Dizziness
Dizziness can cover a range of feelings:
- woozy
- lightheaded
- sensation of spinning or turning
- tunnel vision
- unsteadiness
- about to black out
- off balance
- disconnected
- out of body
The character of the symptoms will help your doctor to determine their cause.
Severe attacks of dizziness can lead to falls, and injuries resulting from these falls.
There are in some circumstances things you can do to alleviate a dizzy episode. Treatment for recurrent dizziness is dependant on cause, which must be diagnosed by a medical professional.
Drop Attacks
A ‘Drop Attack’ is a sudden fall from standing position or from walking followed by a very swift recovery. This usually lasts for no more than a few seconds or minutes. There are a number of causes of drop attacks. As this mostly affects elderly people, the results of such falls can be bruising, soft tissue damage, and even fractures.
Below are some causes of drop attacks:
- existing or undiagnosed medical conditions
- postural instability
- muscle degeneration
- syncope (loss of consciousness or blackouts)
Due to the possibility of underlying factors, anyone suffering from suspected drop attacks should seek advice from a medical professional.
Falls
Falls can vary hugely in their causes and outcomes. We all fall at some point in our lives, but if the fall is one of the following it should be investigated by a medical professional:
- the person has fallen several times, particularly if the falls have been similar
- other symptoms such as dizziness, unsteadiness, vertigo and loss of consciousness are also occurring, or if the patient also suffers from the above
- the person cannot remember falling
- there is no obvious cause for the fall
- the person has problems with balance and / or gait (pattern of walking)
- the person is aged over 55 years old
- the fall has caused significant injury such as fracture, particularly if the fall cannot be explained
Stumbles, or “near-falls” that satisfy one or more of the above should also be investigated.
There are many reasons behind falls, including but not exclusively:
- hazards around the home and other such environments
- sensory (vision, hearing etc) degeneration
- dizziness, vertigo, presyncope, syncope
- balance problems
- gait problems
- ill fitting footwear
- muscle weakness and / or degeneration
- existing and / or undiagnosed medical conditions
- simple slip or trip
In many cases, particularly in older people, the injuries that occur from falling can often be quite serious. Therefore advice from a medical professional, and if necessary a referral to the Falls and Syncope Service, is recommended.
Presyncope
Presyncope occurs when a person almost, but doesn’t actually lose consciousness, due to a reduced flow of oxygenated blood to the brain. Symptoms of a presyncopal episode can include:
- dizziness, lightheadedness, or vertigo
- blurry or narrowed vision (tunnel vision)
- nausea (feeling sick) and / or vomiting (being sick)
- headache
- sweating
- heart palpitations (faster, heavier, or irregular heartbeat felt by the person)
- stomach ache or general abdominal discomfort
- confusion or disorientation
- slurred speech
Because the person doesn’t lose consciousness, the likelihood of injuring themselves is reduced but there is still a risk of falling. If the person has experienced an episode before, they can often recognise the onset, and take action to prevent the episode.
As with syncope, presyncope can have many causes and contributing factors. If you do experience an episode of presyncope, you must seek advice from your GP or other medical professional.
Syncope
Syncope is when a person loses consciousness (faints) as the result of reduced oxygenated blood flow to the brain.
There are sometimes warning signs (prodromes) which can occur from between seconds to nearly an hour before the person faints, including:
- feeling lightheaded (presyncope)
- buzzing or ringing in the ears
- a feeling of disorientation, fading vision or “fading out”
- feeling hot and / or feeling sick
If the blood flow to the brain is reduced slowly, these warning signs can occur for a while before fainting. However, they may only occur for a few seconds before fainting if the blood flow is reduced suddenly. Sometimes there are no warning signs at all.
Syncope can happen to people of all ages and there are a variety of causes and contributing factors, including:
- stress
- a particular environment
- insufficient water intake
- existing and / or undiagnosed medical conditions
- specific movements
- certain medications and / or combinations of medications
When a person faints they often injure themselves as a result of falling, often without trying to protect themselves from injury. These injuries can often cause the person more health difficulties than the syncope itself.
Whilst an episode of syncope can be frightening to the person experiencing it and their families who often witness it, the majority of causes for syncope are easily identified and treated. Advice, however, must be sought from a medical professional to establish a diagnosis.
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