whether Shiatsu could help you Contact me here or book online (choose Shiatsu for Health) to begin restoring balance, energy and relief from your symptoms.

You don’t have to push through these symptoms alone — support is available, and change is possible.

Your body is not failing you — it’s communicating with you.

About Andrea at Shiatsu Bodyworks Cheltenham

Andrea is a qualified zen shiatsu and chinese medicine practitioner with over 20 years immersed in holistic therapies and the energetics of mind and body. Based in Cheltenham, UK she offers in house clinic and online shiatsu sessions to help people with midlife health issues and also offers online consultations as she is a menopause specialist too.

Ready for a treatment? Book in here! 

Shiatsu ~ Gentle bodywork to help your body work better