Dizziness

Dizziness: Characteristics, Causes & Treatment

Dizziness is a feeling of being unbalanced or faint. You can experience dizziness, and others can experience it too. It can seem not quite like being faint or unbalanced, but most of the time, that’s what people claim to feel.  

Dizziness affects the sensory organs, including the eyes and the ears. It’s not a condition or a disease. Instead, maybe a symptom of some underlying health concern. 

Dizziness is very common and usually not related to anything serious. Acute bouts of dizziness are typically nothing to worry you. However, if dizziness becomes chronic, it might signal that you have an underlying condition. You may need to address it as a health concern.  

If you are experiencing frequent bouts of dizziness or prolonged periods, it is wise to seek medical attention to learn what is causing it.

Characteristics of Dizziness

What’s it like when someone feels dizzy? People who often experience dizziness complain of various sensations include: (x)

  • Feeling as if their equilibrium is off
  • Feeling unbalanced
  • A sensation of spinning
  • Faintness or light-headedness
  • Feeling as if they are swimming or floating
  • Unsteadiness

Dizziness can also be accompanied by fainting, nausea and vomiting. If any of these symptoms persist for an extended time, it is critical to get medical attention to establish the cause. (x)

Causes of Dizziness?

The most common causes of dizziness are the side effects of medications, alcohol and migraine headaches. Having an inner ear infection, too, can lead to dizziness because it can cause you to lose your sense of balance and equilibrium. (x)

Dizziness is also a result of vertigo. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is the most common cause of experiencing vertigo. It is a short-term feeling of dizziness when you change your head’s position too quickly, like when you sit up after lying down or stand up too fast. (x) You feel like your body is spinning or swaying — your head is spinning on the inside. It’s a false sensation of spinning. (x

Although disequilibrium and vertigo can cause you to feel dizzy, they are two various symptoms. Disequilibrium is when you lose your sense of balance. Vertigo is a sensation of spinning or like the room is moving. Vertigo can also feel as if you are experiencing motion sickness or leaning heavily to one side. (x)

Meniere’s disease is a condition that can bring about vertigo and dizziness. Because it causes a build-up of fluid in the ear, it can lead to the feeling of fullness, tinnitus and hearing loss. 

Acoustic neuroma is another cause of vertigo and dizziness. It is a noncancerous tumor that can form around the nerve that connects the brain to the inner ear. (x)

There are other conditions that can lead to the experience of dizziness:

  • Heart muscle disease
  • A sudden drop in blood pressure
  • A decrease in blood volume
  • Tiredness or stress
  • Vitamin deficiencies
  • Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar
  • Anemia or an iron deficiency
  • Dehydration
  • An ear infection
  • Heatstroke
  • Motion sickness
  • Excessive exercise

In rare instances, multiple sclerosis, a malignant tumor, other brain disorders, or a stroke might cause dizziness. (x)

Remedies for Dizziness

The treatment necessary to ease dizziness symptoms depends on why you are feeling dizzy. Treating dizziness means getting to the root of the underlying condition that might cause it. Medical treatments and home remedies can be very successful at controlling dizziness in most cases. (x) Some solutions include:

  1. Manage Your Dizziness

You can manage dizziness with supplements, chiropractic treatment, and exercises that seek to enhance your balance if the issue is an inner ear one. 

  1. Chiropractic Treatment and Exercises

Exercises to ease the dizziness can usually control BPPV. Sometimes, however, chiropractic treatment might be an option if you have no relief from other therapies. (x)

  1. Treat the Health Concern

When Meniere’s disease is the underlying cause, you can use a low-sodium diet, occasional ear injections, and last resort surgery.

  1. Natural Remedy for Migraines

You treat migraines that trigger dizziness with various medications and lifestyle changes, such as identifying the triggers for the onset of migraines. Chiropractic treatments also manage migraines as a healthy alternative. A randomized study on the effectiveness of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy showed improvement with participants who had migraines. (x)

  1. Natural Interventions

For those who have an anxiety disorder, natural interventions are the best and most helpful over a long-term solution to help decrease symptoms. (x)

  1. Drink Plenty of Water

Drinking water or electrolytes when it is sweltering is the best way to reduce dizziness if the underlying cause is dehydration.

