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Vertigo, Dizziness or Chakkar – There’s more to it than random spells!

Vertigo, Dizziness or Chakkar – There’s more to it than random spells!
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There’s no exaggeration when you read here that around 20-40% of people experience vertigo at some point in their lives! In India alone about 5% of the people are vertigo-affected. There’s more than one reason why people should understand and treat vertigo as soon as possible.

In the next paragraphs, you will read about how vertigo affects the daily lives, what are the principal causes of dizziness and why is essential to get vertigo treatment at the earliest.

What you ought to know about vertigo

Vertigo is a balance disorder, where one has a false sense of motion. A vertigo spell feels like the world is spinning around us. Dizziness, chakkar, lightheadedness or giddiness are other terms referring vertigo.

Fundamentally, dizziness makes the person unsteady and lose balance. Dizziness is a symptom that indicates an untreated health issue, which needs immediate attention. If left untreated the symptom (vertigo) itself may become a more massive nuisance in your life.

There are several causes of dizziness

Disequilibrium occurs for various reasons. Infrequent and minor off-balance cases may only mean a temporary system fault in your body. The best part is our body has its intelligence and tries to figure out ways to rectify its functional deficits. Sometimes, a little rest, eating and hydrating are enough to check the giddiness.

On the other hand, frequent dizzy spells, even if they are mild, need extra care and attention. A thorough neurotological evaluation reveals the cause of the vertiginous episodes. As said earlier, there are many reasons why one feels dizzy, some of them are;

 innovative weight loss pills
  • Low blood sugar level
  • Hypotension
  • Side effects of some medicines
  • Migraine
  • Head injury

vertigo

Vestibular problems are the reason behind more than half of the vertigo cases. The vestibular region is the hub of neural activities in the inner ear that is responsible for hearing and balance functions. Any functional, genetic or traumatic issues disrupt the signals transmitted by vestibular organs to the brain and affect balance and hearing ability in a person causing peripheral vertigo and hearing loss.

An injury or functional problem affecting brain cause central vertigo.

Some of the vestibular and central problems that cause dizziness are

  • Meniere’s disease
  • BPPV
  • Vestibular migraine
  • Vestibular neuritis
  • Acoustic neuroma
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Perilymph fistula

Vertigo affects daily life

Many believe that there is no respite from dizziness. In worst cases, some people experience severe dizziness attacks for days that cripple their health and social life.

Since a dizzy bout strikes suddenly and causes unsteadiness, the sufferer will have a tough time carrying on with routine activities and restrict oneself to home and limited activities. The confinement results in many other physical, psychological and emotional disturbances such as,

  • Low confidence
  • Obesity
  • Stress
  • Depression
  • Risk a fall
  • Immune deficiency

vertigo

Dizzy? Get diagnosed

Though the number of vertigo-affected population is vast, the majority of them live with the discomfort and risk without knowing whom to consult!

In case anyone has frequent dizzy spells, consult a vertigo specialist, like a neurotologist. A neurotologist is an expert in evaluating neural issues in the ear. A consultation with a neurologist, psychiatrist and an ENT specialist will further prove useful in getting an accurate diagnosis of your vertigo condition. The correct diagnosis ensures right kind of treatment to cure vertigo.

Diagnosing balance disorders need thoroughly trained practitioner in vertigo and related disorders and advanced diagnostic equipment. NeuroEquilibrium has developed superior vertigo diagnostic devices that work on latest cloud technology; providing evaluation, assessment and treatment seamlessly for the patients.

Treatment for vertigo is important

Vertigo is a side-effect of an unattended medical problem. So, unless the health issue is resolved, vertigo will not cease.

Medication and vestibular rehabilitation therapy are the main lines of treatment to cure vertigo.

The doctors recommend vestibular suppressants, anti-depressants, diuretics, antiepileptic, antiemetic, antibiotic drugs to control the severity and discomfort of vertigo and its associated symptoms.

Vestibular rehabilitation is a physical therapy that provides long-lasting relief and helps vertigo- sufferers regain balance. This therapy retrains the brain to ignore the false neural signals from the vestibular region and find alternate pathways to compensate for the defunct nervous routes.

