In this Article

• How do patients describe the symptoms caused by balance disorders?
• Dizziness
• Vertigo
• Lightheadedness
• Motion sickness
• What problems cause balance disorders?
• How are patients with balance disorders evaluated?
• What general advice can be given to patients with balance disorders?
• How are balance disorders treated?
• What are vestibular rehabilitation exercises?
• What are the specific balance disorders and their treatments?
• Motion sickness syndrome
• Vestibular migraines
• Inner ear trauma
• Perilymphatic fistula
• Medication damage to inner ear (ototoxicity)
• Acoustic neuromas and other cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors
• Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (cupulolithiasis)
• Vertebral basilar insufficiency
• Labyrinthitis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Disequilibrium of aging
• Vestibular Balance Disorders At A Glance
• Patient Discussions: Vertigo (Dizziness And Vestibular Balance Disorders) - Describe Your Experience
• Vestibular Balance Disorders Glossary
• Vestibular Balance Disorders Index

Dizziness

In general, physicians refer to dizziness as a feeling of being woozy, drunk, unsteady, or giddy. There is often a feeling of imbalance (disequilibrium) without a true sensation of turning or spinning. Dizziness is a general-purpose, rather imprecise term used to describe the sensation of imbalance (sensory disorientation). Although patients often use the word dizziness to describe balance or inner ear problems, it is typically not caused by a disorder of the inner ear.

Vertigo

Vertigo refers to an hallucination of motion that can be linear (straight ahead), falling, or rocking. It is often described as a spinning, turning, or whirling sensation. What's more, the spinning may be one of self-rotation (subjective vertigo) or rotation of the surrounding environment (objective vertigo). In most cases, the symptom of vertigo implies a disorder of the inner ear or vestibular system.

Lightheadedness

Lightheadedness refers to the typical sensation one experiences prior to a fainting episode. Associated symptoms can include sweating, feeling cold, shortness of breath, numbness around the mouth or of the fingers, and a dimming or tunneling of vision. Lightheadedness is caused by a momentary decrease in blood flow to the brain. This sensation can occur for a number of reasons including medication side effects and heart (cardiac) and blood vessel (vascular) problems. For instance, orthostatic hypotension is low blood pressure that occurs upon standing. In this condition, the low blood pressure decreases blood flow to the brain, and thereby, causes lightheadedness.

Contrary to popular belief, high blood pressure (hypertension) itself does not cause lightheadedness. Hypertensive patients may experience lightheadedness, however, when their blood pressure drops for any reason. It happens that the most common reason for such a drop in blood pressure is a response to their blood pressure medications. Lightheadedness is usually not a common complaint from patients with vestibular problems.

Vertigo (Dizziness And Vestibular Balance Disorders) - Describe Your Experience

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