Most of us have experienced a case of the dizzies at one point or another—say, after coming up from that last burpee or having a few too many at happy hour (you know it's true). But for someone with vertigo, a balance disorder that makes you feel like the room is spinning when you're standing still, the dizziness can be all consuming and interfere with your day-to-day life.
Here's everything you need to know about this pesky inner ear condition that takes no prisoners:
"Vertigo is a sense of motion when there is no motion," says Damon Raskin, M.D., board-certified internist affiliated with Concierge Choice Physicians in California. "One might feel that the room is spinning around them or swaying (like a boat that's about to capsize)." Your sense of balance depends on the signals that your eyes, sensory nerves, and inner ear report back to your brain, according to the Mayo Clinic. If the signals from your inner ear don't match up with what your eyes and sensory nerves are reporting, your brain has to sort through the confusion, causing vertigo. To top it off, the severe spinning motion usually leads to nausea, vomiting, and difficulty walking. (Gah.)
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The first is a virus called labyrinthitis—an inner ear infection that causes a structure deep inside your ear (the labyrinth) to become inflamed, says Raskin. The second is an inner ear problem called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), where calcium crystals in the inner ear become dislodged, sending false messages to the brain that you're in motion. "This can happen during a jarring motion, like on a roller coaster or after a blow to the head," says Raskin.
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To alleviate vertigo, what's causing it needs to be diagnosed and treated. "As a symptom, vertigo is often diagnosed clinically with a thorough history and clinical examination," says Ilan Danan, M.D., sports neurologist at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Other causes of vertigo can include inner ear disorders (such as Meniere's Disease, an excessive buildup of fluid in the inner ear) and less common disorders (concussion, multiple sclerosis). "Exposure to certain toxins or side effects to certain medications can cause side effects that mimic vertigo as well," says Danan.
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Nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults experience vertigo at least once in their lifetime, with women more likely to experience it than men, according to the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. (And although it can happen at any age, it occurs most often in people over 50, just FYI.) Some people may also be more prone to vertigo because of how their inner ear communicates with the rest of their body—for example, if you can't feel the motion your eyes see or see the motion your body's feeling, cue motion sickness.
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As if migraines weren't sucky enough, some don't involve headache pain and instead can have other symptoms. "These are known as vestibular migraines, which often come with dizziness and vertigo and are undiagnosed at a rate of around 50 percent," says Mark Khorsandi, M.D., migraine surgeon at the Migraine Relief Center in Houston, Texas. These episodes can last minutes to hours, and may involve light and noise sensitivity, according to the Mayo Clinic. If you're suffering from vertigo but suspect you may also have migraine symptoms, you should keep a diary of everything that could be a potential trigger to map out a course of action with your doc, suggests Khorsandi.
Sure, certain activities might make you more susceptible, but sometimes vertigo can happen for no known reason, says Raskin. "People seem to experience it more when they're flying or lying down doing exercises, like yoga and pilates, where the head can be far back for an extended period of time," says Morton Tavel, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Steering clear of head injuries or jerking motions that can knock inner ear crystals loose may help decrease the odds, but ultimately it's a crapshoot.
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If the cause of your vertigo is viral, your doc can prescribe you medications to help with the symptoms, says Raskin, including anti-nausea meds to help in the short-term. If it's the result of dislodged calcium crystals, an ENT or neurologist can do a series of specific head and body moves—known as canalith repositioning—to help get the crystals out of the ear canal and back into the inner ear chamber. Your doc may also suggest balance therapy in order to make your body's balance system less sensitive to motion.
"If you think you might be experiencing BPPV for the first time, try sitting quietly for a few minutes," says Tavel. "This gives the vertigo a chance to diminish and allows you to pay close attention to the sensations you're experiencing." If you mainly notice a spinning feeling that seems to spike when you change the position of your head, you can probably wait a few days before consulting a physician. "The BPPV is likely to subside in that time," says Tavel. However, if your dizziness is accompanied by other symptoms, such as a severe headache, double vision, slurred speech, chest pain, weakness of one side, ringing in the ears or hearing loss, you're likely experiencing something more serious (think: a heart problem or stroke) and should head to the ER, stat.
Krissy is a regular contributor to Prevention, and she also writes for Cosmopolitan, Weight Watchers, Women's Health, FitnessMagazine.com, Self.com, and Shape.com.
