Dizziness! Vertigo! What is the actual difference?
Are you experiencing one or the other or just simply not sure what it is? Go ahead and watch this video and you'll be able to figure out the difference between these two terms, dizziness and vertigo.
If you're watching this video and you're having any issues with feeling light-headed or dizzy or kind of off balance, this is the video for you because you're going to figure out what the actual difference is between dizziness and vertigo.
Have you been told that you have vertigo or dizziness or you're just having problems feeling light-headed or off-balance go ahead and watch this video and I'm going to explain the differences between the two.
My name is Dr. Danny Masters, I'm a Physical Therapist and I've helped treat many people with symptoms of dizziness and vertigo.
So what exactly is dizziness?
Dizziness is kind of an umbrella term that has been used frequently but things get mixed up together. It's been used to describe symptoms of vertigo and other feelings but in fact, dizziness is actually the light-headed feeling like you're about to faint or you feel you're going to pass out. Or it's seen in balance where you feel unsteady on your feet, maybe a little topsy turvy.
So there are a couple different examples of this that can happen. You change positions quickly. You can have changes of blood flow to your brain or changes in your blood pressure.
It can also be caused by side effects from different kinds of medications or you can have issues with your cardiovascular system or with your central nervous system.
What is vertigo?
So a lot of times people use vertigo and dizziness interchangeably but the big, main difference is with vertigo there's actually a true spinning feeling. A spinning feeling means that it can be one of two things.
One is you feel like the room or the environment is spinning. It's like you're standing up and you're looking at the ground and it's spinning and that is actually called Oscillopsia. Then there's another form where the room and the environment is stationary. It's not really moving but you feel like the room is moving.
What are the common causes?
Some common causes of that can be issues with your vestibular system which is the system in your inner ear that helps your balance and allows your body to know where it is in the environment. It can also be caused by some other central nervous system issues as well.
This is why it's important to get properly assessed by a trained healthcare provider, including a physical therapist, to diagnose what the issue is, dizziness or vertigo. Then be able to have the appropriate treatment plan in place.
Knowing these differences is really important. Get properly assessed by a healthcare professional to appropriately diagnose what the issue is and then go ahead and set up a specific treatment plan to target your specific symptoms and the underlying causes of either dizziness or vertigo.
If this really helped you and you gained some new knowledge of the difference between dizziness and vertigo, go ahead and comment below! Then you can go see our blog page at our website… https://therapyandpilates.com/category/vertigo/
Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video and got some good information about the differences between dizziness and vertigo.
Be on the lookout for our next video in the series but if you live in the Austin area, feel free to come in and get evaluated so we can help treat you sooner.
Call 512-215-4227 to tell us your story about dizziness or vertigo.