In most cases, surgery is not necessary. However, if the patient does not respond positively to medication and vestibular rehabilitation program, doctors consider surgically rectifying the inner ear problem.

vertigo

Simple vertigo care tips

Well, medicines and rehabilitation are crucial to treating disequilibrium you are suffering, but, you can do your bit to recover from balance disorder sooner with these simple advice

  • Stress causes lots of havoc in the body. So destress regularly and have a positive attitude.
  • What you eat makes you healthy or sick. Fresh and nutritious food is the key to nourish your system.
  • Less of TV and mobile is an effective way to focus on quality living.
  • Alcohol, drugs, caffeine are the ones you need to avoid to let the treatment be effective.
  • Have a healthy and active lifestyle.

To sum up, vertigo or dizziness as we call it is a symptom of an underlying medical problem. First thing, get a thorough assessment done for the cause of imbalance and follow it up with appropriate treatment.

Author Bio:

Dr Anita Bhandari works as a Senior Consultant with Jain ENT Hospital in Jaipur, India. She is an MS in ENT and has done Fellowship in Otology and Neurotology from Singapore. Anita has acted as a Principal Investigator on a UNICEF collaborated project for three years that worked with 3000 underprivileged children. She has developed three patent-pending breakthrough technologies in the related field and is passionately driving NeuroEquilibrium’s Advanced Vertigo and Balance Disorder Clinics across India and Asia and Africa.  Anita is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences on vertigo and balance disorder management.


Comments (20)

  • I have to be honest, I’m familiar with the term but I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who suffered from Vertigo. Your article is very informative and I’m happy to share. Thanks!

  • Hey Sonal! I know all to well how scary this vertigo or dizziness can be! I just woke up this past spring and couldn’t focus! It was so scary! I felt as though I was going to loose my mind! If I moved to fast, my head would just spin! I was at my parents at the time, and it disappeared as fast as it showed up! But not before I laid in bed for a few days worrying about what was happening to me.

    I did got to my doctor when I got home and she believed it was stressed induced! Yikes I hope I never have to go though anything like that again..
    Great Share!
    Chery :))

    • Author

      Hi Chery

      You are right Chery, its very scary. I have seen people around me going through this. It is better to get a treatment soon.

      Thanks for writing in!

  • Sonal,
    I seem to be suffering from dizziness not vertigo I have had an operation a few days ago and the medication is making me feel like my head is spinning. Time for a rest.

  • Hi Sonal,
    This post is deep and highly informative.
    I am familiar with dizziness, but vertigo is a completely new term I am hearing for the first time here. I have in time past suffered from dizziness, but it is often as a result of tiredness and influence of sleep-inducing drugs.
    Thanks for sharing.

  • Hi Sonal,

    I hadn’t realised there were so many thinks to learn about vertigo and dizziness.

    I’m lucky enough to have only experienced it once or twice and both times were related to migraine. They passed quickly.

    Joy Healey – Blogging After Dark

  • We moved from the warmth of Florida to chilly Michigan to help a family member cope the effects of her life limiting vertigo.

    Vertigo can be quite serious. Because the symptoms aren’t uniform, and the causes are varied, each case requires different series of tests.

    The important thing is getting medical attention if you’re having recurrent episodes of dizziness or vertigo. Good information,
    Edward

  • I actually live with vertigo for about 15 years now. My symptoms are under control. It is definitely possible.

    • Author

      You are right, it is possible. The only thing people need to do is to realize it and get treatment on time.

  • I had vertigo once. Turned out to be an inner ear infection, but while it was happening it was the scariest thing I’d ever been through.

  • Sonal,
    Very useful information. I do get dizzy when I get up quickly or when I tilt my head backward or toward the floor. Some of it has to do with low blood sugar, but at some point I will check with a neurotologist – never heard of this type of doctor before.

  • Its too hard to live having vertigo attack everytime, thank you for sharong this wonderful post! Very helpful.

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