Dizzying Concerns: Do You Have an Underlying Health Issue?

Dizziness is a major health concern, as it can seem to pop up out of nowhere. There are several conditions that can cause dizziness, as can medications and lifestyle factors, such as stress. If you experience dizziness often, it’s worth getting checked out by your GP. Here are some of the conditions that may be at work:

1. Vestibular neuritis (labyrinthitis). This is a viral infection of the inner ear that can affect your wellness with a sudden onset of dizziness with a spinning sensation (vertigo), nausea (feeling sick) and general unsteadiness. You tend to develop these symptoms after a bad cold or influenza (the ‘flu), but it’s rare for this to last for more than a few weeks. You can take anti-vertigo drugs, like those used for motion or travel sickness, to treat this condition.
2. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). This is a minute bout of intense dizziness with a revolving or spinning sensation. It’s brought on by particular head movements, such as turning over in bed, or looking up to place a book on a shelf. You can probably stop BPPV from impacting your wellbeing by simply avoiding the trigger head movements. However, at its worst, BPPV causes a specific nystagmus (jerking movements of the eye) unique to the condition, which may require treatment.
3. Migrainous vertigo. This is vertigo as the main or only symptom of your migraine. As well as taking medications to reduce the pain and inflammation of migraines, you can also try to reduce stress, stop smoking, avoid certain foods – such as chocolate, cheese and alcohol – and get plenty of sleep.
4. Ménière’s disease. This involves repeated attacks of intense dizziness which can last from two to 24 hours and often involves vomiting. You may notice a change in your hearing before or after an attack, and feel a tenderness or pressure in one of your ears.  The impact of Ménière’s disease tends to worsen over time, progressing to deafness, and there’s no warning sign that a dizziness attack is going to happen. While the main treatment of a strict low-salt diet and diuretic medication can help reduce the frequency and intensity of each vertigo attack, this will not necessarily slow down the progression of the deafness. However, if you take anti-vertigo drugs as soon as the first symptoms of Ménière’s disease develop, this may help.