Dizziness: definition, symptoms, causes, to treatment

Definition

What is dizziness?

Dizziness is a term often used to describe feelings of lightheadedness and imbalance. Dizziness is not a disease, but only a symptom of various health problems.

This condition can be treated depending on the cause, but it can still recur. In some cases, this condition is not a serious problem and will go away on its own or when the underlying condition has been resolved.

However, if this condition interferes with your daily activities, you can use medication to control it.

In general, this condition is divided into two, namely:

Mild headaches

This condition occurs when you feel like passing out. Even though you feel dizzy, you don't feel any movement of your body or anything around you.

Mild headaches usually go away within a short time or when you lie down. If it gets worse, you may feel nearly fainting or pass out. You can also feel nauseous and vomit.

Vertigo

Vertigo occurs when you or anything around you feels like it's spinning or moving. You may feel off balance, spin, tilt, or fall.

When you have severe vertigo, you may experience nausea and vomiting. You may also experience some other symptoms, such as difficulty walking, standing, or losing your balance and falling right away.

How common is dizziness?

Dizziness is very common. This condition can occur in patients of any age. Dizziness can be treated by reducing risk factors. Talk to your doctor for more information.

Symptoms

What are the signs and symptoms of dizziness?

Dizziness is a symptom of a condition. Common symptoms that often accompany feelings of dizziness are:

• Vertigo
• Feelings of dizziness and weakness
• Feelings of imbalance
• The feeling of floating, the head feels heavy

These symptoms may be triggered or aggravated when you are walking, or moving your head. This condition is usually followed by nausea or gets worse, so you need to sit or lie down.

There may be signs and symptoms not listed above. If you have concerns about a particular symptom, consult your doctor.

When should I see a doctor?

You should contact your doctor immediately if you experience recurring dizziness. You need to seek immediate help if experiencing this condition is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Severe or sudden headache
• Continuous vomiting
• Fainting
• Chest pain or irregular heartbeat
• Numbness or weakness
• Hard to breathe
• High fever
• The neck feels stiff
• Head injury
• Seizures
• Dizzy
• Vertigo
• The head feels light.

These symptoms may be a sign of a serious problem. So, it is important that you get medical help right away.

Cause

What causes dizziness?

There are many possible causes for this condition, including inner ear disorders, motion sickness, to the effects of medication. Sometimes, this condition is also caused by other health conditions, such as poor circulation, infection, or injury.

The effects of dizziness and their triggers can be clues to determine the cause of this condition. How long the dizziness lasts and any other symptoms you have can also help find the cause.

Ear disorders that cause dizziness

Your balance depends on the combined inputs from the various parts of your sensor system, including:

• Eyes, which help you determine movement through your body
• Sensory nerves, which send messages to the brain about body movements and positions
• The inner ear, which is the center of the sensor that helps you detect gravity and movement.

Vertigo is a false sense that makes your environment feel spinning or moving. With inner ear disorders, your brain receives signals from the inner ear that are inconsistent with what the eye and sensory nerves receive. Vertigo is the result of your brain responding to confusion.

Diseases that are common causes of dizziness due to inner ear disorders are:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)

This condition causes a brief, intense false sense, as if you are spinning or moving. This is triggered by rapid changes in head movement, such as when you turn over in bed, sit up, or experience a blow to the head. BPPV is the most common cause of vertigo.

Vestibular neuritis

Viral infection of the vestibular nerve, called vestibular neuritis, can cause intense, cashless vertigo. If you also have sudden hearing loss, you may have labyrinthitis.

The Cleveland Clinic calls this condition caused by inflammation of the nerve cells in the inner ear that control balance. The vertigo you feel in this condition can last up to seven days.

In most cases, this condition is caused by a viral respiratory infection, such as the flu. Treatment that can be done to treat this condition is to reduce the symptoms of nausea and dizziness.

Recovery usually takes six to eight months in a balance rehabilitation program. Surgery is usually unnecessary.

Vestibular schwannoma

This is a benign tumor that generally grows on the nerves in the inner ear that regulate balance. Tinnitus or ringing in the ears is an early symptom of this condition.

After that, you will start to lose your hearing. Vertigo usually does not appear in this condition.

Meniere's disease

This disease involves the buildup of excess fluid in the inner ear. This is characterized by vertigo for hours that lasts suddenly. You may also experience hearing loss and ringing in your ears.

Attacks usually occur suddenly and last 20 minutes to 24 hours. Treatment includes dietary changes (such as adopting a low-salt diet and limiting alcohol and caffeine), changing drug consumption, and quitting smoking.

Migraine

People who experience migraines may also experience vertigo or other types of dizziness, even though they don't have a severe headache. Such episodes of vertigo can last from several minutes to hours and can be associated with headaches.

Circulation problems that cause dizziness

You may feel dizzy, weak, or lose your balance when your heart doesn't pump enough blood to the brain. The cause is:

• Decrease in blood pressure

A dramatic drop in your systolic blood pressure - the higher number in your blood pressure reading - can cause lightheadedness or fainting. This condition can occur after sitting or standing up too quickly. This condition is also called orthostatic hypotension.

• Poor blood circulation

Conditions such as cardiomyopathy, heart attacks, cardiac arrhythmias, and transient ischemic attacks can cause dizziness. Decreased blood volume can cause inadequate blood flow to your brain or inner ear.

Another cause

• Neurological conditions

Some neurological or nervous system disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, can cause a loss of balance.

