Dizziness is a word that is often used to describe two different sensations. It is important to know exactly what you mean when you say, “I feel dizzy,” . It is important to know exactly what you mean because it can help you and your doctor narrow down the list of possible problems.
Dizziness is a common description for many different feelings. The feeling of dizziness may be very familiar to you, yet difficult to describe. Vertigo is a medical term to describe the feeling of spinning, whirling, or motion either of yourself or your surroundings. This is the same feeling you might have after getting off a merry-go-round or spinning in place. Several diseases of the balance organs of the inner ear can cause vertigo, or it may be a symptom of a tumor or stroke.
Dizziness is commonly described as a feeling of light-headedness, unsteadiness and the feeling that you are about to faint. Dizziness is also commonly associated with the feeling that you or your surroundings seem to rotate endlessly. Such type of dizziness is medically referred to as ‘vertigo’. Dizziness essentially shakes the balance of the individual. The sense of balance depends on a variety of information processed by the brain after receiving inputs from eyes, inner ears and the nervous system.
Painless head discomfort with many possible causes including disturbances of vision, the brain, balance (vestibular) system of the inner ear, and gastrointestional system. Dizziness is a medically indistinct term which laypersons use to describe a variety of conditions ranging from lightheadedness, unsteadiness to vertigo.
The most important means for diagnosing this condition is the physical examination and history of the patient. A patient with dizziness or vertigo without hearing problems suggests the diagnosis of BPPV. A normal ear exam, audiogram, and neurological exam are expected. A simple positional test, performed in the doctor’s office, is usually all that is needed to confirm the diagnosis of BPPV.
Dizziness Symptoms
The symptoms of dizziness appear when the central nervous system receives conflicting messages from the other four systems. For example, suppose you are riding through a storm, and your airplane is being tossed about by air turbulence. But your eyes do not detect all this motion because all you see is the inside of the airplane. Then your brain receives messages that do not match with each other. You might become “air sick.” Or, to use a true medical condition as an example, suppose you suffer inner ear damage on only one side from a head injury or an infection.
Dizziness Treatment
Vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is a type of physical therapy used to treat vertigo. The goal of treatment is to minimize dizziness, improve balance, and prevent falls by restoring normal function of the vestibular system In most cases, balance improves if the exercises are correctly and faithfully performed.