Vertigo
Vertigo is a symptom rather than a condition. These symptoms can vary from person to person; they may be hard to notice or so severe that you may have trouble maintaining your balance and carrying on with your daily routine.
Episodes of dizziness can occur suddenly and may last anywhere from a few seconds to much longer. If you experience severe dizziness, your symptoms may be persistent and last for several days, making it difficult to go about your daily life.
Other symptoms associated with vertigo may include: loss of balance, difficulty standing and walking, feeling sick or being sick, and dizziness. The term “vertigo” is often mistakenly used to describe a fear of heights. The medical term for a fear of heights and the sensation of dizziness associated with looking down from a high place is “acrophobia.”
What Are the Causes of Vertigo?
Vertigo can often be caused by a problem with balance in the inner ear, but it can also stem from issues in certain areas of the brain.
How Is Vertigo Treated?
Some cases of dizziness resolve on their own over time without treatment. However, some people (such as those with Ménière’s disease) may experience recurring episodes for months or even years.
Depending on what is causing your dizziness, there may be things you can do to relieve your symptoms. Your doctor or the specialist treating you may recommend that you sleep with your head slightly elevated on two or more pillows, get out of bed slowly, and sit on the edge of the bed for about a minute before standing up.
Your doctor may also perform a physical exam to check for signs of conditions that could be causing your dizziness. This may include looking inside your ears and checking your eyes for signs of uncontrolled eye movements (nystagmus).
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
This is one of the most common causes of dizziness. It can occur during certain head movements, when standing up or bending over, when walking down the street, or when turning over in bed.
BPPV involves brief, intense, recurring episodes of dizziness (typically lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes). Although vomiting is rare, nausea usually accompanies these episodes.
You may also notice that your eyes move uncontrollably for a short time (nystagmus). BPPV is thought to be caused by small fragments (calcium carbonate crystals) that have broken off from the lining of the canals in your inner ear.
Unless they enter one of the fluid-filled canals in the ear, the particles usually do not cause a problem. When your head is still, the particles settle at the bottom of the canal. However, certain head movements cause them to be swept along the fluid-filled canal, which sends confusing signals to your brain and causes dizziness.
Hearing Tests
Audiometry Test
You listen to the sounds through your headphones, and when you hear a sound, you signal by raising your hand or pressing a button.
Adjustment Fork Test
A tuning fork produces sound waves at a fixed pitch when tapped lightly. The testing device will touch the tuning fork before it is secured to both sides of your head.
Videonystagmography
Videonystagmography is sometimes used to examine symptoms of nystagmus in greater detail. Nystagmus may indicate a problem with the organs that help you maintain your balance. During this test, special goggles are placed over your eyes, and you are asked to look at various stationary and moving targets.
The glasses are equipped with a video camera to record the movements of your eyes. Electronystagmography, in which electrodes are placed around the eyes rather than in the glasses, can also be used.
Vertigo Treatment Costs in 2021
Contact us right away to learn more about vertigo treatment prices for 2021.
Dr. Nuran Kalekoğlu Erkalp