10 Things That Make You Dizzy and How to Stop Them

Dizziness is a condition. It is characterized by a disorienting feeling of lightheadedness or unbalance. You may feel as if you are going to fall or your surroundings are spinning around you. Both these feelings may sometimes be accompanied by vomiting or nausea. Dizziness, in itself, is not a medical condition. It is a symptom that may occur due to an underlying cause.

In most cases, dizziness is linked to your sensory organs. This is specifically linked to your ears and eyes. The condition is quite common and occasional dizziness is not a cause for worry. However, if you experience repeated spells of dizziness for no apparent reason, talk to your doctor immediately. If you are wondering about the common causes and how to stop feeling dizzy, read on.

Common Causes of Dizziness

Dizziness may be caused due to several different reasons. Some possible causes include:

• Vertigo and disequilibrium: Both vertigo and disequilibrium can lead to a feeling of dizziness. However, both sensations are quite different from each other. Vertigo causes a spinning sensation. You may feel like your surroundings are moving. It may also feel similar to motion sickness or like you are leaning towards one side. 

On the other hand, disequilibrium is characterized by a loss of balance. The most common cause of vertigo-related dizziness is BPV (benign positional vertigo). This is short-term dizziness. It occurs when a person changes their position rapidly or suddenly, like sitting up suddenly after lying down.

• Meniere’s disease: Dizziness can also be caused due to Meniere’s disease. The condition can lead to fluid buildup in the inner ear. It may result in hearing loss, tinnitus, ear fullness, and dizziness.
• Acoustic Neuroma: Acoustic neuroma is a non-cancerous tumour. It forms on your vestibulocochlear (auditory) nerve, connecting the brain to the inner ear. It can lead to dizziness and disorientation as well.
• Dehydration: Losing excessive amounts of fluid is one of the leading causes of dizziness. Symptoms that will help you understand if you are dehydrated include dry skin and thirst.

Other common causes that can cause dizziness spells include:

• Alcohol
• Migraine attack
• Inner ear issues
• Medications such as muscle relaxants, antihistamines, BP medications, and antiepileptic drugs.

Other possible causes

Dizziness may also be caused due to certain other medical conditions that you may be living with. These include:

• Sudden blood pressure drop
• Heart attack
• Arrhythmia
• Cardiomyopathy
• Circulation issues
• Over-exercising
• Heat Exhaustion
• Anxiety disorder
• Reduction in blood volume
• Hypoglycemia
• Anaemia
• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Multiple sclerosis
• Motion sickness
• Parkinson’s disease
• Infections such as COVID-19, ear infections, viral infections, etc.
• Stroke, brain disorder, or malignant tumour.

How to Stop Feeling Dizzy?

Dizziness can sometimes improve without treatment. The body often adapts to the cause of dizziness on its own within a few weeks. However, if you are still wondering how to stop feeling dizzy light headed and seeking treatment for it, your doctor will need to examine your condition and all the symptoms you may be experiencing. Some treatment options for dizziness include:

Medications

• Water Pills: If you are living with Meniere’s disorder, your doctor will prescribe you, diuretics. These are also called water pills. These pills, along with a low-sodium diet, will help reduce your dizziness spells.
• Antihistamines and Anticholinergics: These medications can provide immediate relief from nausea, dizziness, and vertigo.
• Alprazolam and Diazepam: These medications, such as Xanax and Valium are part of a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines. These can lead to addiction. However, they are often prescribed for treating dizziness spells.

Therapy

• Head position manoeuvres: A technique known as canalith repositioning is often used to resolve benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. It may be performed by your doctor, a physical therapist, or an audiologist. The therapy involves manoeuvring your head position. The treatment requires a minimum of two sittings to show results.
• Balance therapy: This therapy involves learning specific exercises. This is to ensure that your balance system is less sensitive to motion. The technique is also known as vestibular rehabilitation. It is most often recommended to be people with inner ear issues such as vestibular neuritis.
• Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is often recommended to people who suffer from dizziness due to anxiety disorders.

Surgery and Other Medical Procedures

• Injections: Another treatment for dizziness caused due to inner ear issues is injecting antibiotic gentamicin inside the inner ear. This is done to disable its balance function. Once this is done, the healthy ear takes over its function to keep you balanced.
• Inner ear removal: A procedure known as labyrinthectomy is sometimes performed. This is done to disable the affected ear’s vestibular labyrinth. This caused the healthy ear to take over the balancing function. This treatment is used for serious hearing loss or if your dizziness is not responding to any other treatments.

Home Remedies

Besides medical treatment, certain home remedies have also been found helpful for relieving the symptoms of dizziness.

• Water: Hydration is a very common cause of dizziness. If you often feel thirsty and tired when you are dizzy, drinking water in abundant amounts can help alleviate the symptoms.
• Ginger: Ginger can help relieve motion-sickness-related dizziness. It can also help treat nausea during pregnancy. Ginger can be taken in various forms such as adding ground or fresh ginger to your diet, taking ginger supplements, and drinking ginger tea.
• Vitamin C: Taking vitamin C can help alleviate vertigo if you are living with Meniere’s disease. Vitamin C can be taken from fruits such as grapefruits, oranges, bell peppers, strawberries, etc.
• Vitamin E: Vitamin E can help improve the elasticity of the blood vessels. It thus helps prevent circulation issues and associated dizziness. Vitamin E can be obtained from seeds, nuts, spinach, kiwis, and wheat germ.

Iron: If you are living with anaemia, your doctor will encourage you to consume more iron. Iron can be obtained from various food sources such as red meat, beans, poultry, and dark leafy green vegetables.