Nausea and vertigo

It is often the case that vertigo and nausea go hand in hand. It is bad enough when your world starts to swim, but when nausea and vomiting enters the picture it can make everything seem a lot worse. Understanding a bit about why these conditions are so associated is useful when it comes on dealing with these symptoms. It has been noted that motions sickness and vertigo are quite similar and sometimes they can be treated similarly, but more about that later.

When vertigo occurs the brain gets muddled and causes all kinds of mischief that we experience as they symptoms. For example, the most common cause of vertigo is benign postural vertigo where tiny particles interfere with the fluid in the middle ear to send sending confusing signals to the brain. This is what causes that spinning sensation. Other confusing signals tell the brain that it needs to vomit and this is what brings on this feeling of nausea. It will also create other disturbing symptoms such as; spinning, swimming vision, pressure in head, and balance problems.

The body uses nausea and vomiting as a means to protect itself from things that would cause us harm; in most instances the system works really well. For instance, if you were to swallow some poison the body would react by making you vomit and this would help expel the poison. The same thing happens when people overdo it with alcohol. The body realizes that the alcohol in the system is reaching damaging level and it responds by causing you to vomit. In these instances the nausea and vomiting are not very nice, but they are far better than what would happen if we didn’t vomit. In fact there are many legitimate reasons why the body should want to vomit and we should feel grateful that it happens.

The reason why the nausea sensation occurs is that a part of our brainstem is given the responsibility for taking care of this nausea sensation and for promoting vomiting. As the vertigo occurs it causes signals to be sent that stimulate this part of the brain thus making us feel nauseous and wanting to get sick. There is no poison in our body and there is no benefit of getting sick, but the brain has been given confusing information. Vestibular system and what is vertigo

There are different ways to deal with the nausea associated with vertigo. The first line of defense is to lie down. This will not only be safer, as you will be at less risk, but may also help ease the feeling of nausea; just make sure if you vomit you get onto your side. It is important to avoid moving your head too quickly during episodes of vertigo as this can exacerbate the symptoms.

Antiemetics are often prescribed for people suffering with the condition as this can stop the signals that are been sent to your brain stem telling it to vomit. Natural remedies may also help with this symptom. The cure though will be to treat whatever is causing the vertigo in the first place. Medications used for treating vertigo

See also:

• Common Questions About Vertigo