Dizziness or lightheadedness is a feeling that is fairly common. The causes are many and range from those that are generally harmless to life threatening conditions. When this feeling is experienced once in a while, there is no cause for worry. However, one should seek medical attention immediately if the problem is recurrent or if it is associated with other symptoms such as headache, loss of consciousness, hearing loss, visual blurring and so on. You need to understand a number of important things when seeking dizziness treatment in Toronto.
Dizziness differs from a related condition known as vertigo. The former is a feeling of being lightheaded while the latter is spinning sensation when in actual sense the environment is still. Vertigo results from damage of semicircular canals located in the ear. The canals are responsible for maintaining body balance. The symptoms usually set in when one is assuming an upright posting from a lying position. One of the commonest forms of this condition is known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
Another commonly encountered cause is Meniere disease. This disease is caused by accumulation of fluid within the middle ear. This too compromises the function of semicircular canals. Causes of real dizziness include tumors (such as acoustic neuroma), a sudden drop in blood pressure, hypoglycemia, some drugs, motion sickness, heat stroke and dehydration.
Severity is assessed by keeping track of the episodes. You can achieve this by getting yourself a diary to record every the attacks. Apart from giving an insight about the frequency, such information will also be used to study related symptoms. After treatment has been initiated, response to therapy will be easy to monitor.
With such a long list of causes, there is a need for proper evaluation by the doctor to establish what exactly is happening. The doctor will take a detailed medical history and perform a physical to come up with probable causes. Some of the issues that will be addressed in the history include frequency of episodes, their severity and whether or not there are related signs and symptoms. The next thing to have some blood tests and possibly radiological images such as the CT scan and MRI.
Treatment modalities to be employed will depend on the cause. It should be noted, however, that in some cases, the cause is not found. Treatments that have been tried with variable success rates include lifestyle changes, home therapies and pharmacotherapy. When the cause is migraines, patients are advised to avoid trigger factors and to use reliever medications. Meniere disease, on the other hand, is managed by dietary modification and surgical intervention when this fails.
Athletes are at a high risk of suffering from heat stroke, dehydration and hypoglycemia. All these are established causes of dizziness. Such athletes need to be well prepared with water and a source of glucose whenever they go out to train or to compete. The same risk exists in persons that engage in strenuous physical activities particularly in areas with high ambient temperatures.
Dizziness is on most occasions harmless. Its treatment is not easy because of the numerous causes and the fact that it means different things to different people. Many cases subside with time even without treatment. When it is associated with other symptoms and when it persists for long periods of time, you need to seek medical intervention for proper evaluation.
Dizziness differs from a related condition known as vertigo. The former is a feeling of being lightheaded while the latter is spinning sensation when in actual sense the environment is still. Vertigo results from damage of semicircular canals located in the ear. The canals are responsible for maintaining body balance. The symptoms usually set in when one is assuming an upright posting from a lying position. One of the commonest forms of this condition is known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
Another commonly encountered cause is Meniere disease. This disease is caused by accumulation of fluid within the middle ear. This too compromises the function of semicircular canals. Causes of real dizziness include tumors (such as acoustic neuroma), a sudden drop in blood pressure, hypoglycemia, some drugs, motion sickness, heat stroke and dehydration.
Severity is assessed by keeping track of the episodes. You can achieve this by getting yourself a diary to record every the attacks. Apart from giving an insight about the frequency, such information will also be used to study related symptoms. After treatment has been initiated, response to therapy will be easy to monitor.
With such a long list of causes, there is a need for proper evaluation by the doctor to establish what exactly is happening. The doctor will take a detailed medical history and perform a physical to come up with probable causes. Some of the issues that will be addressed in the history include frequency of episodes, their severity and whether or not there are related signs and symptoms. The next thing to have some blood tests and possibly radiological images such as the CT scan and MRI.
Treatment modalities to be employed will depend on the cause. It should be noted, however, that in some cases, the cause is not found. Treatments that have been tried with variable success rates include lifestyle changes, home therapies and pharmacotherapy. When the cause is migraines, patients are advised to avoid trigger factors and to use reliever medications. Meniere disease, on the other hand, is managed by dietary modification and surgical intervention when this fails.
Athletes are at a high risk of suffering from heat stroke, dehydration and hypoglycemia. All these are established causes of dizziness. Such athletes need to be well prepared with water and a source of glucose whenever they go out to train or to compete. The same risk exists in persons that engage in strenuous physical activities particularly in areas with high ambient temperatures.
Dizziness is on most occasions harmless. Its treatment is not easy because of the numerous causes and the fact that it means different things to different people. Many cases subside with time even without treatment. When it is associated with other symptoms and when it persists for long periods of time, you need to seek medical intervention for proper evaluation.
No comments:
Post a Comment