HealthInfo Canterbury

Overview of vertigo

Tirohanga whānui ki te āmai

Vertigo is a feeling that you or your surroundings are moving when there's no actual movement. You may feel unsteady; it may be hard to walk or stand and you may lose your balance. Some people feel as though they're spinning around or falling.

Vertigo is a symptom rather than a condition itself.

Different people experience different intensities of vertigo. It may or may not persist when you're still or lying down. You may also feel sick (nauseous) and throw up (vomit).

Vertigo is often a symptom of an inner ear disorder, but it could be a sign of a more serious medical condition such as stroke, circulation problems or infection.

Causes of vertigo

For some people, the cause of their vertigo is unknown. The most common causes of vertigo are as follows.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)

• This is one of the most common causes of vertigo. It's usually triggered by sudden changes in the position of your head such as when you tip your head up or down, when you lie down or when you turn over or sit up in bed. It can increase your risk of falls.
• This type of vertigo happens when small calcium crystals in your inner ear come loose from their normal location and move into another part of your inner ear.
• The vertigo tends to last for around a minute. But some people can feel a mild unsteadiness between episodes of vertigo.

Labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis

• Vestibular neuritis is when the vestibular nerve in your inner ear gets inflamed. This nerve carries messages about head movement to the rest of your body to help you balance.
• Labyrinthitis is when the auditory (hearing) and vestibular nerves in the hearing part of your inner ear become inflamed.
• Both can cause dizziness, vertigo and felling sick (nausea).
• Labyrinthitis can also cause hearing loss and ringing in the ears (tinnitus).
• Both are usually caused by a viral infection but may be caused by a bacterial infection.
• The vertigo lasts from hours to days but usually improves within one to three weeks.
• Some people experience long-term balance problems.

Ménière's disease

• Ménière's disease is a disorder of the inner ear where you experience episodes of vertigo with hearing loss and a feeling of pressure or fullness in one ear.
• Episodes usually last from one to 24 hours and can occur every few days, weeks, months or less than once a year.
• Hearing loss usually varies then becomes permanent as the disease progresses.

Migraine

• Some people feel dizzy and have a sensation of motion or spinning during or just before a migraine headache. Read more about migraine.
• In some cases, vestibular migraines can cause vertigo even without other migraine or headache symptoms.

Other causes

• Anxiety.
• Ongoing infection of the middle ear (chronic otitis media).
• Head injury.
• Some medications such as some antibiotics, phenytoin, carbamazepine and water tablets (diuretics).
• Alcohol.

Diagnosing vertigo

Your doctor may ask you:

• to describe your symptoms such as whether you felt lightheaded or if your surroundings were spinning
• if you also experience other symptoms such as hearing loss, ringing in your ears, nausea (feeling sick), vomiting (throwing up), fullness in your ear, headaches or changes in your vision
• how often your symptoms occur and how long they last
• if your symptoms are affecting your daily activities such as being unable to walk during an episode of vertigo
• whether anything starts your symptoms (called triggers) or makes them worse, such as moving your head in a particular direction
• what makes your symptoms better.

Your doctor will also examine your ears, examine your eyes and check your balance. Because vertigo could be a symptom of another medical condition, your doctor may also do several different tests.

  HealthInfo recommends the following pages

• Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health – Vertigo

  Information about the symptoms and causes of vertigo and when to see your doctor.

• NHS – Vertigo

  This UK site has information about what to do when you're experiencing vertigo.

On the next page: Treating vertigo

Content shared between HealthInfo Canterbury, KidsHealth and Health Navigator NZ as part of a National Health Content Hub collaborative. Last reviewed August 2023.

Sources

Page reference: 721816

Review key: HIVER-17706