Dizziness is common. One in three people aged over 65 may complain of dizziness; and it gets more common as you get older. Most dizzy people say they get unsteadiness, vertigo, light headedness or a combination of these symptoms. Most say that they have had dizziness for more than six months and that it comes and goes. The dizziness can be caused by standing, bending, moving your head and neck, turning in bed, and anxiety; or the dizziness can come on spontaneously. Some people have falls and a few have blackouts.

On testing most people have more than one possible cause for their dizziness. There are many possible causes for dizziness, some of which are:

• Benign paroxysmal vertigo. This can cause brief episodes of vertigo (a feeling that the room is rotating) on change of position.
• Cervical spondylosis (arthritis in the neck). Dizziness can come on with head or neck movements, especially if there is a reduced range of movements in the neck.
• Postural hypotension (a fall of blood pressure when you change from the sitting or lying to the standing position). You may get low blood pressure one minute after standing, and this can be associated with dizziness symptoms.
• Central vascular disease (disease in the arteries of the brain and spinal cord). This can cause unsteadiness, with or without light headedness, often with an abnormal walk.
• Anxiety or hyperventilation (over breathing).
• Poor vision.
• Parkinson's disease.
• Osteoarthrosis.
• Peripheral neuropathy.

Sometimes no diagnosis is possible. Special tests like scans of the brain are rarely helpful in the diagnosis of dizziness in older people. The most common causes of dizziness in older people are central vascular disease and cervical spondylosis. Although poor vision and anxiety often accompany dizziness, they are rarely the sole cause of the dizziness.

However if you have blackouts or vertigo (a sense of rotation) with tinnitus and hearing loss, you will probably need further tests.

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