Dizziness

Dizziness and Vertigo Clinic Utah

Dizziness can mean feeling faint, lightheaded or unsteady. Vertigo is more specific: you feel as though you or the room are spinning when nothing is moving. Inner ear problems often cause vertigo, but neurological conditions such as migraine can also affect balance.

At Utah ENT Clinic, dizziness is one of the concerns we see. Whether the room spins when you turn over in bed or you feel unsure on your feet, an evaluation can help you understand what comes next.

Overview

The term dizziness can be used for a wide range of sensations; feeling faint, woozy, weak or unsteady. Vertigo is dizziness that creates the false feeling that you or your surroundings are moving. Dizziness can be accompanied with nausea or be so sudden that a person may need to sit down.

Symptoms

• A false sense of motion or spinning
• Lightheadedness or feeling faint
• Unsteadiness or a loss of balance
• A feeling of floating, wooziness or heavy-headedness

What Could Be Causing Your Symptoms?

The timing of a dizzy spell matters. So does what you were doing when it started. Common causes of vertigo include:

• BPPV: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo happens when tiny crystals move into the wrong part of the inner ear. Rolling over, looking up or getting out of bed may trigger brief spinning.
• Ménière’s disease: This inner ear disorder can cause recurring vertigo with changes in hearing, ringing or pressure in one ear.
• Vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis: These conditions involve inflammation affecting the inner ear balance system. Both can cause prolonged vertigo. Labyrinthitis can also affect hearing.
• Vestibular migraine: Migraine can cause dizziness, motion sensitivity and balance problems, sometimes without a headache.

Dizziness can also come from dehydration, blood pressure changes or medication effects. An inner ear vertigo doctor considers your symptoms together rather than assuming every dizzy spell starts in the ear.

How Dizziness and Balance Problems Are Evaluated

You do not need perfect words to describe what is happening. Tell your doctor how it feels, how long it lasts and whether you notice nausea, headaches or hearing changes. Depending on those details, an evaluation may include:

1. Medical history and examination: A review of your symptoms, medications and health history, along with checks of your ears, eye movements and balance.
2. Positional testing: Tests such as the Dix-Hallpike maneuver help identify BPPV by checking for characteristic eye movements when your head changes position.
3. Hearing testing: Hearing results can provide useful clues when dizziness happens alongside ringing, ear fullness or hearing loss.
4. VNG or ENG testing: Videonystagmography uses cameras to record eye movements. Electronystagmography uses sensors. These tests can help assess the balance system when further investigation is needed.

Not everyone needs every test. Your findings may also point toward a neurological evaluation or care from another specialist. Ask our office which tests are available and whether a referral is needed.

Vertigo Treatment in Utah

Treatment depends on the cause. Options your clinician may discuss include:

• Epley or other canalith repositioning maneuvers: Guided head and body movements move displaced crystals out of the affected canal in BPPV. The maneuver chosen depends on which canal is involved.
• Vestibular rehabilitation therapy: A therapist creates exercises to improve balance, steady your vision during movement and help you tolerate activities that bring on symptoms.
• Medication: Short courses may help with nausea or severe vertigo in selected cases. Medication does not reposition the crystals responsible for BPPV.
• Condition-specific care: Ménière’s disease and vestibular migraine may need a longer-term plan based on symptoms and triggers.

If you are looking for a balance disorder clinic in Utah, start with an assessment that helps identify the cause.

When to Get Emergency Help

Call 911 for sudden dizziness or vertigo with slurred speech, new weakness, double vision, a severe new headache or difficulty standing or walking. These can be signs of a stroke or another emergency. Do not drive yourself.

Talk With Utah ENT Clinic

Looking for an ENT for dizziness near Salt Lake City? Call 435-268-0300 to request an appointment with Dr. Alan Jones’s office. Describe your symptoms so our team can help with scheduling.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between dizziness and vertigo?

Dizziness describes several sensations, including feeling faint or off balance. Vertigo is the feeling of spinning or movement while you are still.

What causes sudden episodes of vertigo?

BPPV, Ménière’s disease, vestibular inflammation and migraine are possible causes. How long an episode lasts and what triggers it help guide the evaluation.

How is BPPV diagnosed and treated?

Clinicians use positional testing and eye movements to diagnose BPPV. Treatment usually involves a repositioning maneuver. If you need a BPPV specialist in Utah, call our office to confirm treatment availability.

When is dizziness a medical emergency?

Call 911 if dizziness comes with stroke symptoms, chest pain, fainting or trouble breathing. Sudden hearing loss also needs urgent medical assessment.

What does vestibular therapy involve?

Therapy may include eye and head movements, walking practice and balance exercises. Your therapist adjusts the program to your symptoms and progress.

Which Utah ENT Clinic locations treat dizziness and balance disorders?

Our offices are in Stansbury Park and West Valley City. When booking, confirm which location offers the evaluation or treatment you need.

‍

ENT Utah sees patients at our Tooele County office in Stansbury Park and our West Valley City office. Call 435-268-0300 to schedule an appointment.