What causes Dizziness?

Dizziness is extraordinarily common with up to 20% of adults and 10% of children suffering from vertigo &/or dizziness at any time in their lives. More often than not, those suffering from vertigo or dizziness have an accompanying balance disorder or are unsteady on their feet when walking often describing this as "feeling like I'm drunk". In most instances, the cause for these problems is an issue with the underlying "Vestibular System" - the balance organ in the inner ear (the semi-circular canals and otolith organs) and/or the accompanying part of the brain - (known as the vestibular nuclei) in the brain stem. 

Common symptoms include:

  • Vertigo (the sensation that the world is spinning)

  • Dizziness (various sensations such as woozy or giddy, usually made worse with movement of the head)

  • Lightheadness

  • Unsteadiness or "Disequilibrium" (a sense of being off balance)

  • Veering when walking from side to side

  • Falls (whereby an individual completely loses their balance and falls to the ground)

    Typically, these symptoms lead to a diagnoses of one (or more) vestibular disorders listed below.

Image - anatomy of the inner ear

Other Vestibular disorders

  • Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

    BPPV is an inner ear condition which causes short bursts of "vertigo" (a feeling like the world is spinning) when the head is placed in certain positions such as lying down, rolling over, looking up or bending over.

    Find out more

  • Vestibular Migraine

    Vestibular Migraine is a type of Migraine whereby dizziness is the more prominent feature rather than headache.
    Symptoms often include vertigo, headache, imbalance, nausea, vomiting, along with sensitivity to light and sound.

    Find out more

  • Vestibular Neuritis or Labyrinthitis

    Vestibular Neuritis or Labyrinthitis results from an infection in the inner ear (vestibular system), causing an intense bout of vertigo, nausea, vomiting and significant unsteadiness when walking.

    Find out more

  • Meniere's Disease

    A chronic inner ear disease resulting from abnormally large amounts of fluid (endolymph) collecting in the inner ear and causing recurrent bouts of vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus and pressure in the ears.

    Find out more

  • Other Vestibular Disorders

    There are multiple other balance disorders not discussed here such as Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD), Acoustic Neuroma (a tumour in the inner ear) Ototoxicity (drug induced vestibular damage), Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) and Neurological conditions such as Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or Cerebellar Ataxia.

    If you would like to know more please contact our friendly staff via phone or email if you have any queries!