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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffDizziness can be a momentary sensation or a symptom of a severe balance disorder that makes normal functioning impossible. Nearly half of all adults will have an episode of dizziness serious enough to send them to the doctor.
Dizziness generally refers to three specific sensations:
- Faintness. One type of dizziness is described as feeling lightheaded, as if you might pass out.
- Loss of balance. Another type of dizziness is characterized by feeling unsteady on your feet, as if you might fall.
- Vertigo. With vertigo, you feel as if the world is spinning around you or that you yourself are spinning.
Describing your dizziness as precisely as possible will make it easier for your doctor to diagnose the cause and treat it.
- Tusa RJ. Dizziness. Medical Clinics of North America. 2009;93:263.
- Dizziness and motion sickness. American Academy of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery. http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/dizzinessMotionSickness.cfm. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Huller TE, et al. Approach to the patient with dizziness. In: Flint PW, et al. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05283-2..00165-8--s0045&uniq=208944929&isbn=978-0-323-05283-2&sid=1022782623#lpState=opened&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05283-2..00165-8--s0045%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-0-323-05283-2. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Ferri FF. Dizziness. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00039-1--s0175&uniq=208944929&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&sid=1022782623. Accessed July 8, 2010.
- Kerber KA. Vertigo and dizziness in the emergency department. Emergency Medical Clinics of North America. 2009;27:39.
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