Why Am I Dizzy?

Vestibular Audiology is a little-known discipline in healthcare. We know that. And it's always been an uphill battle for Vestibular Treatment clinics like ours to educate people on how we're different from ENTs, Neurologists, Physical Therapists, or General Physicians. While all of these doctors can treat a couple of sources of dizziness, only Vestibular Audiologists specialize entirely in how we balance and can fix a lot of vestibular dysfunctions that cause dizziness.

If you lump all feelings of dizziness under the term "vertigo", then there are too many varieties of vertigo cause to count. However, before asking yourself what causes vertigo, you must ask yourself, "Is this actually vertigo I'm experiencing?"

One of the biggest challenges we face in the vestibular community is overcoming the apprehension that dizzy patients develop over time when they aren't given a solid answer to why they're dizzy. It's not uncommon for dizzy patients to bounce around between 5 or 6 general physicians, audiologists, ENTs, neurologists, chiropractors, and physical therapists in search of answers - never actually receiving the right diagnosis. This drawn-out process can be severely discouraging to dizzy patients. It causes many to lose hope in their chances of getting better. And in the worst-case scenario, they lose hope in the healthcare system to solve their dizziness problem. The simple answer to the dizziness diagnosis shortage is that there aren't enough vestibular specialists out there. Naturally, though, it's a little more complex than that.

Too often, dizziness and vertigo are used as interchangeable terms. But they aren't. There's a big difference between vertigo vs. dizziness. We'd like to set the record straight on the difference between these two terms. So that you have a better understanding of the best course of action to move forward with treatment.

Vestibular disorders are among the nearly infinite causes of dizziness. In fact, dizziness is the symptom of nearly everything. But vestibular disorders encompass a very specific source of dizziness: the inner ear. 

Suddenly, it’s as if someone just shook up your entire world like a snowglobe. You’ve lost your bearings. You reach for something sturdy. And the moment seems to spin into oblivion. Once life reverts to stability, you’re left wondering: why am I dizzy?