10 Causes of Dizziness
It’s happened to all of us at one time or another in our lives. One minute we’re sitting down minding our own business and in the next moment we stand up too fast and get rocked back on our heels from the resulting dizzy spell. You may have even experienced the feeling of dizziness while riding in a car or on an amusement ride. Dizzy spells happen to everyone, but they occur more frequently in adults over 40.
Dizziness by its definition means a sensation of spinning around and losing one’s balance. However, the feeling is more like an altered sense of spatial orientation or distortion of where we are within a space and results in our balance getting thrown off. Dizziness that creates the false sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving is actually called vertigo.
The word dizziness is a truly hard term to define because different people experience it in different ways. That is because dizziness can describe a range of sensations like feeling faint, woozy, giddy, week, or unsteady. Whichever sensation you experience during dizzy spells, we have done the research for you to find out the 10 top causes of them.
Disclaimer: The information in this content is for general informational purposes only, not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor before making any changes to your lifestyle.
Dehydration
You can become dehydrated rather quickly if you aren’t drinking enough throughout the day to replenish the liquids you lose when you breathe, sweat, and pee. If you become severely dehydrated, your blood pressure can drop and your brain may not get enough oxygen, making you feel dizzy.
Migraine
According to the Migraine Research Foundation, nearly 1 in 4 households has a member who suffers from migraine and many migraine sufferers also suffer from dizziness. Some experts believe that the dizziness from migraine is caused by more acute senses which may cause a feeling of motion sickness.
Arrhythmia
An arrhythmia is a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. It can beat either too quickly or too slowly as well as in an irregular pattern. In any of those scenarios, you may feel dizzy or lightheaded because your heart cannot pump blood to your brain effectively during excessively fast or slow heart rates.
Vertigo
Vertigo is the false sense that your surroundings are spinning or moving. This can be caused by a problem with balance in the inner ear, problems in certain parts of the brain, or migraines. Along with vertigo you may also experience feeling or being sick and a loss of balance in addition to the feeling of dizziness.
Motion Sickness
Motion sickness is a sick feeling brought on by movement. That movement can come from riding in an airplane, a roller coaster, boat, or even in a car or elevator. Once the motion stops, the sickness stops but before it does it can cause nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, and dizziness.
Pregnancy
During pregnancy, your hormones rule all. In this case, your rising hormones that cause blood vessels to relax and widen increases the blood flow to your baby. This can cause your blood pressure to drop, reducing the blood flow to your brain, therefore causing dizziness.
Certain Medications
There are many different prescription medications whose chief side effect is dizziness. In addition, prescriptions that lower blood pressure, cause dehydration, or lower blood sugar can also cause dizziness. This effect can also be caused and/or amplified by drinking alcohol while taking prescription medication.
Anemia
There are many different forms of anemia, each with its own cause but the general definition is that it is a condition in which your body lacks enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body’s tissue. When your brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen, it causes you to become dizzy.
Hypotension
Hypotension is basically another word for abnormally low blood pressure caused by other conditions such as pregnancy, heart problems, dehydration, blood loss, and several more. Symptoms caused by hypotension include dizziness or lightheadedness, fainting, nausea, fatigue, and lack of concentration.
Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia is the official name for abnormally low blood sugar levels that can develop in diabetics who have a decrease in food intake or from taking too much insulin. The dizziness comes into play blood sugar levels become so low that not enough glucose reaches the brain for it to function properly.
