Vertigo
Alexander R. Toftness in Incredible Consequences of Brain Injury, 2023
There are two main categories of vertigo: peripheral and central. Peripheral vertigo is a collection of vertigo types that are caused by problems in the inner ear, such as problems with the vestibular mechanisms that were mentioned above. The nerve that sends signals from your inner ear into your brain is called the vestibular nerve, and all kinds of peripheral vertigo warp the signals being sent through that nerve such that the signals end up being incorrect. Once the signals make it into your brain they don't make sense when compared to what your visual and proprioceptive systems are reporting, and this causes the sensation of spinning. Peripheral vertigo is usually temporary and may depend on the position that your body is in such as whether you are standing, lying down, or if your head is moving—if you have ever experienced temporary vertigo, it was probably caused by a peripheral change (Brandt et al., 2013). One potential cause of peripheral vertigo is that the otoconia crystals become misaligned in your semicircular canals and disrupt the movement of fluid. This results in a condition called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which usually shows up mysteriously but can sometimes be linked to anything from head trauma to viral infections, to the position that you sleep in at night, and many other factors (Yetiser, 2019). So yes, crystal misalignment can make you dizzy. That's just science.
The Special Sense Organs and Their Disorders
Walter F. Stanaszek, Mary J. Stanaszek, Robert J. Holt, Steven Strauss in Understanding Medical Terms, 2020
Treatment of vertigo may involve bedrest, vestibular exercises, antiemetics, anticholinergics, and antihistamines. A number of drugs are utilized in treatment of Meniere's disease, including diuretics, antihistamines, sedatives, vasodilators, and bioflavonoids. Anticholinergics and antihistamines are the agents used most often for prevention of motion sickness. Less traditional modalities for treatment of Meniere's disease and otitis media include nutritional and homeopathic therapies, helium-neon laser treatments, and exercise therapy.
Vertigo
Anne Stephenson, Martin Mueller, John Grabinar, Janice Rymer in 100 Cases in General Practice, 2017
Although the patient reports that she has been feeling dizzy, the symptoms that she tells you about point towards true vertigo. Dizziness is a feeling of light-headedness and weakness as if the patient is about to collapse. Vertigo is an abnormal sensation of movement, when at rest or with movement, as if the room is spinning or the patient is tilting or moving in an unintentional way. The other symptom that needs to be ruled out is disequilibrium when the patient's movement is unsteady, not associated with dizziness or vertigo and not occurring at rest. Finally, many patients present with dizziness that is non-specific and often due to anxiety and hyperventilation. The most common cause of acute vertigo is due to a peripheral vestibular disorder such as: acute vestibular neuronitis (an infection, usually viral, that inflames the vestibular nerve and affects balance); labyrinthitis (an infection, usually viral, that inflames both branches of the vestibulocochlear nerve resulting in hearing changes and vertigo); benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (or BPPV which is a mechanical problem in the inner ear where some of the otoconia are dislodged from the gel in the utricle in which they are embedded and interfere with normal fluid movement in the semicircular canals which senses head motion); and Meniere's disease (a long-term condition in which there is endolymph build-up in the labyrinth that interferes with normal balance and hearing). Vertigo can also occur with central nervous system disorders such as vascular incidents or multiple sclerosis. In this scenario with the patient having a slight cold, no previous history of these symptoms and no hearing loss or other symptoms apart from nausea, the most likely cause is a viral acute vestibular neuronitis.
A computational framework to simulate the endolymph flow due to vestibular rehabilitation maneuvers assessed from accelerometer data
Published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2018
Carla F. Santos, Jorge Belinha, Fernanda Gentil, Marco Parente, Bruno Areias, Renato Natal Jorge
Vertigo is a type of dizziness that normally occurs due to a dysfunction in the vestibular system, which is located in the inner ear. The patient has the perception of a spinning motion, a feeling of displacement of the environment relative to the individual or an intensive sensation of rotation inside the head (Taylor and Goodkin 2011). In these situations, it is important to avoid falls. Such symptoms are often associated with nausea and vomiting, and it can cause difficulties in standing or walking if it is related with central lesions (Karatas 2008). Other debilitating symptoms such as blurred vision and hearing loss may also occur (Strupp et al. 2011). Vertigo can be classified as either peripheral or central, depending on the location of the dysfunction in the vestibular pathway, and its most common cause is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) (Karatas 2008), although it can be caused by other factors (Wippold and Turski 2009).
Role of inferior colliculus in vestibular vertigo induced by water caloric irrigation
Published in Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 2020
Yu Song, Shan Xiong, Xin Fan, Ying Xin, Furong Ma
Vertigo dysfunction, which includes both peripheral and central vestibular disorders, is a common symptom regarding disorders of motion perception and spatial orientation. 35.4% of adults in American suffer from vestibular dysfunction and the incidence increases with the age, whose symptoms often beyond direct vestibular deficits, such as the risk of falling, depression, spatial memory impairment, thus seriously reducing the quality of life [1]. The central vestibular system is an ascending pathways from the vestibular nuclei (VN) to the midbrain tegmentum, the thalamus, and then to the cortex to mediate perception of self-motion and verticality [2]. Vestibular function integrates multisensory inputs that combine vestibular, visual and proprioceptive inputs, into complex neuronal networks.
Is COVID-19 associated with self-reported audio-vestibular symptoms?
Published in International Journal of Audiology, 2022
Arwa AlJasser, Walid Alkeridy, Kevin J. Munro, Christopher J. Plack
However, the results of the present study should be interpreted with caution. The patients’ descriptions of their symptoms, by using more specific words than dizzy, such as vertigo, unsteadiness, light-headedness and generalised weakness, have been determined as critical in the establishment of the cause of dizziness (Chan 2009). In our study, we are confident that we have examined rotatory vertigo. However, it is difficult to differentiate between vestibular disorders and other types of dizziness or to distinguish between peripheral and central vertigo without careful history taking and performing vestibular and neurological tests to confirm the diagnosis (Chan 2009). The majority of those who reported vertigo in the COVID-19 groups also reported other dizziness symptoms including unsteadiness or light-headedness. It is somewhat difficult for people to differentiate accurately between symptoms associated with dizziness, vertigo and unsteadiness (Piker and Jacobson 2014). Therefore, it is possible that patients in our study might have been reporting other subjective dizziness symptoms as peripheral vertigo.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Dizziness
- Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
- Ménière'S Disease
- Labyrinthitis
- Stroke
- Brain Tumor
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Migraine-Associated Vertigo