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• Acute inflammation of the inner ear. Has symptoms of dizziness without hearing impairment. It is a complication of influenza, mumps, and upper respiratory tract infections.
• Neuropathy of the vestibular nerve. Appears after a cold, flu, or bacterial infection. Attacks occur acutely and can last several days. The head is very dizzy, hearing is not impaired, nystagmus may be present.
• Migraine. Dizziness precedes the development of severe headaches with vomiting, nausea, and is sometimes accompanied by disturbances in visual fields, gait, and speech. It is impossible to cure the disease.
• Alcohol intoxication. Mercury, gold, tobacco, carbon monoxide, lead, aniline dyes, and arsenic also have vestibulotoxic properties.
• Psychogenic. Occurs in patients with depression, hypochondriasis and hysteria.
• Post-traumatic. It can occur immediately after injury, much less often after a few days. It may be psychogenic in nature or be a sign of unfavorable diseases.
• Seasickness. Accompanied by pallor, vomiting and nausea, chills, rapid breathing, a feeling of anxiety, with characteristic trembling.
• Side effects of drugs that do not cause true ototoxicity: psychistimulants, tranquilizers, muscle relaxants, antihypertensives.

If the auditory nerve is damaged:

1. Meniere's disease. Attacks are more severe and can last several hours. Occurs more often in women.

   An attack develops in the morning if a person changes the position of his head, gets up or turns over in bed. Nausea and autonomic disorders may be present.

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   With this disease, ear ringing and hearing loss can be observed only during the attack, then everything is restored. Every year the attacks appear more often and are more severe.

2. Chronic inflammation of the middle ear. The attacks can be severe. Discharge is observed from the diseased ear.
3. Drug intoxication. If you feel dizzy while taking medications, the attack begins gradually.

   The most toxic in this regard are the aminoglycoside group of antibiotics. Some of them affect the vestibular apparatus, others damage hearing.

   At the first signs, the drug should be discontinued or at least reduced in dosage, since hearing impairment in this situation is irreversible. Severe dizziness may occur when taking furosemide, hexadimethrine, or quinidine.

Why do older people often feel dizzy?

Elderly people often complain of dizziness

In most cases, dizziness is caused by insufficient blood circulation in the brain (CB). This most often results from atherosclerosis, which affects many elderly people. But besides this, there are many more reasons that can be listed:

• diseases of the vestibular analyzer (peripheral);
• ischemic disease, leading to disruption of the blood supply to the area in the ear where the balance organ is located;
• pathologically altered blood rheology;
• degenerative processes in the vessels of the brain;
• vertebrobasilar diseases, leading to a general decrease in the volume of blood flow in the brain;
• Parkinson's disease;
• diabetes;
• constantly high blood pressure;
• heart rhythm disturbances;
• taking certain medications;
• diseases of the spine;
• old traumas can make themselves felt at any moment;
• benign and malignant brain tumors;
• Acoustic neuroma and other neurological diseases.

The causes of dizziness in women over 60 years of age may be simple malnutrition or insomnia. Menopause in women also often provokes attacks of vertigo. Another cause of dizziness in older women is vestibulopathy, a complex pathology associated with the vestibular apparatus.

Recently, gerontologists have increasingly mentioned socio-psychological maladjustment. This is a syndrome associated with a significant reduction in a person’s capabilities, and in most cases is diagnosed in old age. This condition requires mandatory medical intervention, since it can lead to anxiety-depressive disorder, which is treated in a psychiatric hospital.

First aid for dizziness

Dizziness in old age is not the norm, just like in any other age. Regardless of how often this happens or if it happened for the first time, the person should be given first aid.

If vertigo is not pronounced, it is worth sitting the elderly person on a chair, giving water and providing a flow of fresh air. To do this, open the window and unfasten the top buttons of your clothes.

If you feel very dizzy, it is better to lie down. For the rest, do everything the same. If the cause of the illness is known, it is necessary to give the appropriate medicine prescribed by a doctor. First of all, it is a sedative. If there are no medical indications, it is better to use herbal preparations that do not have side effects.

If the cause of dizziness is overwork, the best cure is proper rest and rest. Otherwise, taking tranquilizers for nervous tension or suppressing pain with painkillers is not recommended. The main reason for this is the presence of side effects that will increase the discomfort.

If the etiology of the process is unknown and the person does not feel better, it is worth calling a doctor at home or an ambulance.

Considering the unpredictability of the moment of dizziness, it is advisable to know how to organize first aid for a person who has complained of such sensations.

1. Lay on your back, placing the upper part of the body on a hill (for example, a pillow).
2. Make sure your head is fixed in one position.
3. If you are in a closed room, immediately ventilate it by opening the windows as wide as possible.
4. Apply a cold compress to your forehead.
5. Measure blood pressure and body temperature.
6. Immediately call emergency medical assistance, first listing all known circumstances.

