Vertigo is a type of dizziness where there is loss of body balance, with the feeling that the environment or body itself is running, usually accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sweating and pallor, and may also occur with tinnitus or hearing loss.
Most often, vertigo is caused by ear-related diseases, called peripheral or popularly labyrinthine vestibular syndromes, which include diseases such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular neuritis, Ménière's disease and drug intoxication, for example . However, they can also occur due to a more severe neurological change, which includes stroke, migraine or brain tumor.
It is also important to remember that there are several other causes of dizziness, whether due to cardiovascular causes, such as pressure drop or arrhythmias, disturbances of balance, orthopedic diseases or alterations of vision, or even psychological causes. Therefore, whenever symptoms of dizziness or dizziness persist, it is important to go through the evaluation of the doctor. Learn to identify the signs to differentiate the main causes of dizziness.
Thus, among the main causes of vertigo are:
1. Benign Positional Paroxysmal Vertigo (BPPV)
It is a common cause of vertigo, caused by the detachment and movement of the otoliths, which are small crystals that are located in the channels of the ear, responsible for part of the balance. Vertigo usually lasts a few seconds or minutes, usually triggered by changes in the position of the head, such as looking up or to the side.
Treatment of seizures is done with drugs that work as vestibular suppressants, such as antihistamines, antiemetics and sedatives. However, the treatment for this disease is done with physiotherapeutic maneuvers to reposition the otoliths, through movements that use gravity, such as the Epley maneuver, for example.
2. Labirintites
Although any vertigo is known as labyrinthitis, in fact it happens when there is inflammation of structures of the ear that forms the labyrinth. Some causes of inflammation include:
- Ménière's disease : an unexplained cause of labyrinthitis, probably due to excess fluid in the ear canals, and causes symptoms of dizziness, tinnitus, full ear and decreased hearing. Understand what is and how to treat this syndrome.
- Vestibular neuritis : it is caused by inflammation of the nerve of the ear region, called the vestibular nerve, and causes acute and intense vertigo, which improves in a few weeks. Understand the causes of vestibular neuritis and what to do.
In addition, the so-called metabolic labyrinth may also occur, caused by increased insulin, diabetes, hyper or hypothyroidism and increased cholesterol or triglycerides, which can relieve by treating these diseases.
3. Drug intoxication
Certain medications may have a toxic effect on the ear regions, such as the cochlea and vestibule, and some of them are antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, diuretics, antimalarials, chemotherapeutics or anticonvulsants, for example. Find out what are the main medicines that cause dizziness.
In some people, substances like alcohol, caffeine and nicotine can trigger or worsen seizures, which consist of dizziness, tinnitus and hearing loss. To treat, it may be necessary to interrupt or modify the medication used, when indicated by the doctor.
4. Neurological causes
Cerebral tumor, traumatic brain injury and stroke are neurological causes of vertigo, which tend to be more severe, persistent and without improvement with usual treatment. In addition, they may be accompanied by other signs and symptoms such as headache, altered vision, decreased muscle strength and speech difficulties, for example.
Another illness that must be remembered is the vestibular migraine, when vertigo is caused by a migraine, which lasts minutes to hours, depending on the severity of the crisis, and is accompanied by other migraine symptoms such as throbbing headache, bright spots and nausea.
The treatment of these neurological causes must be guided by the neurologist, according to the type of illness and the needs of each person ..
5. Infections
Bacterial or viral infections of the inner ear, usually after otitis, cause an abrupt picture of vertigo and hearing loss. After confirmation of the infection by the medical evaluation, treatment is performed with corticosteroids and antibiotics, and surgical drainage of the accumulated secretion may be necessary.
Watch the following video and learn which exercises can help end dizziness:
How to differentiate vertigo from other types of dizziness?
Non-dizzy dizziness often causes sensations referred to by people as "sudden weakness, " "fluctuation, " "imminent fainting, " "dark vision, " or "bright spot vision, " since it is often caused by lack of oxygenation in the brain due to situations like pressure drop, anemia or cardiac changes, for example.
It can also be referred to as the "instability" sensation or that it "will fall at any moment" when there is a situation that causes imbalance, such as osteoarthritis, arthritis, loss of foot sensitivity due to diabetes, as well as visual or auditory difficulties .
In vertigo, there is a feeling that the environment or body itself is "spinning" or "swaying", associated with loss of balance, nausea and vomiting. Despite these differences, it may be difficult to understand which type of dizziness is involved, so it is important to go through the medical evaluation so that the correct diagnosis is made.
