Navigating through the world of dizziness can often feel confusing. Here, we’ve broken down the different types into four main categories, each with its unique characteristics.
Visual Dizziness
Eye muscle imbalance and poor vision can make one’s balance worse. The brain relies on information from the eyes to help with balance. Car sickness or sea sickness are types of visual dizziness because the eyes are constantly adjusting to a moving visual field and confuses the balance part of the brain. This can lead to dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
Inner Ear Dizziness
Half of the inner ear is used for hearing (the cochlea) and the other half is used for balance (the labyrinth). If the labyrinth or the nerve that connects it to the brain is malfunctioning, dizziness can result. Many types of maladies occur in the inner ear to cause dizziness, including Meniere’s disease, labyrinthitis, positional vertigo, and vestibular neuritis, migraine, and tumors of the inner ear nerves. These usually cause imbalance, vertigo (spinning), and nausea. It can also be accompanied by tinnitus and hearing loss if the nearby cochlea is also affected. These diseases will be further explained.
Central Dizziness
Central dizziness is caused by problems in the balance portion of the brain. Anytime this portion of the brain is not working properly, dizziness can occur. Symptoms usually include lightheadedness, disorientation, imbalance, and sometimes even blacking out. Causes of central dizziness include low blood sugar, low blood pressure to the brain, strokes, multiple sclerosis, migraine headaches, head injury, tumors, and the aging process, among others. Treating these types of dizziness usually involves treating the problem which is causing the brain to malfunction.
Muscle-Joint Dizziness
This type of dizziness is uncommon. If the muscles, joints or touch sensors of the limbs are not working well, it becomes difficult for the body to react to motion and makes it difficult to remain upright. Causes of muscle-joint dizziness include muscular dystrophy, severe diabetes, arthritis, joint replacements, and injuries. Symptoms are usually imbalance and unsteadiness.