Dizziness which doctor

Diagnosing Vertigo When you see a neurologist for dizziness, he or she will likely do a full neurological exam and may perform other tests to help make an accurate diagnosis. Depending on the suspected cause, those tests may include: Eye movement testing — Eye movement testing watches the path of the eyes when someone is tracking an object in motion. It may also be done after a doctor places water or air into the ear canal.

This test can be used to check for signs of nystagmus, which is a condition that can be caused by a problem in the organs that help with balance. During the test, you will wear goggles and will be asked to look at still and moving objects. A video camera in the goggles with record and analyze your eye movements. This test is similar to VNG, but instead of using goggles around the eyes, it uses electrodes to sense eye movement.

MRI — An MRI scan may be done if you had a head injury or your doctor suspects an acoustic neuroma or another type of brain tumor might be causing dizziness or vertigo. Benign intracranial hypertension.

Normal pressure hydrocephalus. Peripheral neuropathy imbalance or unsteadiness may occur as a result of peripheral neuropathy, spinal posterior column lesions or cerebellar disease. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo BPPV. Vestibular neuritis and labyrinthitis. Vestibular migraine generally presents with attacks of spontaneous or positional vertigo lasting seconds to days, with associated migraine symptoms. Otosclerosis and Paget's disease of bone. Middle ear trauma. Following surgery - eg, stapedectomy, cochlear implant.

Tumours, cholesteatoma. Metabolic: Hypoglycaemia. Adrenal insufficiency. Haematological: Anaemia. Psychogenic: eg, generalised anxiety , agoraphobia , panic attacks , hyperventilation. Miscellaneous: Viral illness. Migraine headaches. Other infections - eg, acute bacterial infections, Lyme disease , HIV infection.

Ocular: visual impairment. Cervical - eg, cervical spondylosis. Multisensory dizziness syndrome: occurs when there are reduced inputs from more than one sensory system - eg, reduced vision, vestibular dysfunction, peripheral neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy. Drug intoxication - eg, acute intoxication with alcohol or drugs; carbon monoxide poisoning; chronic alcohol misuse.

Iatrogenic: side-effect of medication - eg, antihypertensives, antidepressants, aminoglycoside antibiotics, anti-arrhythmics. Medication is an extremely common cause of dizziness, particularly in older people.

Red flag signs associated with acute dizziness that indicate a possible central neurological cause such as posterior circulation stroke include: Abnormal neurological symptoms or signs. New headache. A normal vestibulo-ocular reflex as assessed by the head impulse test which would imply that the vertigo does not originate in the peripheral vestibular system. Are you protected against flu?

Further reading and references. Join the discussion on the forums. Health Tools Feeling unwell? Your doctor may also ask if anyone else in your family has been diagnosed with a condition affecting balance or hearing. He or she also wants to know if you have had an infection, injury, or surgery in the ear or brain.

Your doctor asks about how vertigo affects your everyday life, and whether it interferes with your daily routine. Some people develop anxiety as a result of vertigo, causing them to remain indoors or worry about the cause of symptoms.

Talking to your doctor about these issues may help him or her to determine the best treatment. An otolaryngologist performs a physical exam to look for signs and symptoms of the cause of vertigo. He or she uses delicate instruments to magnify and examine the ear canal and eardrum. Your doctor may also examine your eye movements or ask you to track an object from one point in space to another.

If you have trouble with this task, or if you experience rapid eye movements or blurred vision, your doctor may refer you to an eye doctor for further testing. An audiologist conducts a variety of hearing tests, also called audiometric tests, to gather information about the ear. Hearing tests also help doctors assess whether there is a problem with the nerve that connects the inner ear to the brain, and whether dysfunction affects both ears. A hearing test at NYU Langone takes place in an onsite testing suite, where you sit in a sound-treated booth wearing headphones.

For about 30 to 60 minutes, an audiologist evaluates different parts of your hearing using various techniques. In otoacoustic emissions testing, a sensitive probe that produces a combination of sounds is introduced into the ear canal. If the inner ear is functioning properly, small hair cells in the ear—tiny sensory receptors that detect vibrations and convert them to electrical signals for the brain to interpret—send back an echo when stimulated by sound.

The probe can detect this echo, indicating how well the inner ear is functioning. Videonystagmography is used to evaluate the function of the inner ear using a series of visual and sensory tests. The inner ear constantly sends signals to your eye muscles to help the head and body maintain balance. This type of testing allows audiologists to record and interpret eye movements and confirm whether inner ear dysfunction is responsible for vertigo.

A video camera with an infrared lens is built into the goggles and records your eye movements during the test. By using infrared light, videonystagmography avoids the possible distraction of visible light. This allows you to focus on the visual stimuli in the test. While wearing the goggles, you are seated in front of a large television screen.

Your audiologist guides you through the testing. A variety of shapes, objects, and spots of light appear on the screen, and you are asked to perform certain tasks with your eyes while keeping your head still.

These may include following a colored light as it moves across the screen in different directions or tracking an object as it jumps around the screen.

Your audiologist also uses caloric, or temperature, testing to stimulate the inner ear with gentle bursts of warm or cold air. He or she is trying to determine how dizzy this makes you feel. The infrared goggles record your eye movements while caloric testing takes place. Afterward, your audiologist analyzes the eye movement data obtained by the goggles and looks for patterns indicating an inner ear disorder as the cause of vertigo.