Dizziness Diagnosis

Dizziness can be feeling faint, lightheaded, weak or unsteady. Severe dizziness gives the sense that things around you are moving. Dizziness is common, uncomfortable and can be disabling, but it is rarely serious.

Initial Testing

• Determining the cause of dizziness involves positioning tests to see how the patient feels when tilting the head in different directions, or lying on each side.

Posturography Test

• A posturograpy test determines which parts of the balance system are causing dizziness. The patient stands barefoot on a moving platform and attempts to maintain balance.

Rotary-Chair Test

• The rotary-chair balance test has the patient sit in a computer-controlled chair which moves in a circle at a slow pace. The speed is increased and the chair moves back and forth in a small arc.

Eye Movement Test

• The eye movement test looks at how the eyes track moving objects, and how the eyes move when warm and cold water are placed in the ear canal.

MRI

• A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to get images of the head and body. A doctor may use this test to diagnose any condition, such as a tumor, which may cause dizziness.