Share:
Schwankschwindel - causes and treatment
contents
- Schwankschwindel - The most important facts
- What is dizziness?
- How does dizziness develop??
- symptoms
- Dizziness is a disease?
- How high is the suffering pressure?
- Dizziness increases fears
- causes
- Phobic dizziness
- Benign dizziness
- When should you go to the doctor?
- diagnosis
- treatment
- What can you do yourself?
Schwankschwindel - The most important facts
Schwankschwindel is not a disease, but a symptom of various diseases. The causes may be due to the circulation, but also be found in the nervous system or in the psyche. Those affected are often very insecure because they feel they are losing control. The Schwankschwindel is a balance disorder and its typical symptoms are disorientation, the feeling of losing the ground under your feet as well as problems with standing and walking.
Swinging vertigo can have both physical and physiological causes. (Image: 9nong / fotolia.com) What is dizziness?
Dizziness indicates that the balance of our brain is disturbed. This happens on the one hand by extreme stimuli, on which the balance system can not adjust, like a ride in the roller coaster. On the other hand, diseases sustainably damage the sense of balance.
Above all, these are diseases that attack the balance organ in the inner ear or those that damage the equilibrium center in the brain. There are also metabolic problems, cardiovascular diseases, mental illnesses (such as anxiety disorders) and signs of aging.
How does dizziness develop??
When we walk or stand, keep the body upright and coordinate movements, the organism performs at its best. Especially the equilibrium organ in the inner ear, the balance nerve and the nerve conduction in the brain are of particular importance. Here comes the information, in which direction we move. The eyes convey the visual perception to the brain. The sense of touch and depth of the skin, joints, muscles and tendons provides additional details.
All perceptions are processed in a small center in the brain stem and coordinated in the brain. This process is automatic and, as this coordination usually works smoothly, we do not notice it at all. We use the stored movement sequences unconsciously and are able to train new movements in a targeted manner, until at some point they also run unconsciously.
The brain can only implement these processes if it gets enough oxygen and nutrients. Therefore, the lack of oxygen supply in the air pressure at high altitude and diving leads to dizziness and is therefore associated with the loss of orientation. For the brain to get enough oxygen and nutrients, blood flow, blood pressure and metabolism must be healthy. The blood itself must also be able to flow, ie have neither too thick nor too thin a consistency.
Dizziness is an alarm signal, because the circulation system reacts very sensitively to problems in the blood circulation and lack of oxygen. The dizziness is thus a first indication that factors have negative effects on the balance system. If the information that the brain receives from the sensory organs contradicts, it causes dizziness, even if it can not process the information.
Diving risks dizziness due to lack of oxygen leading to life-threatening disorientation (Image: Low Flite / fotolia.com) symptoms
Those affected lose coordination in the room, they no longer have any orientation and feel staggering. They actually swing from one leg to the other, tilting their torso to the right or left and running the risk of falling, as they no longer automatically step on the floor. The Schwankschwindel also nausea and vomiting are added. The patient often gets black before the eyes. They feel that the ground is staggering under their feet. Those affected can hardly tell whether they are shaking themselves or whether the earth is staggering on which they stand. This unsettles her massively.
Sometimes concomitant symptoms occur, such as
- tinnitus,
- tinnitus
- Tremors of the eyes,
- Feeling of drowsiness,
- sweats
- or even unconsciousness.
Psychological consequences such as a feeling of anxiety, which often reaches far beyond the vertigo attack, are typical for a vertigo.
Dizziness is a disease?
Dizziness is not a disease, but a symptom of many diseases, because the highly sensitive balance system can be disturbed by a variety of causes. Infectious diseases such as influenza, malaria or high fever measles cause dizziness as well as severe anxiety or a nervous condition.
How high is the suffering pressure?
Dizziness alone does not hurt physically, but the suffering is usually high, because those affected feel a loss of control. In everyday life, the control of our body is so obvious that we do not even think about it. If we lose control of our balance in dizziness, we lose the certainty we take for granted.
Strong fears can also be accompanied by Schwankschwindel (Image: Jürgen Fälchle / fotolia.com) Dizziness increases fears
On the one hand, a vertigo can be a symptom of an anxiety disorder, on the other hand, vertigo attacks can also increase existing fears. People who are already afraid of heights, fear of space or fear of crowds fear in the situation that triggers anxiety, in addition to the fact that the vertigo attack strikes. The affected people go far away from the situations that could trigger the fear and often hinder them in everyday life.
causes
Schwankschwindel occurs as a symptom, among other things, damage in the cerebellum and in the brain stem, but also in a vestibular migraine. Physically caused dizziness can occur as a result of muscle tension.
