• Question: Why do I feel dizzy when I spin round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round?

    Asked by Albus Dumbledore to David, Eva, Kate, Nicholas, Rachel on 8 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by ALFIE!.
    • Photo: Rachel McMullan

      Rachel McMullan answered on 8 Nov 2015:

      Hi
      Fluid in your ears helps you to balance. When you move your head the fluid moves and this keeps you balanced.
      If you move your head quickly, and then stop suddenly, the fluid continues to move but at the same time your eyes are telling your brain you’ve stopped. Your brain can’t make sense of these confusing messages and that’s why you lose your balance and feel dizzy.
      Rachel

    • Photo: Kate Wright

      Kate Wright answered on 8 Nov 2015:

      Hi Albus Dumbledore (great name!)

      I’m not a biologist or a doctor but I think it has something to do with the fluid in your ears. Basically there’s some liquid in your ears which tells your brain which way is up and can tell if you move because the liquid flows one way or another as you move. When you spin round and round the liquid sloshes about all over the place and takes a while to settle down, which gets your brain all confused, so you feel dizzy.

      Hope that helps!
      Kate

    • Photo: Nicholas Pearce

      Nicholas Pearce answered on 8 Nov 2015:

      Hello again,

      Stand a bottle of water on a desk and tilt it to one side and stand it back up, you’ll see that the water sloshes about a bit, but stays at the bottom. Now quickly move it around in a circle a few times – you’ll notice that the water starts spinning and carries on even after you’ve stopped.
      Inside each of your ears are little tubes filled with fluid that respond in a similar way when you tilt your head or spin around. The position of this fluid in the tube tells your brain if your head is tilted to one side and even helps you balance.
      When you spin round (and round and round…) the fluid will carry on spinning even after you’ve stopped – that’s why you feel dizzy: your brain knows you’re not spinning but you ears still tell it you are.

      When I feel dizzy I try shaking my head quickly to make the fluid move randomly and stop swirling (try it with your water bottle!) and settle down more quickly. Cats often try this after jumping around.

    • Photo: David Nunan

      David Nunan answered on 9 Nov 2015:

      Albus hey!?

      It’s a great feeling isn’t it, well unless you get sick! Rachel, Kate and Nicholas all give great answers so there’s not much to add except my own experience with it.
      As part of my martial arts training I have to do a lot of spinning round and round and round (look here at 20 seconds): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHhJyXhBLfM (and that’s me sitting down on the bench 3rd from the right, playing a musical instrument)

      One way I try to stop getting too dizzy is to use a technique called ‘spotting’, which is where you stare at the same spot and move your head really quick to keep staring at it as you spin. Dancers use this a lot.
      And another way to help when you are dizzy is to spin the opposite way! Try it and see what happens!

      David (aka Sirius)

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