Dizziness (lightheadedness)

Dizziness, or lightheadedness, is a common symptom. It's not usually a sign of anything serious, but a doctor should still look into it.

The word can mean different things to different people. Some use it to describe feeling lightheaded or off balance. Others mean a feeling that their surroundings are spinning.

Many things can cause dizziness, and the underlying cause isn't always easy to find.

Contact a doctor if you feel dizzy and:

• you're worried about your dizziness or vertigo
• it won't go away, or it keeps coming back
• you're finding it harder to hear or speak
• there's ringing or other sounds in your ears (tinnitus)
• you have double vision, blurred vision or other changes in your eyesight
• your face, arms or legs feel numb or weak
• you have other symptoms like changes to your pulse, fainting or collapsing, headaches, feeling or being sick

Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and may check whether you have vertigo.

They'll also want to know:

• whether the dizziness started for no reason, or if it followed an illness
• whether you have repeated episodes of dizziness and, if so, when you experience these
• how long the dizziness lasts

If you're dizzy when you're lying down, it's usually caused by a viral ear infection. Antibiotics can't treat this. If you feel dizzy when you're upright, it's probably not related to your ears.

Dizziness usually goes away on its own. Still, there are things you can do to look after yourself while you're feeling dizzy.

• lie down until the dizziness passes, then get up slowly
• move slowly and carefully
• get plenty of rest
• drink plenty of fluids, especially water
• avoid coffee, cigarettes, alcohol and drugs

• don't bend down suddenly
• don't get up suddenly after sitting or lying down
• don't do anything that could be dangerous while you're dizzy, like driving, climbing a ladder or using heavy machinery

The most common causes of dizziness are:

• an inner ear infection that affects your hearing and balance (labyrinthitis)
• migraine
• stress or anxiety
• low blood sugar level (hypoglycaemia), which usually happens in people with diabetes
• a sudden fall in blood pressure when you suddenly sit or stand (postural hypotension)
• dehydration or heat exhaustion
• decreased blood flow in the back of the brain, which may be caused by blocked blood vessels (vertebrobasilar insufficiency)

Less common causes of dizziness are:

• having a severe illness or condition that affects the whole body
• using recreational drugs
• drinking too much alcohol (either binge drinking or long-term alcohol misuse)
• certain types of prescription medicine, like antidepressants or blood pressure medicine
• having a heart rhythm problem, like atrial fibrillation (a fast, irregular heartbeat)
• carbon monoxide poisoning