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What Could Be The Cause of Your Dizzy Spells, or Vertigo

What Could Be The Cause of Your Dizzy Spells, or Vertigo

If you’re experiencing vertigo, or dizzy spells where there’s a sensation that you or your environment is spinning, it’s important to know that it isn’t a disease. Rather, vertigo can occur with many different illnesses such as an inner ear problem. When experiencing vertigo you may have other symptoms such as nausea or vomiting. Your eyes may flick in a direction during an attack, called nystagmus. Or, your hearing may get muffled and noises occur in one ear.  In order to treat your dizziness, you’ll need to get a proper diagnosis. Below are some common causes of vertigo.

Dizziness and BPV

A very common cause of vertigo is an illness called benign positional vertigo or BPV. With BPV there are usually brief spells of spinning when you turn in certain directions. Most commonly, this occurs when turning to one side while lying in bed. Leaving that position usually stops the spinning. Although the dizziness usually is very brief, a sense of being off balance may last longer. This illness is caused by microscopic particles forming in one or both inner ears called otoliths. When these particles are stirred up, they float around in the inner ear fluid bumping into other inner ear structures and causing you to feel as if you are spinning. Once you determine which ear is involved, these particles can be re-positioned by a physical therapy maneuver so as not to float around causing problems.

Inner Ear Infections

A prolonged bout of vertigo may occur with a viral infection of the inner ear called vestibular neuronitis. You may also experience nausea and vomiting in this case. It may last for days or weeks. Certain anti dizziness medicines may help with the symptoms until the infection clears.

Meniere’s Disease

Meniere’s disease is an ear disorder thought to be caused by an abnormal buildup of fluid in the inner ear. It may occur in one or both ears. An attack of Meniere’s disease will usually be associated with a sense of fullness in the affected ear, noises in that ear called tinnitus and hearing loss in the same ear. The spinning usually lasts hours and the hearing loss usually improves after the attack. With Meniere’s disease these attacks may come repeatedly in clusters. There are various dietary restrictions, medicines and office procedures to help control the attacks.

Other Causes of Vertigo

Migraines may cause vertigo also. The attacks may or may not be associated with typical migraine headaches. Head trauma, brain tumors and some medications may cause vertigo as well.

As with any disease the treatment of vertigo is dependent on defining the cause. An ear, nose and throat doctor will be able to help determine the cause and treatment. An office exam, hearing testing and various inner ear tests are usually needed. Sometimes inner ear and brain scans and/or blood tests are necessary.

At Advanced Ear Nose & Throat Care, our physicians Dr. Michael Bard, Dr. James Batti, Dr. Dov Bloch, Dr. Jay Klarsfeld, and Dr. Jeffrey Monroe treat most conditions of the ear, head, neck, eyes, nose and throat. These conditions range from ear infections, tonsil and adenoids, sleep disturbance, thyroid nodules and palate surgery to nasal polyps, deviated septum sleep apnea and silent reflux. We are conveniently located in Fairfield County, CT in the towns of Danbury, New Milford, Norwalk, Ridgefield and Southbury.


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Multi-Specialty Private Practice with six locations in Fairfield County, CT