Possible symptoms

Dizziness of various symptoms is the main complaint of patients. But besides this, there are other symptoms depending on the underlying disease. The most common problems include:

• darkening of the eyes;
• feeling of complete blindness;
• severe nausea or vomiting;
• constant weakness;
• sudden sweating;
• obsessive tinnitus;
• blood pressure surges;
• weakness in the limbs or numbness.

In the event that dizziness is of a psychogenic nature, indifference and apathy are added to the symptoms, and patients may completely lose their sense of reality for some time.

The above symptoms include speech impairment, sudden loss of coordination of movements, and severe headaches, you should immediately call an ambulance. In most cases, this indicates an acute cerebrovascular accident has occurred, and assistance should be provided in the first 15-20 minutes - in this case, the person has a chance to stay alive.

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You felt dizzy when taking blood from a vein or when you sat in the dentist's chair. Before this, you feel ringing in your ears, weakness, darkening and spots in your eyes. The reason is that during a stressful situation, the release of hormones and active substances into the blood increases. After such an attack there is weakness, pallor, the skin is moist and warm. Ammonia or tart perfume will help you come to your senses. Your head is spinning in the same situation - in the morning or at night after you suddenly get out of bed.

The attack begins without previous symptoms, that is, they suddenly stood up and immediately felt ill. In extreme cases, this is orthostatic hypotension, that is, a sharp decrease in blood pressure when standing up.

Normally, when a person gets up, his blood pressure first decreases and then recovers. With orthostatic hypotension, the pressure recovery mechanism is triggered later.

Therefore, such people need to get up slowly, gradually. And, if the attacks began recently, it is advisable to contact a cardiologist and check your blood pressure dynamics. Dizziness on the verge of loss of consciousness after a blow, head injury, with severe headache. It also happens with migraine and epilepsy.

You definitely need to check with a neurologist - get an X-ray of the brain and preferably a CT computed tomography. My head is spinning and my heart is pounding and jumping out of my chest. Pale face, sweating, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing. With some arrhythmias, the blood supply to all organs, including the brain, deteriorates. This leads to the development of a semi-fainting state. You need to immediately put nitroglycerin under your tongue.

And then do a cardiogram, echocardiography, ultrasound of the heart and, preferably, Holter monitoring. There is a device that you put on for a day to track the cardiogram over time, advises cardiologist Tamara Ogieva. You feel sick and dizzy on a sea cruise, in the mountains, or on a long bus ride. Coordination problems and loss of balance may accompany this. If, in addition to these symptoms, you have tinnitus or abdominal pain, consult an ENT doctor: you need to find a medicine for seasickness.

Usually the girl says, oh, how dizzy she is, then she begins to fall dramatically, but the blood does not drain from her face, her reflexes are normal. The diagnosis of a hysterical attack is most often clear immediately, but it can be officially made only after excluding other causes of fainting. The best way to stop a hysterical attack is to pat your cheeks and fuss less around. An attack of lightheadedness occurs mainly in men when turning the head suddenly, for example, while shaving or playing sports, or when wearing shirts with a tight collar.

When a sharp turn of the head or a tight knot in a tie occurs, the vessels of the neck are compressed and the carotid sinus is irritated. The result is a sharp drop in blood pressure and dizziness. This condition is called carotid sinus syndrome. You have suffered from rheumatism or a severe cold. When listening, the doctor determines the heart murmur.

Rhythm disturbances and pressure changes may be of concern. Perhaps you have an acquired heart defect, which most often occurs against the background of rheumatism and untreated tonsillitis. With almost any heart defect, severe dizziness occurs from time to time. You adhere to a diet too zealously, as a result of which your body weight has decreased in a short period of time.

Dizziness in this situation is nothing. This is followed by exacerbation of chronic diseases, decreased immunity and a whole bunch of other ailments - it will get worse.

So lose weight gradually. You have diabetes. Before an attack, you feel a feeling of hunger, general weakness, increased sweating, trembling in your hands and body, and rapid heartbeat. Dizziness may progress to fainting.

This condition occurs when there is an overdose of insulin. Therefore, you need to carefully observe both insulin doses and diet. After a hypoglycemic state, it is useful to have a little snack: eat some fruit, yogurt, a handful of nuts, a couple of spoons of honey.

If you feel like you are about to faint, start breathing as deeply as possible, unbutton tight clothes, try to sit up and under no circumstances close your eyes! Then begin, pressing firmly, to massage your little fingers and thumbs.

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How to understand what is happening?

To prescribe adequate treatment, you need to determine the exact causes of dizziness.

Examining an elderly person is not easy, but only a full range of diagnostic procedures allows you to accurately determine the main problem and prescribe treatment. The examination allows us to identify the type and cause of its occurrence, as well as determine the presence of neurological symptoms. In addition to a thorough history taking, the patient can be examined with instrumental and laboratory methods. Among them are:

• MRI;
• CT;
• ECG;
• encephalography;
• radiography of the skull bones;
• Doppler ultrasound of the vessels of the neck and head;
• pure-tone audiometry - if there is a suspicion that the cause is the vestibular apparatus;
• a blood test to determine the presence of hidden inflammatory processes.

