• Question: why do you feel dizzy when you spin?

    Asked by mashal to Bob, Katie, Nisha, Sallie, Vee on 29 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Vee Mitchell

      Vee Mitchell answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Your inner ear is filled with fluid so when you spin around it takes a few moments for this fluid to stop spinning when you stop. As this part of the ear is also linked to our balance, the result of this fluid still moving makes you feel dizzy.

    • Photo: Sallie Baxendale

      Sallie Baxendale answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Vee’s right – its the fluid in your ear and also the time it takes for your eyes to readjust to being still. For a few moments after you have stopped spinning your brain is still trying to make sense of the images its getting from your eyes, which is why things can appear to ‘jump’ about a bit.

    • Photo: Bob Bonwick

      Bob Bonwick answered on 30 Jun 2012:

      Yup, vee and sallie nailed that one too. The labyrinth (as it is called) in your ears tell the brain which way up you are, you can fool them by spinning around in any axis. Your ears also have a link to your throat by thin tubes. If these are blocked you can be disorientated and also not hear as well. If you go up a big hill or inn a plane, your ears will pop. This is the pressure in these tubes equalising with the air around them and in side your head. If they block and won’t clear this can all make you lose your balance.

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