Physicians could be miss diagnosing your dizziness! Their are multiple causes of dizziness from blood pressure to medication side effects, the list goes on and on. Physician do a fantastic job identifying some of the more common cases of dizziness. However, one less common reason is vestibular dysfunction, or an inner ear imbalance.
Dizziness in this case is caused by a disconect in one of our 3 balance systems. Three balance systems vestibular system (inner ear), visual system, and somatosensory (sense of touch) system. In this case the vestibular system is not doing its job correctly. The vestibular system is responsible for assisting you to identify where your head is at in space. It is typically beacuse it gets weak. I like to think of a muscle if we stop using and challenging our muscles they get weak and they do not perform the way they once did. The same is true in regards to the vestibular system.
How do you use your vestibular system?
As I mentioned above, it is apart of our balance system. So everytime we are balancing the vestibular system is in play. When we are young we tend to do a really good job at challenging it. We learn to do a variety of sports that require balance, we make up silly games with friends and family (my favorite was trying to get my friends and family to lose their balance while on a parking block), and many, many more. As we age we tend to engage our vestibular system less. Which is probably why this is more common in individuals who are a little older.
SO WHAT!
The weaker your inner ear, the more you rely on other balance system, the worse your balance gets (especially in dark environments and on soft surfaces), and the more likely this could be contributing to your dizziness because you now have a hard time telling where your head is at in space esecially in the environments described above. Typically, people will describe constant dizziness that can increase or decrease throughout the day. If this is YOU consider below.
FIX IT!
As mentioned above the vestibular system is improtant for balance. The other systems that we utilize for our balance is our visual (using our eyes to keep us balanced) and somatosensory systems (how we feel with our feet and spine). To overload/increase demand on the vestibular system we have to utilize the other systems less and force the use of the vestibular system. A great example is standing with your eyes closed, in order to keep your balance you must use your somatosensory and vestibular systems more. These must be tailored to your ability. An easy progression may look like the following.
Seated on a firm surface
Seated on a firm surface with your eyes closed
Seated on a firm surface with your eyes closed feet off the floor
This can then be progressed with adding a soft surface to sit on.
A more advanced progression may look like:
Standing on a firm surface
Standing on a firm surface with eyes closed
Standing on a firm surface while shaking your head (this will activate your inner ear and can increase the level of difficulty)
Another option to add is altering your base of support or your foot position. The smaller your base of support the more challenging it is to maintain your balance. Consider this when attempting to progress the advanced progression.
Perform the above with your feet together
or with one foot in front of the other
or while standing on one leg
There are a variety of vestibular conditions to consider and symptoms may increase with the above activities due to increased taxation on the vestibular system. It is best to seek out a local ENT or a Doctor of Physical Therapy to appropriately address these deficits. If you found this to be helpful or interesting please leave a comment and/or subscribe to help this reach others who may need the information, and assist building a community of people/support group.
Remember this information is for educational purposes only and should not be used for evaluation or treatment of yourself. Consult your Primary Care Physician (PCP) or other medical professionals for more information.
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