Vestibular neuronitis

Why does it happen? The cause of the disease is considered to be an inflammatory process (probably of viral origin), selectively affecting the vestibular nerve.

How it manifests itself. A single attack of dizziness, the intensity of which increases with changes in posture and may decrease when the patient tries to remain motionless and fixate his gaze on one point.

How to treat it. In the acute period, with the help of symptomatic therapy aimed at relieving dizziness, in the recovery period with the help of vestibular exercises.

Methods for treating dizziness in an elderly person

Treatment is always quite individual, and its specific technique is chosen in accordance with the disease that caused dizziness. If possible, the doctor may prescribe physical therapy or folk remedies. If the underlying disease cannot be overcome by such methods, medications are used.

Drug therapy

Drug therapy in older people suffering from dizziness has its own characteristics

Drug treatment, first of all, consists of prescribing drugs that tonic blood vessels, improve tissue trophism and eliminate labyrinthine ischemia. The drugs are selected with sufficient caution and their dosage is minimal. In addition, symptomatic therapy is used. Among the main drugs are the following:

• betaserc or tagista - indicated for vestibular dizziness;
• cinnarizine – for disorders in the labyrinth;
• sermion - for dizziness caused by Alzheimer's disease, dementia, atherosclerosis;
• nootropil - for the treatment of dizziness of a psychogenic nature;
• tanakan – eliminates circulatory disorders GM.

Folk remedies

In most cases, folk remedies are used as an addition to the main treatment, and are also recommended by a doctor. An effective remedy is considered to be a mixture of the following herbs - valerian, chamomile and lemon balm. The mixture is prepared simply - equal parts of herbs are poured with boiling water and left overnight. In the morning, honey and apple cider vinegar are added to the product. Taken half an hour before meals for a two-week course.

In general, our ancestors knew well how to treat dizziness in the elderly using natural remedies, using the simplest and most accessible means.

It is the blood-red hawthorn that is most often used for medicinal purposes.

Hawthorn herb, traditionally used to solve vascular problems. Homemade medicine is prepared from dried inflorescences, four tablespoons of which are poured into a liter of boiling water and infused for 15 minutes. Use three times a day before meals.

As a rule, severe dizziness in an elderly person whose treatment was based on taking garlic went away quite quickly. The recipe for the medicine also included ginger - the ingredients were crushed to a pasty state and consumed orally or added as a seasoning.

Other treatments

Any dizziness in the elderly is best treated not with pills or herbs alone, but in a comprehensive manner. In this case, even the most serious disorder can be cured. Therefore, in difficult cases, methods such as:

• exercise therapy;
• reflexology;
• psychotherapy;
• physiotherapy.

For example, exercise therapy uses sets of gentle exercises that help improve the condition of the entire vascular system and the musculoskeletal system. The only condition is regularity of classes. Physiotherapy, special equipment and natural elements can also have a strong effect on the human body - when used correctly. In some cases, homeopathic medicines can also be used.

Problems with the vestibular system

If the vestibular apparatus is disrupted, the function of maintaining balance is lost. An extreme case of manifestation is inflammation of the inner ear. A person cannot move quickly and accurately; the slightest sudden movements can knock him off his feet.

Gymnastics will help restore the functions of the vestibular apparatus, as well as prevent its impairment. The simplest exercises (bends, turns, rotations of the head, torso) that should be performed with open and closed eyes will help prevent the occurrence of unpleasant sensations.

How to prevent dizziness in old age

An active lifestyle and a positive attitude are excellent measures to prevent many diseases.

There is no specific prevention of dizziness. It always occurs against the background of psychosomatic diseases, so preventive measures are aimed at maintaining health. After 50-60 years, a particularly attentive attitude towards yourself is required. There are several basic points that all elderly people should know:

1. Mandatory regular visits to the doctor and a full examination. A disease discovered during monitoring is easier to treat at an early stage than its chronic form.
2. Maintaining adequate physical activity.
3. A healthy diet that excludes overeating or eating unhealthy foods.
4. Constantly engage in self-education - even banal crossword puzzles will help maintain a good memory.

Vestibular migraine

Why does it happen? According to one theory, during a migraine attack, changes in the activity of neurons in the cerebral cortex can reach the parietotemporal region, where the centers responsible for the sense of balance are located. According to another theory, during a migraine attack, biologically active substances are released in those areas of the brain stem that are related to the vestibular system.

How it manifests itself . An attack of rotational dizziness. In this case, there may not be a headache.

How to treat it. Antidepressants, anticonvulsants, beta-blockers.

Side effects of taking medications

Taking some medications may be accompanied by a number of side effects, incl. dizziness:

• Sedative medications (benzodiazepines) inhibit vestibular function
• Ototoxicity of drugs - damage to the vestibular sensory epithelium by aminoglycosides
• Toxic damage to the brain is caused by lithium, a tranquilizer and anti-epileptic drugs. Dizziness occurs due to cerebellar dysfunction
• Orthostatic hypotension – most often caused by antihypertensive drugs
• Hypoglycemia, observed in people with diabetes