|  | Conditions Treatments | Sports Injury

Swimming & Vertigo

Vertigo has several causes, ranging from relatively benign problems like a head cold that temporarily impairs hearing to serious conditions like multiple sclerosis and intercranial bleeding. You can experience vertigo as a sensation of movement. Either you move in the environment (called subjective vertigo), or the environment moves around you (called objective vertigo).

  1. Swimmers' Accounts

    • Medical literature notes that vertigo symptoms increase with age. Swimmers writing in a U. S. Masters Swimming Forum describe severe vertigo symptoms while swimming, particularly in choppy water. One swimmer reported having "a hard time finding air" and nausea for more than eight hours. But younger swimmers describe long-lasting vertigo as well, "being horribly nauseated and dizzy" for hours, and with the same association with open-water swimming.

    Some Probable Causes

    • Extensive medical literature on swimming-related vertigo exists, but more than one doctor has commented on the difficulty of determining the exact cause. This is because there are many possible causes. Albert Seltzer writes that vertigo can result from "cold water entering the ears, and...causing reflex activity" (a rapid and involuntary motor response). Other MD's have noted the same probable cause.

    Rough Water and Open Water

    • Swimmers and doctors have noted the association of vertigo and cold water entering the ears. Several anecdotal reports from swimmers further associate the problem with rough waters, open water or a combination of both, and have noted that it began as seasickness. Doctors writing on swimming-related vertigo haven't noted this association, but have noted the association of vertigo and swimming in polluted waters. Infections related to swimming-related vertigo are "swimmer's ear."

    Treatment

    • Often, swim-related infections (swimmer's ear), go away by themselves. If they do not, medical treatments include draining the ear, antibiotic eardrops and administration of a corticosteroid--the same kind of steroid often used for rheumatoid arthritis or sports-related injuries.

    Prevention

    • Swim-related vertigo may have several causes, but swimmers widely agree that using earplugs may prevent the problem. Other swimmers noted that reducing salt intake also seems to help.

Sports Injury - Related Articles