Dizziness - The ear

The ear

The ear is a complex system that connects the outer world to the nervous system, transforming environmental stimuli in bioelectrical signals. Mainly known as the hearing organ, it consists of: the external ear that collects sound waves, the middle ear that turns sound waves' acustic energy into vibrations, then transmits them to the inner ear which, in turn, passes the perceived stimuli on to the nerve centres. The internal ear is also responsible for body balancing.

By the term "balance", we refer to the ability of perceiving and adapting our body motion to outer environment. It stems from a complex interaction and coordination of brain nervous pulses that originate from the inner ear, eyes, neck muscles, limbs muscles attachments. The malfunction of any of the system's components brings about a balance disorder.

What is dizziness

The term "Dizziness" refers to an erroneous perception of our bodily movement related to the environment, or of the environment related to our body.

A conflict originates when the nerve centres receive contrasting information; our organism reacts to it through dizziness. The cause can consist of a mistaken processing of a message properly sent but inadequately handled by the nerve centres.

Dizziness determines a feeling of instability or head spinning. If one is standing, sitting or laying down, though still, it may seem to him/her to be moving, spinning. If one is walking, she/he may have the impression of falling. The persitance of dizziness can vary, lasting a few seconds, minutes or even whole days, according to its cause.

It's one of the main symptoms that urge people to seek medical assistance. If the incidents are frequent they can significantly reverberate on the individual's life. They can occur at any age, but are more frequent in women and the elderly over 65, due to the brittle bones and the impairment of blood flow relating to that age.