Supplements for Dizziness

There is some evidence suggesting that supplements might help reduce feelings of dizziness when there might be an underlying condition. Some include: 

  1. Vitamin D

One study found that people with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo who took vitamin D supplements virtually eliminated their episodes. During the study, they observed ten people with low vitamin D levels for over eight months and took 8,000 IU vitamin D a day. After the review, none of the participants had another episode of dizziness or vertigo. (x)

Another study involving 93 participants with BPPV found a decrease in dizziness after treatments with vitamin D supplementation. Forty-three percent of those studied had experienced a minimum of one episode of vertigo. After supplementation, only 14 percent experienced another bout of vertigo. (x)

  1. Ginkgo Biloba

A twelve-week controlled randomized trial of 160 participants who had peripheral vertigo found that ginkgo biloba worked better than Betahistine, a medication that treats vertigo. (x)

In another three-month study, ginkgo extract led to improved dizziness symptoms in 47 percent of the experimental group participants, compared to only 18 percent of the control group who took a placebo. In one additional study, 30 people with an average age of 33.5 years who suffered from headaches that led to cognitive difficulties and vertigo found they had fewer symptoms after taking 40 mg of ginkgo three times a day. (x)

  1. Gastrodin

The extract of Gastrodia Elata is an orchid found in laboratory studies to protect from inflammation and nerve cell damage and to promote generating new nerve connections. Participants given Gastrodin with Promethazine (an anti-nausea and vertigo medication), showed to relieve emergency vertigo. (x)

Research also shows that Gastrodia Elata root helps treat headaches, migraines and dizziness because of its anti-inflammatory action. The source contains phenols, which are flavonoids. Flavonoids have antioxidant characteristics, connecting to anti-inflammatory and anti-aging attributes. (x)

  1. Coenzyme Q10

Evidence shows that Coenzyme Q10 alleviates the sensation of vertigo in some participants. It works in the energy production of the mitochondria of the cell, and its protective nature against cardiovascular disease. In a study of 2,664 subjects diagnosed with congestive heart failure, when treated with 50-150 mg a day after three months, 73 percent of subjects reported an improvement of their vertigo symptoms. (x)

When 22 treatment-resistant subjects with Meniere’s disease took 300 mg of daily rebamipide, 600 mg daily of vitamin C, and 300 mg of glutathione over eight weeks, all 22 patients reported that their vertigo vanished. (x)

  1. Vitamin B12

vitamin B12 deficiency can cause a vast range of psychological and neurological issues, including dizziness and vertigo. It is an essential component for neurological function. In one study, when elderly participants had vitamin B therapy, their neurological problems improved significantly. (x)

Another study of 100 subjects who had predisposing neurological symptoms found that 15 percent of the participants had low levels of B12; thus, they were experiencing ongoing dizziness and symptoms of vertigo. (x)

  1. Vitamin B6

When the cause of vertigo is medication-induced, vitamin B6 might help to reduce the feelings of dizziness. A study done on 20 healthy participants took 40 mg of vitamin B while taking the antibiotic Minocycline. As a result, their side effects of vertigo completely subsided. (x)

  1. Ginger Root

Ginger root is a known anti-inflammatory. A randomized test found that when people ingested ginger root, their symptoms of seasickness and vertigo decreased. (x)

A study where healthy volunteers underwent induced vertigo and took ginger, which successfully reduced the induced vertigo. (x)

The Cuban Journal of Medicine published an article about assessing patients with vertigo, and one of the successful treatments mentioned is chewing ginger root. (x)

  1. Magnesium

Magnesium might be a supplement that can reduce migraine headaches. In a randomized trial, cardiac patients took magnesium orotate, and the incidence of dizziness in the group reduced by as much as 78 percent. (x)

Another study proved magnesium being adequate in treating migraine headaches, which may be associated with dizziness or BPPV. (x) The participants took 500 mg of magnesium oxide, and it seemed to be effective. (x)

A study performed at USC showed patients with severe migraines experience significant relief after receiving magnesium intravenously without having to take pain medications. (x)

Where to Buy Supplements for Dizziness, Vertigo, BPPV and Migraines?

You can purchase supplements for your dizziness, vertigo, BPPV and migraines at BulkSupplements.com. The company is an industry-leading manufacturer and distributor for pure dietary supplements. 

BulkSupplements.com is not just a consumer brand. It also supplies pure ingredients to other food and supplement brands to make their products. All products at BulkSupplements.com are manufactured and tested according to current and proper manufacturing practices.

Are you interested in trying any of these supplements mentioned in this article as a dietary complement for easing dizziness, vertigo, BPPV and migraines? Contact BulkSupplements.com to place an order today.

The Bottom Line

Dizziness is when you feel you’re spinning or swaying after getting up too quickly or turning your head too fast. Although acute dizziness is common and usually nothing for you to worry about or think of it as a “serious condition,” it is best to seek medical attention if the dizziness becomes persistent. Dizziness is not a disease unto itself. Instead, it is a symptom of an underlying condition. 

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a common cause for vertigo or false sensation of spinning. Most of the time, it’s an inner ear problem or vitamin deficiency. But there is an entire list of reasons you might experience vertigo.  

If you are experiencing dizziness and vertigo, some home remedies, chiropractic care, and exercises work effectively to reduce the feelings of light-headedness, faintness and loss of balance. But to find what will work best for you, you need to be clear on what is causing your dizziness or vertigo. Once you identify the cause of your disequilibrium, reducing the sensation of spinning or swaying is usually much more accessible.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Author: Robin B.