My Weekly’s favourite GP Dr Sarah Jarvis from TV and radio writes for you
When a patient tells me they feel dizzy, my first job is to tease out exactly what they mean by “dizziness”.
For instance, it’s common to feel a bit lightheaded if you’re very hot or anxious. Or you might feel a bit “spaced out” if you’re generally unwell and have a fever.
You might also describe feeling dizzy if you have the sensation that you’re going to faint – as if you need to sit down before you fall over.
There are three main types of dizziness, and they have very different causes and treatments. By determining which kind you have, you can give your doctor a much better chance of getting to the root of the problem.
The first type of dizziness is vertigo – this is dizziness with a sensation of spinning, as if the room is turning around you. The second is light-headedness – the feeling you get when you’re about to faint. Thirdly, there’s a balance problem – this makes you stagger and feel you might fall if you walk, but goes away if you’re not moving.
The most common cause of vertigo is a problem with the balance mechanisms in your inner ear. In each inner ear there are three tiny, connected, semi-circular canals. Inside these is a network of fluid-filled channels called the labyrinth. When your head moves, the fluid moves too, triggering signals from tiny hairs inside the labyrinth to your brain.
Your brain connects messages from your inner ear and your eyes, helping control your balance. But if the labyrinth or inner ear nerve start firing off the wrong messages, the brain becomes confused, leading to vertigo.
Inflammation in your inner ear is often caused by a viral infection, called viral labyrinthitis. This sort of vertigo often comes on suddenly and is worse when you move your head – you may also feel or be sick. can feel sleepy or unsteady for a day or two afterwards.
Episodes can happen every few days, or just every few months – sometimes they come in clusters. Over time, the hearing loss and tinnitus can become permanent.
Although Menière’s isn’t curable, you can take medicine to ease dizziness and sickness when you have a flare-up. You may also be prescribed a tablet to take regularly to try and reduce fluid in your inner ear, which can stop episodes from happening. In severe cases, you may be offered surgery to your inner ear. A low salt diet and avoiding smo
