Symptoms of Vertigo

What is Inner Ear Dizziness

People of all ages, all nationalities and sexes can be affected by inner ear dizziness. This complaint is among the most popular of patients presenting to the doctor’s office. It will be experience by roughly five million Americans this year alone and for an unfortunate 5 percent of them the problem of dizziness will last longer than a three month period. There are many issues that can cause or result in dizziness. There are an equally large number of supposed treatments for dizziness.

Because so many things can have an effect on our balance, there can be many causes of vertigo and dizziness. They can be as innocent as an ear infection and dehydration to more serious causes like a stroke or tumor. The most common cause of inner ear dizziness is called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, benign positional vertigo or BPPV. The mechanism of this type of vertigo is well known and it has classic symptoms. Although commonly treated with medication the most effective way is not with medication.

Symptoms of Vertigo and Treatment

Symptoms of vertigo are one of the most common reasons for seeking medical attention and advice. Vertigo is said to be the illusion or hallucination of movement, usually a spinning or rotational feeling of either the environment or yourself. If you have every been on a merry go round ride or as a child spun around in circles a lot, then you would know what it is like to experience the feeling of vertigo. Together with this feeling of dizziness, you may also have experienced lightheadedness, unbalanced, a headache and nausea or sickness in your stomach. It is important to understand that dizziness or vertigo is not a disease but often a symptom. Symptoms of vertigo can be caused by a range of conditions from non-serious conditions to more serious conditions like vascular and neurological causes.

The feelings of dizziness or vertigo happen when our balance or equilibrium becomes affected. In our inner ear are semicircular canals that govern our equilibrium. Inside the semicircular canals are tiny hairs that sit in fluid. The tiny hairs are receptors that sense our head movements and then send messages to our brain so we know we are moving. With this understanding of how our balance system works you will better understand some disorders that result in vertigo or dizziness. Three very common problems that affect our balance are benign positional vertigo, labyrinthitis and Menieres disease.

The Symptoms of Vertigo

The symptoms of vertigo can vary depending of the causative factors. Dizziness or vertigo that is experienced as a sensation of spinning is called subjective vertigo. Objective vertigo is when a person feels that the surrounding environment (room or objects) are moving or spinning around them. A sensation of being pulled towards the floor or towards one side of the room is also occasionally described. The vertigo is often aggravated by changing positions, movement of the head and rolling over while lying down.

A vertigo that has a sudden onset in nature usually indicated what is called a peripheral vestibular disorder or problem from the inner ear. This means it is caused by a factor outside of the brain or central nervous system. Common peripheral vestibular disorders are benign positional vertigo, vestibular neuritis and Meniere disease.

Benign Positional Vertigo – All You Need To Know

What is benign positional vertigo?

This can also be a called paroxysmal positional vertigo and is described as a spinning sensation of the head that is triggered by particular head positions, usually it is a fast head movement.

The term “benign” means that it is not a serious condition like something life threatening and it will usually eventually get better.

What causes benign positional vertigo?