Types of dizziness that you should go to the hospital forNeurologist Jihyun Park

1. Reasons for dizziness

Many people confuse dizziness with the name of the diagnosis, but dizziness is a symptom. Dizziness is a symptom of a loss of balance. And what is important is where the dizziness is caused and what kind of disease is causing it. There are dozens of known causes of dizziness. There are hundreds of rare diseases, so it's important to get an accurate diagnosis and treat them properly.

2. Do I have to go to the hospital?

Not everyone who feels dizzy needs to go to the hospital. Usually, when we're tired, haven't been able to sleep, or are under a lot of stress, we all feel a little dizzy. This is called physiological dizziness. After the causative events change or after a good night's sleep, things usually return to normal. In this case, of course, you do not need to go to the hospital. However, about 30% of the population, or 3 out of 10 people, will suffer from dizziness so severe that they will have to go to the hospital for the rest of their lives. So, in what cases should you go to the hospital?

First, there is a type of dizziness called "vertigo," which is a spinning sensation. This 'vertigo' means that there is a sudden problem with the body's nervous system, so it is important to pinpoint the cause. And secondly, there is recurrent dizziness. If the dizziness recurs after a week or a month, it is necessary to treat the cause correctly. The third is chronic dizziness. Feeling dizzy all the time can affect your daily life and requires medical attention. And if you have risk factors for stroke, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or smoking, don't take it lightly and it's safe to seek medical attention. In addition, any neurological symptoms, For example, if dizziness is accompanied by neurological symptoms such as headache, double vision, numbness in the limbs, or weakness, it is recommended to seek medical attention as soon as possible.

3. Which hospital should I go to?

If your eyes hurt, you go to an ophthalmologist, and if your nose hurts, you go to an ENT, but which hospital should you go to for dizziness? Not necessarily, but if you are dizzy and deaf at the same time, or if you have severe tinnitus, it would be best to see an ENT doctor first. And if you have dizziness with neurological symptoms, or dizziness that comes with a severe headache, or if you have chronic recurrent dizziness, a neurologist may be more helpful. Also, if you feel dizzy after changing your medication, or if you have a heart condition, or if you have a lung disease and the dizziness is accompanied by it, it is a good idea to see an internal medicine doctor.

Finally, if you have severe depression, severe anxiety, and dizziness, it may be helpful to see a psychiatrist. However, when you go to a psychiatrist, it is much more helpful to go to a psychiatrist when it is determined that a psychological problem is the main problem, even though there is no specific problem in neurology or otolaryngology.

4. Myths about dizziness

1) Do you feel dizzy if you don't eat?

If you don't eat it well, you may be mistaken for dizzy due to poor nutrition. Of course it could. There may be some underlying disease that prevents proper nutrition, or it may cause dizziness due to malabsorption of nutrients, but in such cases, it is not difficult to differentiate because there are other symptoms. However, these days, dizziness is more often caused by eating too much and eating too well, so taking aphrodisiacs or various supplementary foods is not really helpful for dizziness.

2) Are there foods that are good for dizziness?

It's not hard to find foods that are good for dizziness or bad foods for dizziness on the internet, but in fact, such a dichotomy doesn't help treat dizziness at all. There may be good and bad foods for the conditions that cause dizziness, but there is no need to think about the good and bad foods for dizziness.

So it's better not to divide this food so much and do more research on my disease. And there are a lot of cases where foods that are said to be good for some dizziness can worsen dizziness from other causes. For example, drinking plenty of fluids can make dizziness worse if you don't drink enough water. However, if you have heart failure or kidney failure, drinking too much water is even worse.

And if I had to pick one bad food for all dizziness, it would be alcohol. Alcohol can be a boost to our lives, but it is the one that makes almost all dizziness worse. Alcohol is technically a central nervous system depressant. So it suppresses all brain functions, especially the cerebellar function. This means that their speech becomes stale, they can't walk well, and their behavior becomes sluggish. Therefore, people who suffer from dizziness should not drink alcohol in general.