Vertigo - it makes the world go round. Vertigo is the sensation of the world spinning around oneself. The sensation is sometimes very intense and may be associated with nausea and vomiting.

Vertigo needs to be distinguished from light headedness, dizzy spells, blackouts, unsteadiness, imbalance.

The causes vary from very trivial to serious. The causes may vary from a very mild infection of the ear or inflammation of the nerves to serious conditions of the brain or upper cervical spine.

Not uncommonly, a patient with vertigo also develops intense fear of head and bodily movements as they worsen his/ her symptoms. This complicates the treatment.

It often requires a detailed history, clinical examination and sometimes investigations such as an audiometry or CAT scan or MRI to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.

However, most of the causes of vertigo are benign and the illness isn't half as serious as the symptoms suggest.

One of the common kinds of vertigo is BPPV or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The patient experiences very intense spinning sensation when the position of the head is changed. This may be associated with vomiting and intense sweating. This illness is fortunately very easy to manage and treat.

Here are few links of interest:


A very good article from a newspaper

Adaptation exercises for patients with vertigo

Video of home exercises for BPPV from

More advanced information about dizziness and vertigo