Dizziness, you may feel like being lightheaded, woozy, unbalanced or unconscious. Sometimes it causes Fainting because dizziness mainly affects the sensory organs, especially the eye and ear. Dizziness isn’t a disease, but a symptom of various disorders.
Vertigo and disequilibrium may cause a feeling of losing balance or like the room is moving, but those two terms describe different symptoms. Fainting is a loss of consciousness and muscle strength characterized by a fast onset at a short duration and spontaneous recovery.
Treatment of dizziness depends on the cause and your symptoms. It’s usually effective, but the problem may recur. Dizziness can increase your risk of falling and injuring yourself. Experiencing dizziness while driving a car or operating heavy machinery can increase the likelihood of an accident.
Causes of Dizziness
- Fainting –When you lose consciousness for a short amount of time because your brain isn’t getting enough oxygen.
- Migraine – Those who experience migraines may have episodes of vertigo or other types of dizziness even when they’re not having a severe headache.
- Medications – Dizziness can be a side effect of certain medications like anti-seizure drugs, antidepressants, blood pressure-lowering medications
- Use of alcohol
- Vertigo –If any problem in the inner ear or balance is regulated to dizziness called
- Diseases and conditions – Older adults are more likely to have medical conditions that cause dizziness.
- Drop-in blood pressure –A dramatic drop in your systolic blood pressure
- Heart muscle disease
- The decrease in blood volume – Conditions such as cardiomyopathy, heart attack, heart arrhythmia and transient ischemic attack could cause dizziness.
- Anxiety disorders – Certain anxiety disorders may cause lightheadedness or a woozy feeling often referred to as dizziness.
- Anaemia – Lowering in iron level
- Hypoglycemia – Lowering the level of sugar in the blood. This condition generally occurs in people with diabetes who use insulin.
- Ear infection – A viral infection of the vestibular nerve can cause intense, constant vertigo.
- Anxiety disorders – Certain anxiety disorders may cause lightheadedness or a woozy feeling often referred to as dizziness.
In rare cases of dizziness may cause by a stroke, a malignant tumour, or another brain disorder.
Symptoms of Dizziness
- Lightheaded
- Unconscious
- Unsteadiness
- Loss of balance
- The feeling of floating or swimming
When to see a doctor
- Sudden, severe headache
- Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Numbness or paralysis of arms or legs
- Double vision
- A sudden change in hearing
- Ongoing vomiting
Test and Diagnosis
- Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) –records the electrical activity of your heart.
- Holter monitor – This is a portable heart-monitoring device that you wear for at least 24 hours.
- Echocardiogram – This test uses sound waves to produce a moving picture of your heart.
- Electroencephalogram – The electroencephalogram (EEG) measures the electrical activity of your brain.
Older adults are more likely to have medical conditions that cause dizziness, especially a sense of imbalance. They’re also more likely to take medications that can cause dizziness. If you’ve experienced dizziness before, you’re more likely to get dizzy in the future.