Vertigo: Causes, symptoms, and treatments. Vertigo refers to a sense of dizziness. It is a symptom of a range of conditions. It can happen when there is a problem with the ear, brain, or sensory nerve pathway. Vertigo is sometimes used to refer to a fear of heights, but, in medical terms, this is not correct. A fear of heights is known as acrophobia. Dizziness, or vertigo, can happen at any age, but it is common in people aged 6. Over 6. 0 medical and psychiatric conditions can cause it, as well as some medications. Vertigo can be temporary or long term. Persistent vertigo has been linked to mental health issues. A psychiatric problem may cause the dizziness, or the vertigo may affect the person's ability to function in daily life, potentially leading to depression. Symptoms. A person with vertigo will have a sense that they, or their environment, are moving or spinning, even though there is no movement. Vertigo is a symptom, but it can also cause other symptoms. These include: dizzinessbalance problems and lightheadednessnausea and vomitinga sense of motion sicknesstinnitusa feeling of fullness in the ear. Get the facts on symptoms, causes, and treatments for dizziness. Know how dizziness differs from vertigo, which is feeling that the room is spinning. Cast, crew and reviews from the Internet Movie Database. Dismissed when first released, later heralded as one of director Alfred Hitchcock's finest films (and, according to Hitchcock, his most personal one), this adaptation. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, treatment of intense dizziness episodes. Vertigo is not just a feeling of faintness, but a rotational dizziness. Causes and types. There are different types of vertigo, depending on what causes them. Peripheral vertigo happens when there is a disturbance in the balance organs of the inner ear. Central vertigo happens when there is a disturbance in parts of the brain known as sensory nerve pathways. Peripheral vertigo. Peripheral vertigo is linked to the inner ear. The labyrinth of the inner ear has tiny organs that enable messages to be sent to the brain in response to gravity. These messages tell the brain when there is movement from the vertical position. This is what enables people to keep their balance when they stand up. Disturbance to this system produces vertigo. This can happen because of an inflammation, often due to a viral infection. Various conditions are associated with peripheral vertigo. Labyrinthitis: This is an inflammation of the inner ear labyrinth and vestibular nerve, the nerve that is responsible for encoding the body's motion and position. It is usually caused by a viral infection. Learn about vertigo cures, treatment, causes, symptoms, exercises, diagnosis, home remedies, and more. Discover what you can do to treat vertigo at home. Vestibular neuronitis: This is thought to be due to inflammation of the vestibular nerve, usually due to a viral infection. Cholesteatoma: A skin growth occurs in the middle ear, usually as a result of repeated infection. If the growth becomes larger, it can damage the ear, leading to hearing loss and dizziness. M. It tends to affect people between the ages of 4. According to The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), 6. United States (U. S.) are currently receiving treatment for this condition. It may stem from blood vessel constriction, a viral infection, or an autoimmune reaction, but this is not confirmed. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV): This is thought to stem from a disturbance in the otolith particles. These are the crystals of calcium carbonate within inner ear fluid that pull on sensory hair cells during movement and so stimulate the vestibular nerve to send positional information to the brain. In people with BPPV, normal movement of the endolymph fluid continues after head movement has stopped. BPPV usually affects older people and the cause is usually unknown, or idiopathic. It has been linked todementia. It is twice as common in women as in men. However, it can also follow: a head injuryreduced blood flow in part of the brain, known as vertebrobasilar ischemialabyrinthitisear surgeryprolonged bed rest. Drug toxicity and syphilis can also lead to inner ear disturbances. Other, rarer causes of peripheral vertigo are: perilymphatic fistula, a tear in one or both of the membranes separating the middle and inner earherpes zoster oticus, a viral infection of the ear, also known as Ramsay Hunt syndromeotosclerosis, a genetic ear bone problem that causes hearing loss. Central vertigo. Central vertigo is linked to problems with the central nervous system. It involves a disturbance in one of the following areas: the brainstem and cerebellum, which are the parts of the brain that deal with interaction between the senses of vision and balancesensory messages to and from the part of the brain known as the thalamus. Migraine headache is the most common cause of central vertigo. An estimated 4. 