A slight dizziness after a sudden change of position or spinning on the dance floor is a normal reaction of the body. However, when the world slips away from under your feet for no reason and you feel dizzy often, you need to seek help from a doctor. One in four senior citizens has imbalances.

If we rotate around our axis for a long time, and then suddenly stop, we have the impression that the world is spinning in the opposite direction, wanting to return to its place. If we don't lean on something quickly, it usually ends in a painful fall. Unfortunately, in mature and elderly peopledizzinessandimbalancecan happen even on a straight road.

Some people feel, for example, as if the whole environment is rotating, and in addition, it is possible to feel that the body is spinning in the opposite direction to the world around it. We can also feel the rocking - as if the ground was shaking and moving under our feet. Sometimes, while walking, we deviate in one direction, as if "something" was pulling us there. It happens that the imbalance is accompanied by other symptoms: nausea, vomiting, nystagmus, hearing disorders and headaches.

Dizziness and balance disorders in the elderly

Very often imbalances are caused by ENT diseases. The cause can also be poisoning, e.g. with aspirin, quinine, botulism, mushrooms, alcohol. After detoxification, everything usually returns to normal. But in the elderly, dizziness and imbalances are very often a consequence of cerebral hypoxia. This happens when oxygenated blood has trouble reaching the brain.

The blame for this lies with atherosclerotic plaques, which build up in the walls of the arteries, narrow and stiffen them, as well as degenerative changes in the cervical spine. This puts pressure on the blood vessels that carry blood to the brain. Untreated diabetes or hypertension can also cause unfavorable vascular changes. Brain hypoxia may also result from severe anemia. In such cases, the most effective way to alleviate the bothersome dizziness and balance disorders is cardiological and anti-diabetic treatment. You also need to lower your blood cholesterol levels.

Older people often have peripheral nerves, muscles and joints damaged as a result of various diseases. It can alsocause imbalances, but then they are not accompanied by dizziness. These types of ailments also occur in people treated with antiepileptic drugs and sedatives. They are also characteristic of advanced-stage multiple sclerosis (MS).

Causes of vertigo and imbalance

Since balance disorders and dizziness have many causes, it is often difficult to make an accurate diagnosis quickly. Sometimes it is necessary to be examined by many specialists, e.g. an ENT specialist, an ophthalmologist and a neurologist. It is certainly important to talk to your doctor. He will ask, among others o the frequency and intensity of dizziness, its duration, symptoms accompanying the loss of balance, but also a history of diseases, injuries, medications, and even working conditions or housing conditions. Additional tests may also be needed:

  • audiometry (hearing test) - when we hear the sound in the headphones placed over the ears, press the button;
  • labyrinthine attempts - inducing nystagmus, i.e. incorrect eye movements, e.g. we have to spin on a swivel chair;
  • electronystagmography (ENG) and videonystagmography (VNG) - electrodes attached to the temples of the patient record electrical potentials during nystagmus (similar to an EKG).

Radiological examinations of the temporal bones and cervical spine, computed tomography of the head, magnetic resonance imaging, the so-called Doppler study of blood flow through the arteries that supply the brain.

You must do it

The indications for an immediate visit to the doctor are:

  • recurring or severe dizziness or headaches,
  • speech disorder,
  • blurred vision ("through the fog"),
  • hearing impairment,
  • difficulty walking, frequent falls,
  • leg muscle weakness,
  • unconscious,
  • feeling of numbness or tingling in the arms and legs.

ENT diseases that may cause imbalance

In case of frequent dizziness, you should first visit an ENT specialist, as such symptoms may accompany various diseases of the hearing aid. Sometimes a simple examination is enough to make a diagnosis and start treatment that will free us from these ailments.

  • Inflammation of the labyrinth (the tiny organ of equilibrium in the inner ear) and the vestibulocochlear nerve. For example, this inflammation can be a complication of influenza. It usually causes sudden dizziness, nausea and vomiting for several days. The symptoms usually disappear after treatmentantibiotics, sometimes steroids. Sometimes specialized rehabilitation is necessary - you have to learn to keep your balance by exercising head and body movements.
  • Wandering otolites (they are tiny "pebbles" - each of us has them in the labyrinthine tubes) cause mild positional dizziness. Dizziness becomes apparent when, for example, we hang our head down, quickly get out of bed, or roll from side to side. The symptoms are short-lived, but intense. This type of dizziness in the elderly is usually caused by the otoliths crumbling. Their loose pieces move during head movements and irritate the labyrinth. In such a situation - if medication does not help and avoiding certain movements - an operation may be necessary to remove unruly debris.
  • Damage to the eardrum. It can make you dizzy if, for example, cool air or water is injected into the middle ear. In such a situation, it may help to put a greased cotton ball in the ear before swimming in the sea or going out to frost.
  • Meniere's disease. For some unknown reason, excess fluid builds up in the inner ear, causing dizziness, nausea, tinnitus, and hearing impairment (he can hear getting worse). If diuretics, antihistamines, steroids and avoiding s alt in the diet do not help, surgery may be necessary (sometimes including the removal of the labyrinth).
  • Auditory nerve neuroma. It is a benign neoplasm, but causes hearing impairment, tinnitus, and balance disorders. In this case, the treatment is only operative.
Don't do that
  • Avoid sudden changes of position - mainly in the morning when getting out of bed.
  • Do not make sudden head movements (especially to the sides), and while walking - do not look up.
  • If you have to get out of bed at night - always turn on the dim light.

Use a cane - if you have already experienced imbalances.

  • Avoid caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol and s alt - they make you dizzy.

Treatment of vertigo and balance disorders

Treatment for imbalances depends on their cause. Sometimes it is enough to administer anti-vertigo, anti-emetic and sedative drugs. But such therapy only removes the symptoms, not the cause of the disorder. In some cases, doctors prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs that improve the metabolism of nerve cells, or so-called vascular. Sometimes surgery is necessary.

Regardless of the chosen therapy, movement rehabilitation is very important in case of balance disorders and dizziness. ByProper training can strengthen various elements of the sense of balance, because balance is not only an efficient labyrinth.

"Zdrowie" monthly

Category:

He alth