Vertigo is a term used to describe the sensation of spinning or a loss of balance, and can be caused by a number of health problems. Here is a list of the most common symptoms of vertigo, and what deeper problems they could indicate.

Symptoms

Although vertigo affects people differently, according to CBS News, it is a specific type of dizziness characterized by:

Spinning sensation

Tilting

Swaying

General unbalance

Vertgo may also be accompanied by

Nausea

Abnormal eye movements

Headaches

Sweating

Ringing in the ears or hearing loss

The duration of these symptoms can range from a few minutes to a few hours, and they can come and go.

Possible Causes

The underlying cause of your vertigo depends on whether your vertigo is central, meaning that is arose due to a problem with the brain or spinal cord, or peripheral, meaning that it is due to a problem with the inner ear, Medicine Net reported.

However, according to CBS News, the most common cause of vertigo is an inner ear infection, either caused by benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular neuritis, and Meniere's disease. For example, in the case of Meniere’s disease, a patient's vertigo is brought on by a buildup of fluid and pressure in the ear. The cause of your vertigo may also cause slight differences in vertigo symptoms. Patients with vertigo due to BPPV, a buildup of calcium in the ear, may experience brief dizziness, lasting around 20 seconds to a minute, while those with vertigo brought on by an inner ear infection, vestibular neuritis, will experience more severe dizziness lasting for several days. In these cases, treating the underlying infection usually results in vertigo symptoms disappearing over time.

Although less common, vertigo can also be caused by a head injury or even a migraine. In these cases, vertigo can be a harbinger of far more serious conditions, such as a stroke or bleeding in the brain, CBS reported.

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