When someone is suffering from dizziness, regardless of the cause, it is usually an unpleasant experience. Whether it is spinning of the room from rolling over in bed, or constant disequilibrium from a viral infection, dizziness usually catches us off guard due to its spontaneous and unfamiliar nature. However, because these dizziness symptoms are not what we normally experience on a regular basis, we sometimes do not know how to interpret and explain what we are feeling to others. Our body may cue us to thinking that these are unnatural and potentially life-threatening symptoms, and the brain goes on high alert, generating emotions of fear and anxiety as a protective strategy.
Understanding the subcategories of dizziness and how they differ from each other may help a patient gain perspective on the severity of their condition. A more extensive vocabulary on dizziness may also facilitate better communication about the topic when a patient is trying to verbalize what they are feeling to a family member or their health care providers. An analogy that most people may appreciate, can be drawn from making a comparison between how a casual coffee drinker would describe the aroma and taste of a fresh cup of coffee, compared to an experienced coffee barista. The casual coffee drinker would likely have a more limited vocabulary of descriptors to verbalize what they are experiencing, whereas the coffee barista would be using a more expansive selection of words to describe the coffee.
It is common amongst patients to use the word "dizziness" to describe the symptoms felt when they are feeling spinning or when they are not steady on their feet. When resorting to just this dizziness term, the patient may limit the conversation during the history taking, and may influence the order of physical tests performed by the health care practitioner. To be more specific, this umbrella term, can be broken down into descriptors of dizziness that would provide more information to a practitioner. The most commonly used dizziness term used is “vertigo” which by definition means the illusion of the room spinning or one’s body spinning. Secondly, there is the term “disequilibrium”, which is having a general sense of feeling imbalanced. Third, there is “light-headedness”, which is the sensation that you feel right before you faint. Fourth is “swaying”, as if you are rocking on a boat uncontrollably. Fifth is “oscillopsia” which is more of a visual disturbance in which objects in your visual field are jumping up and down (oscillating).
These subcategories of dizziness also vary in duration and intensity. Some dizziness disorders cause constant, unrelenting dizziness for hours to days, whereas other conditions cause momentary dizziness triggered only by a provoking position. To gain further insight of your dizziness symptoms, its often recommended to track your symptoms by journaling their frequency, as well as including your aggravating and alleviating factors.
A good health care practitioner will also inquire about a patient’s secondary signs and symptoms that will contribute to the overall picture of the case, and essentially help develop a hypothesis of the vestibular condition. These secondary signs and symptoms include but are not limited to tinnitus (defined as an ongoing high-pitch ringing in the ear), vomiting, nausea, headaches, neck pain, neck stiffness and a sense of imbalance.
written by Peter Teloniatis RPT BScKin, MScPT, FCAMPT
