Head Spinning Causes

Many a time, while walking, sitting or lying down, you may have experienced dizziness along with a head spinning sensation. In such cases, you may have noticed everything spinning around you and felt a loss of balance. This problem is a common symptom of a condition called vertigo. Some of you may have ignored it as a one-off instance, while the rest of you may be concerned about such an occurrence. Take a look at the different head spinning causes, symptoms and complications that you might have to face in such a case.

Symptoms Associated with Head Spinning

Several times you may have experienced a severe bout of head spinning that may have caused you to lose balance and fall. Many people who feel this just lay on the ground and wait for the whole episode to pass. This may have occurred when you moved suddenly, or looked down from a tall building or hill, leading to a loss of balance. While head spinning itself may be a symptom of vertigo or another underlying problem, there are other symptoms of vertigo that accompany this dizzy feeling:

• You may feel lightheaded and faint before, after or during your experience of head spinning.
• A sense of weakness usually accompanies head spinning.
• While turning your head quickly, you may experience blurred vision.
• A loss of balance and unsteadiness are other symptoms of head spinning.
• With your head spinning, you may also feel nauseated because of the rapid sensation of movement.
• Difficulty in concentration is a common symptom associated with head spinning.

What Causes your Head to Spin?

There is a structure in the inner ear that is responsible for your sense of balance. The nerve in that part of your ear is connected to the brainstem and cerebellum. This is known as the vestibular system. The sense of balance maintained by this structure enables you to stand erect and maintain balance as you carry on with your daily activities. When you move your head, certain signals are sent to the labyrinth in the inner ear, which redirects this signal to the vestibular nerve and then to the brainstem and cerebellum. Vertigo or head spinning is caused when there is an imbalance or problem with this transmission of signals, leading to a loss of balance and other symptoms mentioned above. The causes of head spinning or vertigo can thus be described as follows.

Inner Ear Inflammation
This condition is also known as vestibular neuronitis, which causes a sudden and severe bout of head spinning or vertigo, and lasts for a few days. This condition may incapacitate you for a bit, and may require you to take bed rest. However, it heals itself so no specific treatment is required for it. A viral infection may be a cause of inner ear inflammation.

Head Spinning due to Migraines

If you are someone who already suffers from bouts of migraines, you may be susceptible to a bout of head spinning and dizziness along with it. Also, if you have migraine-related vertigo, you are likely to suffer from head spinning as a result of motion sickness and car and sea sickness. Other symptoms of this condition include a buzzing sound in the ear and a loss of balance. These attacks last from a few minutes to a few days. It is not necessary that the vertigo attack occurs at the same time you have a headache due to a migraine. Vertigo that is triggered by migraines is actually a result of hormonal changes, stress, or lack of sleep.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

Head spinning due to this condition occurs when you suddenly move your head, and this condition is also one of the reasons that causes head spinning while lying down when you try to turn over. This is caused because of the collection of calcium carbonate crystals in the canals in your inner ear. A movement of these particles causes a sense of imbalance leading to head spinning. This condition occurs mainly due to aging, but may also be a result of some kind of trauma to the head.

Acoustic Neuroma
Acoustic neuroma is a condition characterized by dizziness, head spinning, loss of balance and a buzzing sound in the ear. It is a condition where there is a noncancerous growth on the vestibular nerve.

Meniere's Disease
The excessive collection of fluids in the inner ear is also a cause for this condition. You may experience a bout of head spinning or a vertigo attack for about thirty minutes to several hours if you suffer from this disease. Furthermore, the head spinning is accompanied by a buzzing or ringing in the ear and hearing loss over time.

Other Head Spinning Causes
As mentioned earlier, head spinning or vertigo may itself be a symptom of another underlying problem. Thus, head spinning can also be caused by multiple sclerosis, brain hemorrhage, or a stroke. In other cases, one may experience a bout of head spinning due to extreme anxiety, as a side effect of certain kind of medication, disorders of the inner ear, or a sudden drop in blood pressure.

Reducing the discomfort that is a result of this condition is essential, so that you don't experience related problems such as injury from falling after a bout of head spinning, or any other such problem. A series of diagnostic tests can help you identify all your head spinning causes, and help treat vertigo within the right time.

Disclaimer: This Buzzle article is for informative purposes only and does not, in any way, intend to replace the advice of a medical expert.