What Causes Light Headedness In The Night?

Posted on Wed, 12 Nov 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 12 Nov 2014 Answered on

Sat, 6 Dec 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello there, when it is completely silent around me, usually at night, and one little noise goes off like a door opening or the floor crackling a little bit when someone is walking in the hallway outside my room I get a very brief episode of light headedness like my brain gets blown back by the noise and then everything goes back to normal like nothing happened. My general doctor looked into my ears and said everything looks fine in there.

Answered by Dr. Naveen (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Eustachian tube or anxiety related...

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Thanks for posting the query and an elaborate history. I do understand the concern behind your problem, I'll try my best to help you with this query.

Noise in the head or ear followed by lightheadedness could be due to various conditions such as:
1. Eustachian tube (the tube connectiong nose and the ear) catarrh or sudden block in the Eustachian tube.
2. Increased pressure in the inner ear.
3. Anxiety related, etc.

It requires a complete evaluation of the neck, nose and the ear.
1. X-Ray of the neck - to rule out cervical spine compression.
2. Audiological investigations
3. MRI of the brain to look for any vascular lesion compressing over the sensitive inner ear nerves.

Hope I have answered your query; I'll be available for the follow up queries.

Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju