Dizziness is a common symptom, but when the feeling of dizziness is accompanied by the phenomenon of everything around you spinning and turning upside down, the patient will fall into a state of extreme confusion, fear and loss of control.
This symptom is not simply a feeling of losing balance or being a little unsteady, but is actually an experience that makes the patient feel like the world is constantly spinning, like standing in the middle of a tornado that they cannot stop.
Why do you feel like spinning when you have dizziness?
The world around you seems to be spinning, the floor seems to be tilted, and the patient himself may feel like he is swaying, falling or floating in space. Every time he tries to stand up or move, he is more likely to lose his balance, fall easily, accompanied by a feeling of nausea, cold sweat, and in many cases, severe vomiting. Even opening their eyes can make it seem like everything is spinning, making it nearly impossible to stay calm and oriented.
Causes of dizziness include:
1. Benign paroxysmal positional vestibular disorder
One of the most common causes of dizziness is benign paroxysmal positional vestibular disorder. In people with this condition, tiny calcium crystals (which help sense gravity) are displaced from their original position and fall into the semicircular canals in the inner ear. When the head moves, these misplaced crystals interfere with the signal, causing the brain to mistakenly think that the body is spinning when it is not. This is when the person feels like the world is tilting and spinning around them.
2. Vestibular neuritis
Vestibular neuritis (a complication that can occur after respiratory infections) causes the nerve that carries information from the inner ear to the brain to become inflamed. As a result, signals about position and movement are disrupted or transmitted incorrectly, causing severe dizziness, often accompanied by nausea, unsteadiness, and photophobia. The patient is often unable to distinguish between straight and tilted directions, because the brain has lost its “compass” for direction.
3. Meniere’s disease
In more complex cases, dizziness accompanied by a spinning sensation can be a sign of Meniere’s disease, a chronic disorder caused by an abnormal buildup of fluid in the inner ear. As the amount of fluid increases, so does the pressure in the ear, disrupting the ability of the vestibular and auditory systems to transmit signals. In addition to severe dizziness, the patient also hears persistent ringing in the ears, a feeling of fullness in the ear, and may gradually lose the ability to hear. Each attack of dizziness is often sudden, dizzying, and exhausting.
4. Cerebral ischemia or having had a minor stroke
A feeling of dizziness can occur if the blood supply to the brain is reduced. People with cerebral ischemia or having had a minor stroke often have an area of the brain that controls balance affected. When there is not enough blood to nourish the nerve cells in this area, balance signals become weak or distorted, causing the brain to no longer process the body’s position in space correctly, creating the feeling of being pulled into a space with no gravity.
5. Sudden increase or decrease in blood pressure, dehydration, and hypoglycemia
Small changes in daily physiology such as a sudden increase or decrease in blood pressure, dehydration after sweating a lot, or hypoglycemia due to skipping meals can also cause a feeling of dizziness. When the brain is not supplied with enough blood or energy, it will react by gradually blurring the senses, causing dizziness, fatigue, and in some severe cases, fainting. At that time, the patient may feel the whole room spinning, all images become blurred, overlapping and chaotic.
All of these problems, although having different mechanisms, lead to a common consequence: the brain no longer receives accurate signals from the body, and thus loses the ability to orient in space. The feeling of spinning when dizzy is the most obvious manifestation of the signal conflict between reality and perception, between real movement and hallucinations in the brain. And when the outside world becomes chaotic in vision, the world inside the patient’s mind gradually shakes as well.
What to do when you feel dizzy
When you feel dizzy, the first important thing is to stay calm and not try to move or stand up suddenly. Find a safe place to sit or lie down, fix your head in one position and close your eyes to reduce the feeling of dizziness. Breathe deeply and slowly and try to relax your body.
After the dizziness passes, you need to go to a medical facility to be examined and determine the cause. Diagnosis usually includes a vestibular exam, blood pressure measurement, blood tests, audiometry and sometimes an MRI or CT scan if brain or nerve damage is suspected. Depending on the cause, the doctor may prescribe treatments such as: Using anti-vertigo medication, practicing vestibular rehabilitation exercises (typically Epley exercises for people with BPPV, which help reposition the crystals in the ear), adjusting lifestyle (for example: drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, avoiding stress, exercising gently and regularly)….
