Vertigo

Vertigo often gets better without treatment. See a GP if it keeps coming back or is affecting your daily life.

Symptoms of vertigo

Vertigo feels like you or everything around you is spinning – enough to affect your balance. It's more than just feeling dizzy.

A vertigo attack can last from a few seconds to hours. If you have severe vertigo, it can last for many days or months.

Things you can do to help ease vertigo

There are things you can do to ease vertigo symptoms when they're happening, and to reduce how often it happens.

What happens at your appointment

If you have vertigo, a GP will ask about your symptoms to try to find out what could be causing them.

A simple test that involves you moving quickly from a sitting to a lying position might be done to check your balance. This could bring on symptoms.

You might also be referred to a specialist for further tests.

Treatment for vertigo

Most people with vertigo get better without treatment.

Treatment will depend on the cause. A GP might prescribe antibiotics if it's caused by an infection.

You could also be given exercises to do to try to correct your balance.

Antihistamines can sometimes help with vertigo symptoms.

What causes vertigo

Inner ear problems, which affect balance, are the most common causes of vertigo.

These include:

• benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) – where specific head movements cause vertigo
• labyrinthitis – an inner ear infection caused by a cold or flu virus
• vestibular neuritis – inflammation of the vestibular nerve
• Ménière's disease – a rare inner ear condition, which sometimes involves ringing in the ear (tinnitus) or loss of hearing

Other things that can cause vertigo include:

• migraine
• some types of medicine – check the leaflet to see if it's listed as a side effect

Sometimes the cause is unknown.

Find out more about BPPV on the Ménière’s Society website