Feeling Dizzy? 6 Possible Reasons Why

Almost all of us feel dizzy at one time or another. In fact, dizziness ranks as one of the most common reasons for doctor visits, right up there with stomach and abdominal pain, joint aches and difficulty breathing. According to Johns Hopkins University researchers, Americans were projected to spend a whopping $4.4 billion on emergency room visits for dizziness in 2015.

Dizziness is a word used to describe everything from light-headedness to vertigo, the sickening feeling that the room is spinning. “Not all dizziness is the same,” says Ronald Winchel, M.D., assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. Because there are so many causes—an inner ear disturbance, medication effects, motion sickness, anxiety or an underlying health condition, among them—it’s not uncommon for many individuals to visit doctor after doctor and undergo test after test without receiving a diagnosis.

“When individuals go to a doctor, they need to really describe what they feel,” Dr. Winchel says. “They should explain when they do feel dizzy, what makes it better or worse, whether it’s a matter of changing how they sit or stand, how long it lasts.”

There are, however, six common reasons for dizziness that may help lead to a diagnosis:

Inner Ear Problems

There are numerous disorders of the inner ear, the body’s balance center, that can cause problems. The most common is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV, in which calcium carbonate crystals become dislodged from their place in the inner ear and migrate into ear canals. This causes a short, intense sense that you’re spinning or moving when you’re not, a sensation known as vertigo. These episodes are triggered by a rapid change in head movement, such as looking up or down, over the shoulder or when you roll over in bed.

If the problem doesn’t resolve on its own, the standard treatment for BPPV is the well-known Epley Maneuver, a noninvasive treatment that involves a doctor or trained partner helping you tilt your head in the right way so the particles roll back in place. Another way to stop the spinning is the “Half Somersault Maneuver,” a series of movements that anyone can do created by Carol Foster, M.D., director of the balance laboratory at University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. Dr. Foster is herself a sufferer of vertigo. Instructions for the Half Somersault Maneuver are at the end of this article.

Ménière’s Disease

Named after the French physician Prosper Ménière, who first described it in 1861, the disease seems to result from the accumulation of a fluid within the inner ear; this change can lead to vertigo. One of the disease’s most harrowing aspects is the sheer unpredictability of its vertigo attacks. There is usually a short, abrupt attack, accompanied by vomiting and hearing loss in one ear. This soon goes away, and hearing may improve. But the vertigo usually returns, either months or years later.

To relieve vertigo, particularly for BPPV, here is the Half Somersault Maneuver:

First, kneel on the floor (or in the middle of a large bed) hands flat on the floor by your knees for balance, and tilt your head upward so that you’re facing the ceiling. Alt-hough you will feel dizzy in this position, just wait for the feeling to subside. Next, lean forward, placing the top of your head on the floor in front of your knees, chin tucked in as though you were about to do a somersault. Again, you’ll feel dizzy but wait a few seconds for the spinning feeling to end. While waiting for the dizzy feeling to stop, turn your head so that you are looking at your elbow, the right elbow if your dizziness is worse when lying with your right ear down in bed, the left elbow if it is worse with the left ear down.

At this point, still kneeling in the same position, lift your head so that it’s in a straight line with your back and you are facing the floor. Hold that position until the spinning feeling goes away. Then sit up straight. You should feel that the room isn’t spinning. However, if that isn’t the case, follow these steps once again. To learn more, check out this You Tube video from Dr. Foster. She discusses what happens to the inner ear when you experience vertigo and demonstrates her method—along with variations you might try if you suffer from vertigo that stems for the most part from just one ear.