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Dizziness Health Channel

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Dizziness

Definition

Dizziness is light-headedness, feeling like you might faint, being unsteady, loss of balance, or vertigo (a feeling that you or the room is spinning or moving).

Most causes of dizziness are not serious and either quickly get better on their own or are easily treated.

Alternative Names

Light-headedness - dizzy; Loss of balance; Vertigo

Common Causes

Light-headedness happens when there is not enough blood getting to the brain. This can happen if there is a sudden drop in your blood pressure or you are dehydrated from vomiting, diarrhea, fever, or other causes. Many people, especially as they get older, experience light-headedness if they get up too quickly from a lying or seated position. Light-headedness often accompanies the flu, hypoglycemia, common cold, or allergies.

More serious conditions that can lead to light-headedness include heart problems (such as abnormal heart rhythm or heart attack), stroke, and severe drop in blood pressure (shock). If any of these serious disorders is present, you will usually have additional symptoms like chest pain, a feeling of a racing heart, loss of speech, change in vision, or other symptoms.

The most common causes of vertigo are benign positional vertigo and labyrinthitis. Benign positional vertigo is vertigo that happens when you change the position of your head. Labyrinthitis usually follows a cold or flu and is caused by a viral infection of the inner ear. Meniere's disease is another common inner ear problem. It causes vertigo, loss of balance, and ringing in the ears.

Much less commonly, vertigo or feeling unsteady is a sign of stroke, multiple sclerosis, seizures, a brain tumor, or a bleed in your brain. In such conditions, other symptoms usually accompany the vertigo or imbalance.

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Vertigo-associated disorders (11 Videos, 1 Image) (Doctor-Reviewed information)
Vertigo is a sensation of motion or spinning that is often described as dizziness. Vertigo is not the same as light-headedness. People with vertigo feel as though they are actually spinning or moving, or that the world is spinning around them.Reviewer: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Daniel B. Hoch, PhD, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.Date: 10/30/2008
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Labyrinthitis (2 Images) (Doctor-Reviewed information)
Labyrinthitis is an ear disorder that involves irritation and swelling of the inner ear. See also: Meniere's diseaseReviewer: Daniel B. Hoch, PhD, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. 9/11/08Date: 09/27/2008
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Health Videos


Well the first thing we know about dizziness is, respect it for the giant symptom that it is. You know, probably our most important sense of all the senses...
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Pete Farmer: Everything is telling you, hey, you're spinning, but you know that you're not. Everything continues to move, like this swirl. Jennifer Matthew...
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Kim: My name is Kim. I am 25 years old. I'm from Colombia falls, Montana. My question is that I have taken a couple of blows to the head and they cause me ...
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Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Center BrainandSpinalCord.org Marcy Newsome Hi, I am Marcy from the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Center at BrainandSpinalCord....
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Treating Vertigo with an Epley Chair Dr. Travis Stork: Its one of the top 10 most misdiagnosed conditions. It starts with shaky eyes, dizziness, light head...
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Female Speaker: Meet Valerie Greene, you can't help but notice her energetic glow her zest for life. It's unimaginable that Valerie is the survivor of a ma...
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Female: Strokes are the third biggest killers in the United States today, learning the warning signs of a stroke is crucial and could just save a life. Mal...
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Female: Stroke is the biggest cause of disability n the United States what exactly happens after a person suffers a stroke. Male: The specific disability c...
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Pediatrician Dr. Jim Sears explains why we feel dizzy after spinning around and around.
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Do you ever feel like the world is spinning? The Doctors explain the many causes of dizziness.
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Dr Ian M Purcell's Alvarado Hospital Vertigo Special Jody: Hi, I am Jody, and three years ago I came to see Dr. Purcell. I was suffering from migraines and...
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This educational resource is a practical time-saver that will enable you to get good at pain relief. Watch our tutorial on How To Manage Neck Pain And Dizz...
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Hypoglycemia: how to recognize it? What to do? Male: For the majority of people with Type I Diabetes, recognizing the signs of hypoglycemia can be relative...
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Blood pressure or BP is the pressure exerted by the blood flow on the walls of the arteries. It is the determined by the force and amount of blood pumped b...
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Nader: Hi! I'm Nader from Moab, Utah. I like to hike & bike in the heat of the summer, and I often worried about dehydration and heatstroke. What steps can...
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EmpowHer Alvarado Hospital Docotors in Action Ian Purcell, M.D. and Michael 0Leary, M.D. Otonuerologist Nuerologist/Skull-Base Surgeon Michael 0Leary, M.D....
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Jennifer Shepard: I was driving and I just started feeling real dizzy and lightheaded. Mia Burkhard: I couldn't get it together. I was very undone that mor...
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[Music Playing] Sherry Demeterco: Atrial Fibrillation is potentially life-threatening, placing a significant burden on patients, healthcare providers, hosp...
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Host: What are the symptoms of a mini-stroke? Dr. Nina Solenski: The mini-stroke are exactly like a true full blown stroke. It's that abrupt sudden onset o...
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Male Speaker: 46 year-old Polly Siegel's epilepsy first appeared 15 years ago after she had a devastating bike accident. She recovered from her injuries, b...
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During pregnancy you should try to avoid caffeine. Caffeine is as stimulant and it does cause extra palpitations. The other foods are obviously to avoid to...
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Cory: My name is Cory; I'm from Jackson, Mississippi. What type of symptoms should a person expect when diagnosed with arrhythmia? Dr. Kalyanam Shivkumar: ...
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Martin Wendover: Chances are that you've probably never heard of Atrial fibrillation or AF but it affects up to a quarter of a million Canadians. It is a s...
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You know you chest hurts, is it heartburn or something more serious. Sometimes chest pain is not heartburn but a heart attack. Although heart attack sympto...
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Stokes is the third biggest killer in the United States today. A stroke occurs when there is interruption of blood flow to the brain. This causes the death...
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Female 1: At two months, other people cannot tell you are pregnant, but with an increased appetite and the onset of morning sickness, you are sure to notic...
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Raena Morgan: Hi, I'm Raena Morgan with iHealthTube visiting with Robert Kowalski, the author of 'The Blood Pressure Cure.' And we're talking about the dif...
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