Balance & Dizziness

How Common Is It?
Dizziness is more common than most people think. In fact, it’s the second most common complaint people bring to their doctors (lower back pain is first). It’s estimated that as many as 40% of all adults experience dizziness severe enough to warrant reporting it to their doctors. Fortunately, most causes of dizziness are detectable and treatable, especially with today’s sophisticated computerized diagnostics, vestibular rehabilitation processes, medicines and advanced surgical techniques.

A Distinct Experience
Dizziness doesn’t feel the same to all people, so it’s helpful if your physician knows exactly what you are experiencing when you report dizziness. For some people, it’s lightheadedness. Some feel faint. Some feel as if they are moving when they’re not. To some, it feels as if the world is spinning all around them, while others feel as if they are doing the spinning. Both of these forms of dizziness are called vertigo. Some people simply can’t maintain their balance, but have no other unusual sensations at all.

Other Common Symptoms
Dizziness often occurs along with other symptoms, such as nausea, anxiety, and hearing loss. Pressure or fullness in the head or ears, or a ringing in the ears called tinnitus can also accompany the dizziness. Once again, it’s important that your doctor and audiologist know if these or any other problems accompany your dizziness.

A Healthy Part of Your Body's Warning System
Few of us like dizziness any more than we like pain. But, like pain, dizziness is a signal that something else may be wrong--something we need to detect and treat.

A Symptom With Many Possible Causes
Dizziness can be a symptom of a variety of health disorders. When you report dizziness to your physician, the first challenge is to diagnose the underlying cause. Most common are vestibular disorders—problems in the inner ear, particularly in the vestibular system, which controls our sense of balance. Other underlying causes can be found in the central nervous system—the brainstem or brain — resulting from disease or injury. Or, dizziness may be a sign of a cardiovascular problem, like high blood pressure or anemia. Dizziness may even be a reaction to medications, especially to the category of antibiotics called aminoglycosides. Bacterial or viral infections can also produce symptoms of dizziness.

The Diagnostic Process
The more specific you can be about when your dizziness began, when episodes are most likely to occur, and what sensations you experience; the more information your physician will have to develop an accurate diagnosis. Sometimes, a specific cause for dizziness can’t be identified. But, by eliminating the more serious possibilities, you and your physician can confidently manage your symptoms and enable your body’s self-correcting capabilities to take effect. The diagnostic process is both an art and a science — a partnership between you, your physician, and any other specialists, typically an Audiologist, enlisted for diagnostic support.