Dizziness

What is dizziness?

Dizziness is the sensation of feeling unbalanced, lightheaded, or seasick. It isn’t a condition by itself but a symptom caused by many different actions or conditions. Fortunately, the most common causes of dizziness aren’t serious.

When you experience dizziness, the feeling usually goes away quite quickly. But you should book an appointment right away at ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC if you experience dizziness repeatedly with no apparent cause or trigger.

What causes dizziness?

Many different conditions, actions, and circumstances can cause you to feel dizzy, including disorders of the inner ear where your balance system is located. One of the most common and harmless causes of dizziness is changing positions quickly, like when you sit up rapidly in bed when you wake up.

You can also experience dizziness from:

• Migraines
• Heavy drinking
• Some medications
• Drop in blood pressure
• Anxiety disorders
• Heart muscle disease
• Anemia
• Dehydration
• Heatstroke
• Ear infections
• Motion sickness

To reach a diagnosis of the underlying cause of your recurrent dizziness, ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC goes over your medical history and asks about other symptoms you might have. They also complete a brief physical exam in the office before moving on to more intensive testing.

How is dizziness diagnosed?

ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC use dizziness and balance testing called vestibular evaluation. It analyzes your balance system inside your inner ear. These comprehensive assessments include several different prescribed tests, including:

Videonystagmography (VNG)

VNG is a test to detect involuntary eye movements in response to different stimuli. These movements happen when there’s a mismatch between what you see and what your balance system feels. They usually happen when you look at some patterns or move your head in a certain way. Frequent eye movements like these can indicate a balance disorder.

Vestibular autorotation testing (VAT)

VAT tests your vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR). The test is computerized and designed to detect corresponding head and eye movements. When this isn’t working correctly, you can experience ongoing dizziness and trouble keeping your balance.

How is dizziness treated?

How your dizziness is treated will depend on the underlying diagnosis. ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC can prescribe medications to help manage inner ear problems. They can also suggest exercises that you can do at home to address balance problems caused by your inner ear.

ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC can recommend changes to your diet, drinking more water, and avoiding the things that trigger dizziness. Surgery is available for some severe conditions that cause dizziness. It all depends on your diagnosis.

To find out why you’re experiencing dizziness and how you can manage it, call ENT & Allergy Specialists of VA, PC today or book an appointment online.