Vertigo
Vertigo is a sensation of feeling off balance. If you have these dizzy spells, you might feel like you are spinning or that the world around you is spinning.
Symptoms of Vertigo
Vertigo is often triggered by a change in the position of your head.
People with vertigo typically describe it as feeling like they are:
- Spinning
- Tilting
- Swaying
- Unbalanced
- Pulled to one direction
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Sweating
Treatment
Some types of vertigo resolve without treatment, but any underlying problem may need medical attention, for example, a bacterial infection that would likely need antibiotic therapy.
Drugs can relieve some symptoms, for example, and may include antihistamines or anti-emetics to reduce motion sickness and nausea.
Patients with an acute vestibular disorder associated with a middle ear infection may be prescribed steroids, antiviral drugs, or antibiotics.
Nystagmus is an uncontrolled eye movement, usually from side to side. It can happen when a person has vertigo, due to dysfunction of the brain or inner ear.
Sometimes, inner surgery is carried out to treat patients with intractable benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). The surgeon inserts a bone plug into the inner ear to block the area where vertigo is being triggered.
The plug prevents this part of the ear from responding to particle movements inside the semicircular canal of the inner ear or head movements that could lead to vertigo.