What is Postural Vertigo?

Vertigo is the feeling that you are falling, spinning, whirling, or tilting while your environment remains stationary. It can also be the feeling that your environment is spinning, whirling, or tilting while you remain stationary. Vertigo can also be accompanied by nausea and vomiting in severe cases.

While vertigo is very common, it is actually a symptom rather than a medical condition of its own. Vertigo can be caused by any number of medical or psychological conditions, which are typically accompanied by other symptoms. However, it has been determined that over half of the patients seen for symptoms of vertigo are simply diagnosed with non-specific vertigo.

Postural vertigo is a term used to describe two distinctly different conditions in the medical and psychological treatments world. In the medical world, the most common use of the term postural vertigo is as a synonym for positional vertigo. This is vertigo that is caused by a build up of calcium particles in the balance tubes of the inner ears. When the particles send mixed signals to the brain about the position of the body (i.e. standing, sitting, lying), the brain becomes confused and then sends out mixed signals to the other perception organs and nerves, thus causing postural vertigo.

In the psychological world, however, there is a condition called phobia postural vertigo. This condition is quite different from positional vertigo. Often, patients are diagnosed with unknown vertigo, meaning that the cause of the vertigo is undetectable by the tests and lab work performed by the doctor or hospital. Studies have shown that in these cases, postural vertigo may be present. When lab work and other testing shows no abnormality or cause for the vertigo, a psychological cause may be present. One such diagnosis is postural vertigo, which is vertigo caused by panic attacks and accompanied by imbalance. This is particularly difficult to diagnose, as some patients with unknown vertigo become imbued with symptoms of anxiety. So, then, the mental health provider must then ask the question, which came first? Was it the vertigo or the anxiety?

All in all, it is important to remember that postural vertigo is a symptom, not a medical condition. Because it is a symptom of other, sometimes more severe medical or psychological conditions, it is important to seek the care of a medical provider for a consultation, testing, and treatment to discover the true cause of your postural vertigo.