Why is it that after spinning for a while, you feel light-headed and dizzy?

Question

Is it the gravity pull? Or what? Please explain!

Answer 1

Our equilibrium is controlled by the semicircular canals in the inner ear. The semicircular canals are filled with fluid and together, make up something called the labyrinth. The canals are lined with tiny hairs that sense movement of the fluid in the semicircular canals. These tiny hairs then send messages to the brain that give information about the position of the head.

Notice that while your spinning, you don't feel dizzy...It's only after you stop. Once you stop spinning, the fluid flows back to the normal places and it does it quickly. Too quickly for your brain to know exactly where your head is. The feeling of dizziness is actually a nerve impulse from your brain to the rest of your body prompting your reflex to widen your legs and reach out for something to keep you from falling. Just like pain is a nerve impulse prompting your reflex to pull back from the source of injury.

If you think about, all of the sensations we have are just different kinds of impulses that we are familiar with and in English we have given those impulses names: Cold, Hot, Dizzy, Pain, Tickle, Itch...All generate different messages from the brain to the body, each distinct from the others.

Note- That's different from Vertigo...

Answer 2

Completely. Your body is adjusting to the invasion of a new being inside. It has to now take care of two people instead of just one. As long as you don't get any major vision changes accompanied by extreme abdominal pain and bleeding, it's completely normal. If your dizziness becomes worse, or is accompanied by either of the two above, definitely call your practioner or go to the ER. It could be a sign of a miscarriage occuring then. I was of the lucky few, didn't get light-headed or dizzy until the end of my 2nd trimester, and it's only because now my entire body is completely off blanace. Good Luck.

Answer 3

Your sense of position depends in part on the signals sent to your brain by structures deep in your inner ear called the semi-circular canals as well as positional sense nerves in other parts of your body. These canals are like three hula hoops set a right angles to each other. You have two sets of these canals, one on each side of your head. The canals have fluid that moves within them. The fluid movement stimulates small hair cells in the vestibule where the canals meet. These hair cells translate the fluid movement into nerve signals that are sent to your brain and then interpreted as position or movement.

When you spin, the fluid is caused to move in a specific direction. Even when you stop, the fluid continues to move for a few moments, sort of like when you stop stirring your coffee, the coffee continues to spin. The ear continues to send signals to your brain telling it you are moving, while the other positional sense (aka proprioception) nerves send it signals telling it you are not. These conflicting signals confuse your brain's ability to determine your true position and results in what is known as vertigo or dizziness.

Anything that causes these nerves to misfire and send conflicting signals to the brain will result in dizziness. There are medical conditions that cause the same dizziness or vertigo, such as benign positional vertigo, labrynthitis, or vestibular neuritis by affecting the function of the semicircular canals, the hair cells or even the nerves, respectively.

Answer 4

I think there is a type of fluid within your ear that helps you balance when you run, walk, etc. When you spin around quickly, this fluid is affected which makes you feel dizzy. When the fluid settles you start to feel normal again.

Answer 5

kdesky3 is right.

But there's also vision which helps us find a focus point between where we are and the environment. When spinning fast enough, the brain cannot process what is seen before it changes, hence it cannot accurately place you in a location. This is why you can "endure" spinning longer when you close your eyes and how dancers find a focal point and keep their head and eyes locked to that point as they pirouette.

Answer 6

i cant get too technical cause I'm not a doctor but basically both your ears have a tiny bit of fluid in them and when you spin around it make the fluid in your ears move thus disturbing the signals to the brain