Dizziness

If you are feeling dizzy, you may not think to pay attention to your ears. Your inner ear not only helps you hear, but it also helps keep you balanced. Your ear works to inform your brain about how your body is positioned, it’s orientation in space and any movements.

When you feel dizzy, it could be a result of a blocked signal to your brain.

Other symptoms might include:

  • Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Clumsiness

  • Sensitivity to bright light
  • Blurred vision
  • Motion sickness

  • Ringing in the ears
  • Ear pain
  • Confused thinking

  • Facial numbness
  • Eye pain
  • Fainting

Dizziness might also be a sign of something more serious, like high or low blood pressure, heart problems, stroke, tumor, medication side effect or metabolic disorders. If you feel dizzy often, seek medical attention. 

Common causes of dizziness

Within the ear, there is a nerve that connects it to the brain. Acoustic neuroma is when a benign growth occurs on that nerve.

If you suffer from short bursts of dizziness when you move your head, you may have BPPV. BPPV is caused by tiny calcium crystals in the ears loosening and moving in the wrong part of the ear. There is no known cause for BPPV but it usually resolves itself in a matter of days.

Being dizzy may be a sign that you have an inner ear infection.

If your sinusitis symptoms do not get better, talk with your provider or nurse. He or she might order tests to figure out why you still have symptoms. These can include:

  • CT scan or other imaging tests – Imaging tests create pictures of the inside of the body.
  • A test to look inside the sinuses – For this test, a provider puts a thin tube with a camera on the end into the nose and up into the sinuses.

Some people suffer from numerous sinus infections or have symptoms that last at least three months. These people may have a different type of sinusitis called "chronic sinusitis." Chronic sinusitis can be caused by different things. For example, some people have growths in their nose or sinuses that are called "polyps," while other people have allergies that cause their symptoms.

If your symptoms still do not get better, you may need lifestyle modification, like quitting smoking. If it is an environmental allergy contributing to your sinus problem, you may be able to make other modifications like reducing your allergen exposure while you are at home or work.

Another solution for sinusitis is daily nasal saline washing to reduce symptoms. Rinsing your nasal passage with salt water before applying medications clears away mucus and reduces its interference with medications.

Migraines can also cause a feeling of imbalance which may be joined by ringing in the ears or hearing loss. Migraine-related dizziness may occur in conjunction with or separate from the migraine headache.

If you're suffering from any type of consistent or chronic dizziness, schedule an appointment with one of our otolaryngologists.