Dizziness and headaches

Definition

Dizziness and headaches are two different symptoms, but they often occur together. Headache is a sensation of pain in the area of the head. The pain can come from the scalp, the bony skull or the meninges, for example.

The brain itself has no pain receptors and cannot trigger pain. Dizziness occurs when the sense of balance is damaged. Dizziness can have many different causes. Patients with dizziness have the feeling that the environment revolves around them. Patients with dizziness often find it difficult to stand on their legs or have to throw up.

Cause

Dizziness is caused by a disturbance in the area of the human vestibular system. This includes the inner ear, the eyes, the sense of touch and movement as well as associated nerve tracts. Dizziness can therefore have many different causes.

Dizziness often occurs after excessive alcohol consumption or if the patient gets up too quickly after lying down for a long time. In these two cases, the dizziness disappears on its own after a relatively short time. A blood pressure that is too low or too high can also lead to dizzy attacks.

In older patients, a vascular disease should always be considered as well. For example, a vascular calcification in the area of the carotid artery is possible. (see congested carotid artery (carotid stenosis)) Heart problems can also cause dizziness in rare cases, as can certain tumors in the head.

After a head trauma, a fracture of the petrous bone can cause dizziness. If dizziness is a symptom of an inflammation of the inner ear or the brain, it must be treated medically in order to avoid serious consequences. What you might also be interested in on this topic:

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Headaches can also occur in many different ways.

Most often they have no specific cause and go away after a few hours. Orthopedic problems are also often responsible for headaches. These include muscle tension and poor posture of the cervical spine.

A widespread headache is migraine. Small cramps of blood vessels and tension lead to a strong painful experience for those affected, which occurs regularly and is sometimes associated with certain events. For example, patients complain of migraines after a change in the weather, alcohol consumption or stress.

More rarely, headaches are a sign of a more severe clinical picture. These include inflammation of the meninges or brain, but tumours in the head can also cause pain. The fact is that the cause of headaches is still poorly researched because there are so many different forms of headache.

If headaches and dizziness occur simultaneously over a longer period of time, a medical clarification is advisable in any case. The most common cause of headaches and dizziness is a so-called dizzy migraine. This is a specific type of migraine that can trigger dizziness in addition to headaches. If both symptoms occur suddenly, the doctor must always rule out a bleeding in the head.