Constant vertigo can be a symptom of diseases that affect the labyrinth, such as vestibular neuritis, Ménière's disease and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
Popularly, these diseases are called "labyrinthitis" and may cause dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, loss of balance, ringing in the ear, and hearing loss.
However, it is important to differentiate between dizziness and vertigo. While the dizziness characterized by the sensation of loss of balance and falling, as if the person no longer feels the ground, the dizziness give the feeling that everything around is spinning or tilting.
In general, vertigo is caused by problems in the labyrinth, a very small bone structure that is located inside the ear.
This organ has a liquid inside it and, from the movement of this liquid, it can transmit to the brain information about the body position, direction and speed of movements.
It is thanks to the labyrinth that we can know when we are lying or upside down, and to which side our body is spinning. In the presence of any problem that affects this mechanism, we may feel as if we are falling, or that the head is spinning, which is vertigo.
Therefore, having frequent dizziness may be a symptom of "labyrinthitis" or other diseases and situations that are affecting the labyrinth, such as infections viral or bacterial, tumors, high or low pressure, inflammation in nerves or presence of toxic substances in the body.
However, vertigo may have several other causes, such as diseases and conditions that affect the brain, such as migraine, stroke, ischemia, and multiple sclerosis.
Since dizziness can be a symptom of a number of illnesses (some of them severe), you should seek a general practitioner or family doctor to make an assessment. If you prefer to go directly to a specialist, the most appropriate for assessing cases of vertigo are the otolaryngologist or neurologist.
Learn more at: I feel a constant dizziness. What can it be?
