Hello all. I am a 17 year old male who has had dizziness/vertigo for about 6 months now. No diagnosis, but I have been slowly getting better. I play basketball in a rec league and I have noticed that after a bit of play I get pretty dizzy for the rest of the game. Not too much that I can't play, but enough that I certainly can't play at 100%. Is it most likely compensation? It seems that its all the quick turning around and looking straight up and that gets to me. For whatever reason, I cannot just quickly turn around. I have to slowly make these sort of visual and physical moves. Anyways do you think this is compensation and if so how much do you think this helps my overall recovery. I mean i love to play and I'd be even happier with being dizzy for a little bit after games if it meant a help in my overall recovery. Do i stick with it? When is it just too much?

Thanks for your answers!

Hi Walty - the symptoms you experience during sport arent exactly "compensation" but they can help compensation - what I mean is being active can help recovery. Good question about hows enough enough? Difficult to say but I'd recommend bringing yourself to the point of increased dizziness then resting then starting again. Dont make yourself so dizzy you feel bad for a few days afterwards xxx

Hi there,

Just to add to what CL has said. You compensate as your brain learns to work in tandem with the damaged balance nerve. It basically has to decipher the new signals coming from the damaged ear. When you twist and turn, your brain is basically going 'Hmmm, how do I do this? You get dizzy as your brain deciphers the new signals from the damaged ear during the difficult manoevre. The more times you do a manouvre, the more chance the brain has to learn the manouvre and get it right. It eventually works it out, stores the information, and you no longer get dizzy doing the move. It is good to keep active. Like CL says, basically you are free to do as much as you want, but if you push yourself too hard, you'd know - you would feel horribly dizzy, which is then disabling, and discourages people from doing any more, and is also potentially counter productive, as it over loads the brain with information. You aren't supposed to avoid activites entirely which make you dizzy as then your brain would never have a chance to compensate.

In short, if you're happy doing sport, it makes you a bit dizzy, but you can manage it, and don't feel too awful afterwards, then carry on. You aren't doing yourself any harm, in fact you are helping yourself towards compensation and recovery. If it makes you feel worse for a considerable length of time afterwards and makes you miserable, then slow down, and do less.
best,

hbep