Dizziness has many possible causes, including inner ear disturbance, motion sickness and medication effects. Sometimes it's caused by an underlying health condition, such as poor circulation, infection or injury. The way dizziness makes you feel and your triggers provide clues for possible causes.
Dizziness alone is often not much cause for concern, especially if it passes after a few moments. However, if you experience additional symptoms or fainting, you should talk to your doctor. If you experience vomiting, double vision, or trouble using your arms or legs, you should get immediate medical attention.
Common causes of dizziness include low blood sugar, changes in altitude, heart failure, dehydration, and certain medications. While weakness can be due to injury or inflammation, the combination of dizziness and weakness may be a more serious condition that requires prompt medical attention.
Blood Work A blood test can reveal problems that could be to blame for your dizziness complaints. Your doctor might check your blood cell count, thyroid function, blood sugar levels, electrolytes, and more. Allergy Tests Sometimes allergies are the culprit for vertigo symptoms.
In most cases, dizziness associated with heart problems is accompanied by other symptoms. These may include shortness of breath, swollen extremities, frequent fatigue or chest pain. In the event heart disease is suspected, you will undergo one or more tests to get to the root of your problem.
Generally, see your doctor if you experience any recurrent, sudden, severe, or prolonged and unexplained dizziness or vertigo. Get emergency medical care if you experience new, severe dizziness or vertigo along with any of the following: Sudden, severe headache. Chest pain.
Chronic anxiety, or anxiety that occurs over an extended period of time, can cause a wide range of symptoms – but can anxiety make you dizzy? Surprisingly, yes. In fact, dizziness is a common symptom associated with both acute and chronic anxiety.
“Red flag” symptoms should alert you to a non-vestibular cause: persistent, worsening vertigo or dysequilibrium; atypical “non-peripheral” vertigo, such as vertical movement; severe headache, especially early in the morning; diplopia; cranial nerve palsies; dysarthria, ataxia, or other cerebellar signs; and ...
In general, if dizziness lasts longer than a few days, or is severe enough to keep you from normal activities, you should talk with your doctor. Depending on the cause, there are medications and physical therapy options that may give you some relief.
How long will the dizziness last? Depending on the cause, mild vertigo usually lasts no longer than 1 to 2 weeks. More severe vertigo can last several weeks. With Ménière's disease, the vertigo may come and go, or it might become an ongoing problem.
Dizziness can be classified into four main types: vertigo, disequilibrium, presyncope, or lightheadedness. Although appropriate history and physical examination usually leads to a diagnosis, the final cause of dizziness is not identified in up to one in five patients.
Inner ear disorders are frequently the cause of feeling dizzy. The most common causes include benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), Meniere's syndrome and ear infections. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) makes you dizzy when you change your head or body position (like bending over).
If the dizziness is not fleeting, eased by lying down or your balance is compromised, you should immediately visit the closest emergency department. If dizziness is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, you should also seek emergency care: Other neurological symptoms, including double vision and loss of vision.
The dizziness that accompanies anxiety is often described as a sense of lightheadedness or wooziness. There may be a feeling of motion or spinning inside rather than in the environment. Sometimes there is a sense of swaying even though you are standing still.
Stress, worry, or anxiety may cause other kinds of dizziness. It might feel more like lightheadedness than spinning. One form of this is chronic subjective dizziness — a vague feeling of imbalance. It happens more often in people with anxiety and in places where your senses have to take in a lot of information.
Can Anxiety Make You Dizzy? Chronic anxiety can cause a wide range of symptoms, including headaches and dizziness. In fact, dizziness commonly accompanies both acute and chronic anxiety.
The most common conditions are benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular migraine, Menière's disease and vestibular neuritis/labyrinthitis.
A silent heart attack is a heart attack that has few, if any, symptoms or has symptoms not recognized as a heart attack. A silent heart attack might not cause chest pain or shortness of breath, which are typically associated with a heart attack.
Additional symptoms of a clogged artery may include: Dizziness or weakness. Heart palpitations, or sensations of your heart racing or fluttering. Nausea or sweating.
Dizziness by itself is not a common symptom of a brain tumor. Most cases of dizziness are related to an inner ear problem, anemia, dehydration or taking certain medications.
Dizziness (lightheadedness) is a common symptom that's not usually a sign of anything serious, but should be investigated by a doctor.
Dizziness may feel like: Lightheadedness, as though you might pass out. Unsteadiness or a loss of balance. A false sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving (vertigo)
See a doctor if your lightheadedness doesn't go away after a week or if you are feeling nauseous and unwell. You should also seek help if your lightheadness causes you to injure yourself. Call an ambulance on triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance if you are very lightheaded and you also: have lost a lot of blood.
Symptoms of loose ear crystals
When you have loose crystals, any movement causes dizziness. The dizziness will subside within 30 seconds of initially having it, but it may come back with movement, even if it is as simple of bending to tie your shoe.