Dizziness is a phrase used to express a variety of feelings, including faintness, wooziness, weakness, or unsteadiness. Vertigo is a form of dizziness that gives you the erroneous impression that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving.
One of the more frequent medical visits made by people is for dizziness. Dizziness that occurs frequently or constantly might have a negative impact on your life. However, feeling faint seldom indicates a condition that could be fatal.
The cause and your symptoms will determine how to treat your dizziness. It normally works, however the issue can come up again.
Symptoms
Dizziness can be felt as a variety of different experiences, such as the following:
- A fictitious feeling of movement or spinning (vertigo)
- A sense of faintness or dizziness
- Being unsteady or off-balance
- A sensation of weightlessness, wooziness, or floating
Walking, standing up, or moving your head may cause these emotions to appear or become worse. You might feel sick along with your dizziness, or it could come on suddenly or be so strong that you need to sit or lie down. The event could last just a few seconds or for several days.
Causes
Inner ear disturbance, motion sickness, and drug side effects are just a few of the numerous potential reasons of dizziness. It can occasionally result from an underlying medical problem like poor circulation, an infection, or an injury.
Your symptoms of dizziness and your triggers can help identify potential reasons. The duration of the dizziness and any additional symptoms you have also aid in determining the cause.
Issues with the inner ear that lead to vertigo
The input from all of your sensory system’s components working together is what gives you a sensation of equilibrium. These comprise you:
- Eyes, which let you to see where and how your body is moving in space.
- Sensory nerves, which communicate with the brain regarding motions and locations of the body
- Sensors in the inner ear, which also serve as a back-and-forth motion detector
The erroneous perception that your surroundings are spinning or moving causes vertigo. When you have an inner ear problem, the signals that reach your brain from the inner ear don’t match up with the signals that reach your eyes and sensory nerves. As your brain attempts to sort out the confusion, vertigo develops.
Positional vertigo that is benignly paroxysmal (BPPV). This disorder gives you an acute, fleeting, but deceptive, sensation of movement or spinning. A sudden shift in head movement, such as when you sit up, turn over in bed, or receive a hit to the head, sets off these episodes. The most typical cause of vertigo is BPPV.
Infection. Vestibular neuritis, a viral infection of the vestibular nerve, can result in severe, ongoing dizziness. You might have labyrinthitis if you also experience sudden hearing loss.
Meniere’s condition. The excessive accumulation of fluid in your inner ear is a symptom of this condition. Sudden episodes of dizziness that might continue for several hours are its defining feature. Additionally, you can experience fluctuating hearing loss, ringing in the ears, and a blocked-ear sensation.
Migraine. Even when they are not experiencing a severe headache, those who suffer from migraines may experience episodes of vertigo or other types of dizziness. Such episodes of vertigo can continue for minutes to hours and might be accompanied by headaches, light sensitivity, and noise sensitivity.
Circulation issues that lead to lightheadedness
If your heart isn’t pumping enough blood to your brain, you can feel lightheaded, faint, or unsteady. some causes are:
Blood pressure decline. You may have momentary dizziness or a feeling of faintness if your systolic blood pressure, which is the higher number in your blood pressure reading, drops dramatically. When standing or sitting up too rapidly, it can happen. Orthostatic hypotension is another name for this disorder.
Blood circulation problems. Dizziness may be brought on by diseases such cardiomyopathy, heart attacks, heart arrhythmias, and transient ischemia attacks. Additionally, a drop in blood volume could result in insufficient blood supply to your brain or inner ear.
Additional root causes of lightheadedness
Neurological disorders. Progressive loss of balance can be a symptom of some neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
Medications. Certain pharmaceuticals, including anti-seizure medications, antidepressants, sedatives, and tranquillizers, can cause dizziness as a side effect. In particular, if blood pressure-lowering drugs drop your blood pressure too much, they could make you feel faint.
Anxiety conditions. Some anxiety problems can make you feel faint or wobbly, which is sometimes referred to as dizziness. These include panic episodes and agoraphobia, or a dread of leaving the house or being in wide-open settings.
Anaemia, or low iron levels. Dizziness is just one of the indications and symptoms of anaemia; other signs and symptoms include weakness, pale complexion, and weariness.
Hypoglycemia, a state of low blood sugar. People with diabetes who use insulin are more likely to develop this illness. Sweating and nervousness may also accompany dizziness (lightheadedness).
Poisoning from carbon monoxide. The “flu-like” signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest discomfort, and confusion.
Dehydration and overheating. You could have lightheadedness as a result of overheating (hyperthermia) or dehydration if you exercise in hot conditions or if you don’t drink enough water. Particularly if you take specific heart drugs, this is true.
Care and Therapy
Treatment for vertigo is dependent upon its cause. Your healthcare professional will treat the infection, for instance, if your dizziness is brought on by an inner ear infection. Your doctor may advise you to minimise activities while taking medications that make you feel lightheaded until your body gets used to them. A vestibular test battery and vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) can assist some patients decide whether their dizziness is brought on by an inner ear issue. Exercises are a part of vestibular rehabilitation therapy to treat symptoms of vertigo.
