Dizziness is described as a feeling of being woozy, disoriented, unbalanced, & like you’re about to faint. Dizziness creates a false sensation that you or your surroundings are moving or spinning out of control. Vertigo is often the result of an ongoing infection, illness, or disorder. It is rarely a disorder in itself, rather almost always a symptom of some underlying illness. In this article know about the Dizziness treatment, causes, medicine, and symptoms.
Dizziness is among the most common reasons adults visit their doctor. While dizziness is often not a fatal condition, frequent dizzy spells, and disorientation, etc. can prove to be quite problematic for most people. Recurring dizziness often makes many life situations difficult for the people that suffer from it.
Dizziness treatments usually depend on the exact cause of dizziness. Most of these treatments tend to treat the symptoms & any flare-ups until the cause is easily treatable. Treatments usually work best to reduce the frequency & intensity of the dizziness spells, however, they rarely work to treat the exact cause of dizziness. This means that the problem may recur anytime after remission.
Symptoms:
People that experience dizziness at any level describe it as various types of sensations. These include:
- A false sensation of motion or spinning(vertigo)
- Lightheadedness or feeling faint
- Unsteadiness, or a general loss of balance
- A feeling of floating, wooziness, or heavy-headedness
For some people, dizziness can also be triggered or worsened by walking, standing up, or moving your head. Some patients also experience dizziness along with nausea & it can be so severe that you may need to sit or lie down. These dizziness episodes may recur & either last seconds or several days.
Causes of dizziness:
There are many possible causes of dizziness. These include inner ear issues, motion sickness, & medication effects. Sometimes, dizziness is caused by an underlying health condition such as poor circulation, infection, or injury. The kind of symptoms you experience also holds a clue to the exact causes of your dizziness. How long does the dizziness last, the kind of symptoms you experience along with it, & the other factors that occur with dizziness, are all things that determine the exact cause of your dizziness.
Some common causes of dizziness include:
- Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo(BPPV); BPPV is the most common cause of dizziness in adults as well as young adults. It is a type of vertigo that causes intense, frequent, short bouts of vertigo, dizziness, nausea, motion sickness, and other vertigo-like symptoms. These episodes are often brought on by a quick, rapid movement of the head. Sitting up quickly, turning over in bed, moving your head too quickly in one direction, are all possible triggers for dizziness in people who have BPPV.
- Infection: Any ongoing infection can replete the body’s resources, as well as raise the body’s temperature. This can often lead to a person feeling dizzy & nauseous. Other common inner ear infections that can cause dizziness include vestibular neuritis & labyrinthitis. The latter also sometimes causes temporary hearing loss.
- Meniere’s Disease: Meniere’s Disease is an inner ear disorder that involves an excessive amount of fluid inside the ears, leading to a lot of pressure & temporary hearing loss. Meniere’s Disease also causes dizziness, vertigo, nausea, tinnitus(a ringing sound in the ears), & headaches in some patients.
- Migraine: People prone to migraines often experience dizziness, vertigo, disorientation, along with a painful sensitivity to light(photophobia) or to sound(phonophobia). These episodes of dizziness and vertigo can last a few minutes to a few hours, or even a few days.
Other common causes of dizziness include:
- A sudden drop in blood pressure or hypovolemia
- Poor blood circulation in the body
- Neurological conditions like Multiple Sclerosis & Parkinson’s diseases
- Certain medications like first-generation antihistamines, antidepressants, tranquillizers, sedatives, painkillers, etc.
- Anxiety disorders
- Low level of iron in the body(Anemia)
- Low Blood Sugar(Hypoglycemia)
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- Overexertion or dehydration
- A lack of adequate sleep
- Old age
Dizziness treatment:
Dizziness treatment usually depends on what’s causing it. In most cases, the body adapts to it automatically in some time. Usually, your dizziness treatment will include medications, exercises, & some home remedies. Often, & if not stated otherwise, your dizziness medication will be the same as vertigo medicines. These treatment options can benefit patients even if their exact dizziness cause is unknown. These can help them manage their symptoms and better deal with their condition.
Some common dizziness treatment options include:
Medications:-
medications for dizziness involve popular vertigo medicines like vertin tablet, stemetil tablet, stugeron forte tablet, meclizine tablet, etc., along with water pills(diuretics) for Meniere’s Disease, & antibiotics etc. for inner ear infections and other infections. Prescription antihistamines and anticholinergics can be prescribed to give the patient relief from dizziness & nausea. Anti-anxiety medications are also helpful to treat dizziness in patients predisposed to anxiety disorders and other mental health disorders. For people prone to migraines, certain preventive migraine medications can also help.
Exercises:-
certain exercises like head position maneuvers including the Epley maneuvers, the Brandt-Daroff exercises, & the Semont-Maneuver maneuver, can help treat dizziness in some patients. These exercises are especially helpful in those patients that have BPPV that is triggered by certain head movements. A doctor or a licensed physical therapist can perform these exercises for you in their office. You should not drive or perform any activities immediately after performing these exercises. Also, patients with neck or back problems, a detached retina, or blood vessel problems should not perform these exercises.
Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy:-
Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy refers to a set of specifically designed exercises that help the body compensate for the losses in the natural vestibular system. Your doctor can help you design an adequate vestibular rehabilitation therapy plan for your particular condition which will help your body make up for the natural loss of balance.
Psychotherapy:-
Psychotherapy is another popular therapy that helps put dizziness patients at ease & provides them with some amount of relief from their symptoms. It helps them live with their condition in a better way & live more positive, affirmative lives.
Aside from these, certain home remedies like taking gingko Biloba supplements, exercising well, sleeping 8 hours a day, drinking plenty of water throughout the day, staying away from excess stress & burnout, practising meditation, etc. are all home remedies for dizziness treatment.
Sometimes, surgical procedures might also be needed to control a patient’s dizziness. These procedures include certain injections that help relieve the patient’s dizziness, and surgical removal of the inner ear sense organ, where the body’s balance is naturally maintained.
Surgical procedures are often the last resort for dizziness treatment, & only used when the patient’s dizziness issues don’t respond to any of the above-mentioned dizziness treatment methods. Another cause for the use of surgical dizziness treatment procedures is if the patient’s dizziness is severe enough to warrant immediate medical attention & relief in the best way possible. They might also be used for patients with severe hearing loss.