0 percent of patients with migraine have some vertigo, which can involve disrupted balance, dizziness, or both, at some time. Uncommon causes are: Tests and diagnosis. A doctor will carry out a physical examination, and they will ask the patient how the dizziness makes them feel. This will enable the doctor to find out what kind of dizziness they have. The doctor will ask about ask about the patient's medical history, including any history of migraine or a recent head injury or ear infection. The person may undergo a CT or MRI scan. Nystagmus test. The doctor may also provoke an eye movement known as nystagmus, as this can occur with vertigo. Nystagmus is an uncontrolled eye movement, usually from side to side. It can happen when a person has vertigo, due to the brain thinking there is a rotational movement when there is not. Similar eye movement happens when you try to fix your eyes on one position while looking at something that is passing quickly by, for example, when looking out from a train window. To check for nystagmus, the doctor may carry out the following exercise: The doctor rapidly moves the patient from a sitting position to lying down on the examination bench. The head is turned and held 4. If the patient experiences vertigo shortly after, and if the doctor observes specific eye movements, or nystagmus, this can indicate that the patient has vertigo. Electronystagmography (ENG) can electronically record the nystagmus. The patient wears a headset that places electrodes around the eyes. The device measures eye movements. Videonystagmography (VNG) is a newer technology can provide a video recording of the nystagmus. The patient puts on a pair of special glasses that contain video cameras. These record horizontal, vertical and torsional eye movements using infrared light. Computer processing can analyze the data collected. The head impulse test. The patient is asked to fix their gaze on the tip of the doctor's nose while the head is moved quickly to one side. If the patient can keep their eyes on the nose during this movement, the test is negative. The cause is not vertigo, so the doctor may then carry out tests to see if the symptoms are due to a cerebrovascular issue, such as blood vessel narrowing or blood clots in the brain. The test is positive test if the patient cannot avoid following the quick head movement with their eyes, and then moves their eyes back to look at the nose. By determining if this effect is seen when the head moves to the left or the right, the doctor can find out which ear is affected. Romberg's test. A person who is steady when they have their eyes open is asked to shut their eyes. If they become unsteady, this is a sign of vertigo. The side they fall toward is normally the side where the ear is affected. Unterberger's test. The patient marches on the spot for 3. If vertigo is present, there may be sideways rotation, toward the affected side. Treatment. Some types of vertigo resolve without treatment, but any underlying problem, for example, a bacterial infection, may need medical attention. Drugs can relieve symptoms of some kinds of vertigo, for example, vestibular suppressants or anti- emetics to reduce motion sickness and nausea. Patients with acute vestibular disorder linked to a middle ear infection may be prescribed steroids (such as prednisone), antiviral drugs (such as acyclovir) or antibiotics (such as amoxicillin). The Epley maneuver to cure BPPVIf the vertigo is caused by BPPV, a technique known as the Epley maneuver may help. This is also known as canalith repositioning. This involves several simple and slow maneuvers to position the head. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of vertigo — the sudden sensation that you're spinning or that the inside of your head is spinning. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo causes brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is usually triggered by specific changes in the position of your head. This might occur when you tip your head up or down, when you lie down, or when you turn over or sit up in bed. Although benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can be a bothersome problem, it's rarely serious except when it increases the chance of falls. You can receive effective treatment for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo during a doctor's office visit. May 2. 8, 2. 01. 5Kim JS, et al. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. New England Journal of Medicine. Hilton MP, et al. The Epley (canalith repositioning) manoeuvre for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Accessed May 4, 2. Furman JM. Pathophysiology, etiology, and differential diagnosis of vertigo. Accessed May 4, 2. Barton JJS. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Accessed May 4, 2. Lalwani AK. Vestibular disorders. In: Current Diagnosis & Treatment in Otolaryngology- -Head & Neck Surgery. New York, N. Y.: The Mc. Graw- Hill Companies; 2. Accessed May 4, 2.
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