Introduction
Vertigo is one of the more common medical concerns. About one in ten patients who consult their family doctor complains about it. The causes, on the other hand, can be of an extremely diverse nature.
The relevant factors in determining the cause are the medical history, when the dizziness occurs and in what form it manifests itself. As an example, one can distinguish between dizziness that occurs permanently or in attacks, always with the same movement or diffusely, as well as between rotational vertigo (as on a merry-go-round) and vestibular vertigo (as on a boat). A closer look will be taken at the dizziness that occurs when lying down.
Why do I have dizziness when lying down?
Dizziness that occurs when lying down is often benign in nature. If the dizziness occurs only when the head position is changed, such as when lying down, it can be assumed that the cause lies in disturbances of the vestibular organ itself. In order to understand this, the structure of the organ must be remembered: three fluid-filled archways, each of which is oriented in one direction in space, form the basic structure of the organ.
When the organ moves or changes position, the fluid is set in motion and passes sensory cells that register the movement and then send the signal to the brain. If the movement signal of both ears together is the same, the brain has a functioning sense of balance. However, if the direction of movement is changed too quickly or if the information from both ears does not match (or the movement information from the ears does not match that of the eyes), the brain is confused and the result is perceived as dizziness.
In case of vertigo when lying down, it is also called “Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo“. This means that depending on the position of the head, dizziness may suddenly appear. This is caused by small stones (so-called otoliths) that come loose from a part of the organ of equilibrium and then roll around in the archways when the head changes position.
This is usually only the case in one ear. There the stones cause false movement signals that cannot be interpreted correctly by the brain. Dizziness occurs at times, which disappears again when the head is held still or the stones disappear from the archways.
In contrast to this is dizziness, which is permanent or comes out of nowhere. The cause must be sought less in the organ of balance itself than in the nerve that moves from there to the brain. A permanent or unpredictable disturbance of the balance must rather be associated with irritations of the nerve. This can be caused, for example, by inflammation of the nerve or tumors that press on the nerve. These are then serious diseases, although benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can also be unpleasant for patients.
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