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.
It is a good idea to keep track of the episodes so as to assess the severity of your condition. This can be achieved by having a dairy at your side to document each of these events. The diary will also be helpful in monitoring the response to treatment.
When you visit your doctor, they will embark on an exercise to establish the exact cause of your problem. A medical history will be required and this will be followed by a comprehensive physical. Issues that the doctor will want to know include the number of episodes that are experienced in a day or week, whether or not there is a relationship with body positioning and the presence or absence of related symptoms. Blood tests and radiological investigations such as the CT scan and MRI may help confirm the diagnosis.
There are many treatments that exist and this depend on the exact cause. The available modalities range from home therapies to lifestyle modification to pharmacotherapies. Migraines, for example, are managed with drugs and changing of lifestyles which may involve the identification and avoidance or trigger factors. Meniere disease may be treated with proper diet or ear surgery in cases where the conservative management fails to yield results.
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 a symptom that is fairly common and each one of use may have experienced it at one point in time. There usually no cause for worry in most cases. Worry should set in if there is recurrence and association with other symptoms. Due to its vague nature many people confuse many other things for dizziness and this makes diagnosis and treatment a big challenge.
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.
It is a good idea to keep track of the episodes so as to assess the severity of your condition. This can be achieved by having a dairy at your side to document each of these events. The diary will also be helpful in monitoring the response to treatment.
When you visit your doctor, they will embark on an exercise to establish the exact cause of your problem. A medical history will be required and this will be followed by a comprehensive physical. Issues that the doctor will want to know include the number of episodes that are experienced in a day or week, whether or not there is a relationship with body positioning and the presence or absence of related symptoms. Blood tests and radiological investigations such as the CT scan and MRI may help confirm the diagnosis.
There are many treatments that exist and this depend on the exact cause. The available modalities range from home therapies to lifestyle modification to pharmacotherapies. Migraines, for example, are managed with drugs and changing of lifestyles which may involve the identification and avoidance or trigger factors. Meniere disease may be treated with proper diet or ear surgery in cases where the conservative management fails to yield results.
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 a symptom that is fairly common and each one of use may have experienced it at one point in time. There usually no cause for worry in most cases. Worry should set in if there is recurrence and association with other symptoms. Due to its vague nature many people confuse many other things for dizziness and this makes diagnosis and treatment a big challenge.
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