• Treatment

Dizziness can also occur because of the side effects of some medications, such as anti-seizure drugs, antidepressants, and sedatives. In particular, blood pressure-lowering medications can cause fainting if they lower your blood pressure too much.

• Anxiety disorders

Some anxiety disorders may cause lightheadedness or dizziness. These conditions include panic attacks and fear of leaving your home or being in the open (agoraphobia).

• Low iron (anemia)

Symptoms that may come along with dizziness when you have anemia are fatigue, weakness, and pale skin.

• Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

This condition usually occurs in people with diabetes who use insulin. Dizziness may be followed by sweating and anxiety.

• Heat and dehydration

If you do activities in hot weather or don't drink enough, you may feel lightheaded. This can happen, especially if you are taking some heart medications.

• Excessive alcohol consumption

Excessive alcohol consumption can cause you to feel dizzy. This happens because alcohol thins your blood, which changes the balance of fluid in your inner ear.

These conditions can also cause nausea. Alcohol increases the risk of stomach irritation that makes you vomit.

Risk factors

What increases my risk for dizziness?

There are many risk factors for dizziness, namely:

• Age. Dizziness is more common in adults than in children.
• History of dizziness. If you have had this condition before, it is likely that you will feel the same way in the future.

What complications might I have when I feel dizzy?

Dizziness can increase your risk of falling or harming yourself. Experiencing this condition while driving or operating large equipment can also increase the risk of accidents.

You may also experience long-term consequences if the causes of the condition are not treated properly.

Diagnosis

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

How to diagnose dizziness?

The doctor will narrow down the cause of the condition and other symptoms by performing a physical exam. They will ask questions, such as:

• When did this condition appear
• In what kind of situation
• How severe are the symptoms
• Other symptoms associated with this condition

According to Medical News Today, doctors also need to ask several questions, such as:

• The severity of dizziness or migraine
• Multiple falls or difficulty walking
• Repeated nausea and vomiting
• Difficulty breathing
• Head injury

In a physical exam, your doctor may check how you walk and maintain your balance and how the main nerves of the central nervous system work.

Your doctor may also order a hearing and balance check, as follows:

• Eye movement test

The doctor may monitor your eye movements using a moving object. You may also be given an eye movement test in which water or air is placed in the ear canal.

• Head movement test

If the doctor suspects vertigo is caused by benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, he or she may order a simple head motion test called the Dix-Hallpike maneuver to confirm the diagnosis.

• Posturography

This check will show which parts of the balance system you rely on the most and which parts may be giving you problems. You stand on your bare feet on a platform and try to maintain your balance under various conditions.

• Swivel chair testing

During this test, you sit in a computer-controlled chair. The chair moved very slowly in a full circle.

At a faster speed, the chair reverses in a very small curve.

Treatment

How to treat dizziness?

Usually dizziness will get better on its own without treatment. Within a few weeks, the body will usually adapt to whatever is the cause.

If you seek treatment, your doctor will determine based on the cause of the condition and the symptoms. These treatments may include medications and exercise. The following are treatment options for this condition:

Drugs

There are several drugs that can treat this condition, namely:

• Water pills

If you have Meniere's disease, your doctor may order water pills or a diuretic. This medication is taken along with a low-salt diet, which may reduce episodes of dizziness.

• Medicines that relieve dizziness and nausea

Your doctor may prescribe medications that can relieve vertigo, dizziness, and nausea immediately. Many of these drugs cause drowsiness.

• Anti-anxiety drugs

Diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax), which can cause addiction. They may also cause drowsiness.

• Migraine prevention drugs

Certain medications can help prevent migraine attacks.

Therapy

Special exercises to make the balance system less sensitive to movement may be recommended by your doctor. Here are treatment options that may work well for your condition:

• Head position maneuvers

A technique called canalith repositioning (or Epley's maneuver) usually helps with coping benign paroxysmal positional vertigo faster than waiting for your dizziness to go away on its own.

This technique can be performed by a doctor, audiologist or physical therapist. It usually works effectively after one or two treatments. Before performing this procedure, discuss with your nurse if you have neck or back problems, or vascular problems.

• Balance therapy

You may learn a specific exercise that helps your balance system to be less sensitive to movement. This therapeutic technique is called vestibular rehabilitation.

This technique is commonly used for people with dizziness due to inner ear disorders.

• Psychotherapy

This type of therapy helps people with dizziness caused by anxiety disorders.

Other operations or procedures

• Injection

Gentamicin (antibiotic) can be injected into the inner ear to turn off the balance function. The unaffected ear replaces this function.

• Removal of the taste organs in the ear (labyrinthectomy)

This rarely used procedure deactivates the vestibular labyrinth in the affected ear. The other ear takes over the balance function.

This technique can be used if you have serious hearing loss and the dizziness doesn't go away after various treatments.

What are the lifestyle and self-medication that can be done to deal with dizziness?

Here are lifestyle and home remedies that can help you deal with dizziness:

• Be careful about losing your balance, which can result in falls and serious injury.
• Avoid sudden movements and walk with a cane for stability, if needed.
• Keep away from objects that can slip, such as carpets and electrical cords.
• Sit or lie down immediately when you feel dizzy. Lie with your eyes closed in the dark if you have severe episodes of vertigo.
• Avoid driving a car or operating machinery if you experience frequent dizziness.
• Avoid consuming caffeine, alcohol, salt and tobacco. Excess consumption of this can worsen your symptoms and signs.
• Drink enough fluids, eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, and avoid stress.
• If the dizziness you feel is due to drugs, discuss with your doctor not to continue these drugs.
• Rest in a cool place and drink water or an energy drink.