Vertigo is a symptom that is based on a disorder of various sensory organs that are responsible for balance and orientation in space. The extremely unpleasant feeling arises that you or your surroundings are turning or swaying back and forth. Dizziness is a very common symptom and can occur without any disease value, but also in the context of various diseases.
The frequency of dizziness increases with age. Dizziness is often accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, insecurity when walking and standing, as well as a tendency to fall, resulting in a high level of suffering and a severely impaired quality of life for those affected. Since dizziness can also be caused by various diseases, the symptoms should always be taken seriously and, if they occur more frequently or persist for a longer period of time, they should be clarified by a physician, for example a family doctor, a neurologist or an ear, nose and throat specialist. Depending on the cause of the dizziness, various therapy concepts can then be considered.
Symptoms
Dizziness is caused by a disturbance in the interaction of various sensory organs responsible for balance and orientation in space. It leads to a disturbed perception of the surroundings and subjectively to a movement between one’s own body and the environment. Feelings of dizziness can start suddenly and last from a few seconds to several hours (acute dizziness), but can also last for a longer period of time (chronic dizziness).
A feeling that the environment revolves around the affected person is often reported. This is then referred to as rotational vertigo. With the so-called swaying vertigo, on the other hand, there is more likely to be a feeling that the floor is swaying similar to that on a ship.
Some people also report a feeling of being pulled up, similar to the feeling in an elevator. In most cases, dizziness is accompanied by other symptoms. These include nausea and vomiting in particular.
Symptoms that are also often associated with dizziness are headaches, an insecurity when walking and standing, a tendency to fall (falling tendency) and a trembling of the eyes (so-called nystagmus). Some forms of dizziness may also be accompanied by ringing in the ears, hearing loss, drowsiness, anxiety and panic. In addition, those affected often report that the dizziness is not spontaneous but can be triggered by certain factors, such as movement of the head.
The first indications of the cause of the dizziness are
- The type of dizziness (for example, spinning or swaying vertigo)
- The duration of dizziness (seconds, minutes, hours or several days)
- The temporal occurrence of dizziness (for example, always after head movement) and
- The presence of other complaints (headaches, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, drowsiness, anxiety and panic)
Dizziness is often accompanied by other symptoms. If dizziness occurs together with headaches, it may indicate the presence of a specific form of migraine, vestibular migraine. Typically, dizziness attacks lasting from minutes to several hours are followed by visual disturbances, sensitivity to light and sound and finally headaches.
The diagnosis of vestibular migraine can usually be made by a detailed medical history and physical examination. Drug, physiotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic procedures are available to treat vestibular migraine. Acute migraine attacks can be treated with various painkillers such as acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen or paracetamol or with triptans.
If migraine attacks occur more frequently than three times a month, migraine prophylaxis can be carried out with a beta-blocker, for example with metoprolol or bisoprolol. Avoiding stress and regular exercise can also reduce the occurrence of migraine attacks. Dizziness is often accompanied by visual disturbances, as vision and our orientation and balance are closely linked.
