Dizziness: what are its symptoms and the 15 most common causes

Dizziness is an unpleasant feeling of instability, lightheadedness or nausea, and for which we can also feel our heads spin.

We may have gotten up too quickly from lying down, or it may be due to other problems. In this article we help you differentiate them from dizziness and explain the most common causes of dizziness.

What are dizziness and symptoms

Dizziness is a series of sensations that cause us physical discomfort, because it produces a feeling of loss of balance, nausea, or lightheadedness.

The symptoms of dizziness can appear suddenly, producing a feeling of light-headedness, or they can last for a long time, when we feel nausea and continued headache. They can also last only a few seconds or go on for days.

The symptoms of dizziness are very varied and there are more or less mild, depending on the type of dizziness we are talking about. These can be the following:

• Instability
• Loss of balance
• Daze
• Heavy head feeling
• Feeling that everything is spinning
• Feeling faint
• Sickness
• Vomiting

There can be many causes behind dizziness, the most frequent being motion sickness, lack of circulation of the blood supply to the head or the

disturbances in the sense of balance.

They are usually common ailments, but if they recur often or affect your daily life, you should consult a doctor to find out their cause and rule out possible diseases.

How do we differentiate dizziness from vertigo?

Although they may seem like the same concept and used synonymously, dizziness and vertigo are different conditions.

Dizziness is the discomfort that causes us to feel faint and that our head is floating, creating a feeling of general discomfort.

The vertigos instead are the false feeling that everything around us is in motion although we are still, and it is due to an alteration of the balance in our auditory system, which is the one in charge of balance.

Vertigos are usually accompanied by a feeling of dizziness, but we can have dizziness without being suffering from vertigo and that the causes of these are of cerebral and non-auditory origin.

Most common causes of dizziness and vertigo

Below we explain what are the most frequent causes that lead us to feel dizzy or vertigo.

1. Motion sickness

The most common dizziness are those caused by movement, also called motion sickness, and surely we have all experienced them at some time. They are that feeling of discomfort that we may have when we travel by car or boat, and that are produced by the sudden movements of these vehicles.

In this case it happens that our brain has problems processing the sensation of movement that we feel through our sense of balance, because we remain still.

2. Postural vertigo

Another of the most common dizziness that we can experience is the one that comes to us when we get up too fast after having been lying or sitting for a long time. This type of dizziness is known as paroxysmal positional vertigo, and it is considered a vertigo because it is produced by an alteration of the sensation of balance in our auditory system. They are very common and do not involve any health problem.

3. Sugar drop

Low blood sugar or hypoglycemia it is another cause of the most common dizziness. This can be due to a poor diet, lack of nutrients at any given time or after doing very intense exercise, which causes our glucose levels to be low in our blood.

4. Hypotension

Being hypotensive or having low blood pressure it makes us dizzy. Due to low pressure in the arteries, blood flow cannot circulate well to the brain, causing a feeling of dizziness among other symptoms.

5. Anemia

Iron deficiency anemia is what occurs when we don't have enough iron in our body, which is what allows us to produce red blood cells. This lack can lead to dizziness and fatigue.

• Related article: "10 foods rich in iron ideal to fight anemia"

6. Dehydration

Dehydration occurs after a lack of water or sudden fluid loss due to disorders such as diarrhea or intense sweating (due to fever or after exercising). This lack of fluids and minerals in our body can cause a drop in pressure due to movement and cause dizziness.

7. Anxiety

Anxiety is another cause, and in these cases they appear as symptom of the body's own alert to danger or a fear lived with great intensity. In the most severe cases, it can cause us to faint.

8. Stress

In the same way that when we feel anxiety, situations that produce tension or stress can also lead us to experience vertigo and dizziness. These occur in stressful situations and are usually cervical in origin. In these types of situations we tense the muscles, especially the cervical, which prevents us from having good blood circulation and can cause us to feel dizzy.

• Related article: "8 infallible techniques to avoid stress"

9. Pregnancy

Dizziness during pregnancy They are also very common, since significant hormonal and cardiovascular changes occur during pregnancy. Blood vessels dilate and the heart pumps a greater amount of blood, dramatically varying our blood pressure and causing poor circulation or lack of blood flow.

10. Migraine

They can also be due to migraine headaches, when the person feels a very severe headache accompanied by sensitivity to light, noise or movement. Migraine symptoms can also be accompanied by nausea and sometimes even vomiting.

11. Medications

Many types of medications can cause dizziness, either because is part of its side effects or because a higher dose than the one stipulated in each case has been ingested.

12. Use of addictive substances

The consumption of drugs or addictive substances is another cause, since they can affect circulation or cause intoxication if the consumption has been excessive. Consumption of alcoholic beverages or tobacco are an example.

13. Balance disorders

Dizziness associated with vertigo has as its main cause some balance sense disorder, a system that is located in the inner ear. Alterations or infections in this system and pressure changes produce this feeling of vertigo and instability. Some of these disorders are vestibular neuronitis or Ménière's disease.

14. Stroke

Dizziness can be caused by a stroke, stroke, or stroke if they are accompanied by the following symptoms: loss of sensation on one side of the body, sudden loss of speech or vision, difficulty in movement and disorientation. In this case, medical attention must be received immediately.

15. Other diseases

Neurological problems or diseases that affect the brain system, such as Parkinson's, can produce this lightheadedness and loss of balance. Some cardiovascular diseases can also be the cause, due to the circulatory problems they cause.