HealthInfo Canterbury

Overview of vertigo

Vertigo is a feeling of dizziness. It's a symptom rather than a condition itself. You feel as though you or your surroundings are moving when there's no actual movement. Some people describe it as the room spinning around or a feeling of falling or tilting. You may be unsteady; it may be hard to walk or stand and you may lose your balance.

Different people experience different intensities of vertigo:

• Mild vertigo – this occurs now and again for a short time and goes away on its own. You may feel a bit sick (nauseous).
• Moderate vertigo – this makes you need to lie down and lie still (no head motion) to stop the feeling of movement. You may feel sick (nauseous) and you may throw up (vomit).
• Severe vertigo – the feeling of movement keeps going even when lying down. Nausea and vomiting are quite severe.

Vertigo 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 vertigo is unknown. These are the most common causes of vertigo.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

• This is one of the most common causes of vertigo. It's usually caused 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 is usually caused by small calcium deposits in your inner ear.
• Vertigo tends to last for a minute or less and goes away if you keep your head still.

Labyrinthitis and vestibular neuronitis

• Labyrinthitis is when part of your inner ear becomes inflamed affecting your balance and hearing.
• Vestibular neuronitis is when the vestibular nerve in your inner ear gets inflamed. This nerve carries messages to the rest of your body about head movement to help you balance.
• 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.
• Vertigo lasts from hours to days but usually improves within a week.

Ménière's disease

• This is a disorder of the inner ear where you get the feeling of vertigo, ringing in the ear and hearing loss.
• Vertigo lasts from one to 24 hours.

Migraine

• Some people feel dizzy and have a sensation of motion or spinning, during or just before a migraine headache. Read more about migraine.

Other causes

• Anxiety disorder.
• 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 the ears, nausea (feeling sick), vomiting (throwing up) or fullness in the ear
• how often your symptoms occur and how long they last for
• 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

• Ministry of Health – Vertigo

  Information about 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 May 2020.

Page reference: 721816

Review key: HIVER-17706