Phobic dizziness
The most common psychologically induced dizziness disorder of all, especially in people between the ages of 30 and 50, is the phobic swindle. The dizzy spells happen during situations that are usually the cause of panic attacks for patients. This is how people who are afraid of heights, the dizziness of tower climbing or people with claustrophobia in the elevator experience. He appears, for example, in people with fear of flying in the plane. Those affected do not feel psychologically, but physically ill. Doctors call this somatoform, which means that physical symptoms occur, but that have psychological causes.
Benign dizziness
An acute Schwankschwindelattacke can also be harmless, without deeper mental or organic cause. Most of these seizures sound quickly.
When should you go to the doctor?
You should definitely go to the doctor if the Schwankschwindel associated with accompanying symptoms such as:
- tinnitus,
- dizziness,
- blurred vision,
- difficulty in breathing,
- Nausea and vomiting
- or a headache.
Even if the dizziness has no external cause, but suddenly occurs violently and returns, the doctor's visit is advisable. External causes, which can be easily changed, are, for example, unfavorable positions when sleeping or sitting, extreme and at the same time unfamiliar movements or excessive sport. If a specific movement of the head causes dizziness, a doctor's visit is advised, as well as dizziness during an infection breaks out. If the attacks occur again and again in specific situations, such as when driving, on escalators or interviews, medical attention is also indicated. If the dizziness is associated with paralysis or (partial) loss of consciousness, you must go immediately to the doctor, preferably to the ambulance. It can be very serious diseases such as a stroke or a heart attack.
A dizzy spell can also cause those affected to lose their balance and fall. (Image: Christian Delbert / fotolia.com) diagnosis
Since dizziness can have multiple causes, there are also various specialist and specialized doctors in charge, for example in the following areas:
- General medicine,
- Otorhinolaryngology,
- neurology,
- psychiatry
- or internal medicine.
Some cities even run their own dizziness ambulance, in which the individual disciplines work together specifically for this disturbance of equilibrium.
Especially with a symptom that can have such different triggers, the patient interview is important to learn the medical history. As a result, the doctor already gets a good look and it allows the family doctor with some sufferers to recommend the respective specialist. For example, it can be seen whether the attacks of vertigo always occur in stressful situations and accordingly should be referred to a specialist in psychosomatic diseases.
After the anamnesis it is usually already roughly recognizable to which form of the Schwankschwindels it concerns. Then doctor or doctor examine pulse and blood pressure. An irregular pulse can cause dizziness, and an electrocardiogram (ECG) shows if there is heart disease. This is followed by the equilibrium test. This is where the doctor knows how the coordination of the body works. In the Romberg test, those affected are standing with their eyes closed on one leg, while patients in the Unterberger Tretversuch step on one spot. Often the hearing is also examined. The organ of equilibrium lies in the inner ear and hearing and balance use the same nerve pathways.
Further investigations
When specific suspected specific diseases other tests are added. These include, for example:
- Ultrasound examination of the arteries to check the consistency of the blood and blood flow;
- Radiographs of the cervical spine indicating potential damage to the nerves;
- Pressure measurement of cerebrospinal fluid;
- Blood analysis;
- Examinations of stimulus processing in the brain;
- Ultrasound at the heart;
- Investigations of the stimulus in the muscles, the irritability of peripheral nerves and the blood pressure reflex of the carotid artery.
Even an irregular blood pressure can be the cause of dizziness. (Image: Minerva Studio / fotolia.com) treatment
The treatment depends on the cause. For tense muscles massage and relaxing medications in the form of ointments or creams. With psychogenic Schwankschwindel relaxation therapies have proven. If dizziness is part of a specific phobia or generalized anxiety disorder, therapy should be given for this condition, for example, through confrontation therapy. Here the sufferers "step by step" get closer to the trigger of their fear and lose their fear through the increasing familiarity.
What can you do yourself?
If you regularly suffer from vertigo, you have to go to the doctor. However, you can also do some things yourself in order to get a handle on the unpleasant "dropouts".
- Exercise your balance. For example, stand on one leg in the bedroom or walk along an imaginary line in the backyard. You can also go back and forth in the park a few meters. If you are doubtful about your balance or are afraid because you do not see anything, then bring along a companion who will tell you which direction to take, as in reverse parking.
- Drink plenty, this keeps the blood pressure stable.
- Eat on a regular basis to prevent low blood sugar.
- Reduce alcohol and nicotine. Both are triggers for dizziness.
- During the day, do some relaxation exercises to reduce stress, which can trigger dizziness.
- Do not jump off the bed abruptly, avoid hectic movements.
(Dr. Utz Anhalt)