Most of us know the feeling of a headache or a sore muscle. It hurts, but you still feel like you. Dizziness is different. When the room starts to spin or the ground feels unstable beneath your feet, it’s not just a symptom happening in your body; it’s a fundamental shift in how you experience reality. It’s disorienting, often frightening, and can make even simple tasks like walking to the kitchen upsetting or impossible.
Especially if these symptoms arise suddenly, it’s only natural to be worried that something serious is going on with your health. While it’s important to rule out emergencies, many cases of dizziness stem from mechanical issues in the inner ear that are very treatable.
For many people, starting with a conservative approach can be an effective way to find relief. You might not need expensive diagnostic tests or heavy medication immediately. In some cases, a specially trained physical therapist may be all you need.
What causes dizziness?
Dizziness is a catch-all term that describes a variety of sensations, ranging from feeling faint or light-headed to the sensation that the room is spinning around you (vertigo). Because your sense of balance relies on a complex coordination between your eyes, your inner ear (vestibular system), and the nerves in your joints and muscles, a glitch in any of these areas can result in some vestibular disturbance.
Here are some of the most common reasons you might be feeling dizzy, either suddenly or gradually:
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
This is one of the most frequent causes of vertigo. Although the full name is intimidating, BPPV is a relatively straightforward mechanical problem that occurs in the inner ear.
Tiny calcium crystals, which help you sense gravity and head motion, can break loose and drift into the ear’s fluid-filled canals where they don’t belong. When you move your head—like rolling over in bed or looking up at a high shelf—these crystals shift, sending false signals to your brain that you’re spinning.
Inner ear infections
Conditions like labyrinthitis or vestibular neuritis involve inflammation of the inner ear or the nerves connecting the inner ear to the brain. This is often caused by a viral infection. The inflammation disrupts the transmission of sensory information, leading to intense dizziness, nausea, and difficulty with balance.
Meniere’s disease
Meniere’s disease has a complex set of causes and risk factors, but often results in a buildup of fluid in the inner ear. While the flare-ups can be severe, causing ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and hearing loss alongside vertigo, milder experiences of the condition can result in periodic episodes of feeling off-balance or “fullness” in the ear.
Cervicogenic dizziness
Some cases of dizziness coincide with neck pain or other issues. Tightness, joint dysfunction, or trauma in the upper cervical spine (neck) can send confusing signals to the brain about where your head is positioned in space, resulting in a vague sense of unsteadiness.
Cervicogenic dizziness is not a universally accepted diagnosis, which is why it’s important to tell your healthcare provider(s) about all the symptoms you may be experiencing – a combination of neck pain and vertigo symptoms can lead to a more effective treatment approach, no matter what the diagnosis is.
Medication side effects
If you’ve recently started a new prescription, check the label. Many medications, particularly those for blood pressure, depression, or seizures, list dizziness as a common side effect.
How to treat dizziness
Because the causes of dizziness are complex, the treatment pathways can seem overwhelming. From specialist appointments, imaging tests, and the possibility of medication, getting relief may be a headache in itself.
At-home remedies for mild dizziness
If your symptoms are mild, there are several evidence-based strategies you can try at home to manage the sensation:
- Stay hydrated: Dehydration can cause a drop in blood pressure, leading to lightheadedness. Ensure you’re drinking enough water throughout the day.
- Get enough iron: Iron-deficiency anemia affects women more often than men, and can lead to fatigue, dizziness, or brittle nails. Ask your doctor about taking iron supplements, or increase your intake of iron-rich foods.
- Move slowly: When transitioning from lying down to sitting, or sitting to standing, take your time. This gives your blood pressure time to adjust and your vestibular system time to orient itself.
- Reduce your fall risk: Until your balance returns, remove trip hazards like throw rugs and ensure your home is well-lit at night to prevent falls.
- Focus on a fixed point: If you feel the room spinning, find a stationary object and focus your eyes on it. This visual cue can sometimes help your brain override the false movement signals from your inner ear.
What to expect from vestibular rehabilitation
If at-home measures aren’t enough, it may be time to seek professional treatment. Vestibular rehabilitation is a specialized form of therapy intended to alleviate both the primary and secondary symptoms caused by vestibular disorders.
At Elite Physical Therapy, we take a movement-based approach to help you feel better quickly. This conservative method does not use medications and uses non-imaging diagnostic tests to better understand your condition.
For mild to moderate vestibular disorders, physical therapy is the most direct route to recovery. It’s also often a more affordable and efficient approach than immediately seeing a vestibular specialist, who may simply refer you back to physical therapy in the end. By starting with us, you can begin the rehabilitation process on day one.
The appointment process
When you come in for an evaluation, we start by listening to your symptoms and taking down your medical history. The specific nature of your dizziness—how long it lasts, what triggers it, and what it feels like—gives us clues about the cause.
We then perform one or more tests to get a more thorough understanding of your symptoms and then develop a custom exercise-based treatment plan that works for your situation.
Vestibular rehabilitation therapy tends to last several weeks, and you will gain take-home skills to help prevent the symptoms from arising in the future.
Find relief from dizziness through physical therapy
No matter what’s causing it, you don’t have to accept dizziness as your new normal. In many cases, there are effective, non-invasive ways to reclaim your balance and sense of stability.
Vestibular rehabilitation therapy is a highly effective way to treat BPPV and other vestibular disorders without medication or expensive tests. Request an appointment today to schedule an evaluation with one of our certified vestibular specialists and find relief quickly.