When Does Vertigo Need an ENT Specialist Rather Than Waiting for It to Pass?

She rolled over at six in the morning to silence the alarm, and the bedroom kept rolling after she stopped. The ceiling slid sideways, her stomach lurched, and for perhaps twenty seconds she gripped the mattress like the edge of a boat. Then it passed. By the time the kettle boiled she felt almost normal, and the question that followed her to work was the one many people carry for days: was that nothing, or was that something?

Working out when to see a doctor for vertigo is genuinely harder than it looks, because the same spinning sensation can come from a few displaced crystals in the inner ear or, far less often, from a blocked artery at the back of the brain. Those two situations feel surprisingly similar in the first minute and lead to very different mornings.

This explainer walks through what the timing, triggers and accompanying symptoms actually tell you, what an ear, nose and throat specialist does that a wait-and-see approach cannot, and which signs should send you to an emergency department rather than to bed.

What vertigo actually is, and why calling it dizziness muddies the picture

Vertigo is the false sensation that you or the room is moving, usually spinning or tilting, when nothing is moving at all. That definition matters, because clinicians sort dizziness into several distinct experiences and the word patients choose steers the whole assessment.

Lightheadedness, the woozy feeling just before fainting, tends to point toward blood pressure, heart rhythm or dehydration. Unsteadiness without spinning often relates to nerves, joints, vision or medication. Vertigo, the true rotational kind, points most often to the vestibular system, the network of fluid-filled canals in the inner ear and the nerve pathways that carry its signals to the brain.

The distinction is not academic. According to MedlinePlus, vertigo is a symptom rather than a disease, and its causes range from benign inner-ear disorders to migraine, head injury and, rarely, stroke. A doctor who hears the word dizzy has to ask a dozen follow-up questions; a doctor who hears that the room spun for thirty seconds when you rolled left already has a working hypothesis.

Try to describe the sensation before the appointment while it is fresh. Did the world rotate, or did you feel faint? Did it start when you moved your head, or out of nowhere while sitting still? Did it last seconds, minutes or hours? Was there nausea, vomiting, ringing in one ear or a change in hearing? Those five observations do more to shape the next step than almost any single test, and they are the raw material an ENT specialist will work from.

People who keep a short note on their phone after each spell, with the time, the trigger and how long it lasted, consistently give their clinicians a clearer story than those who rely on memory a week later.

How the balance system works, and how it goes wrong

Deep inside each ear, behind the part you can see, sits a bony labyrinth about the size of a fingertip. Three looped canals are filled with fluid and lined with tiny hair cells. Turn your head and the fluid lags for a fraction of a second, bending the hairs and telling the brain which way you moved and how fast. Two nearby chambers hold a gel studded with calcium carbonate crystals, called otoconia, that respond to gravity and to straight-line acceleration such as a lift starting up.

The brain constantly compares the left ear with the right, then cross-checks both against what the eyes see and what pressure sensors in the feet and joints report. When all three agree, you feel still. When the two ears send mismatched signals, the brain interprets the disagreement as motion. That mismatch is vertigo.

Each inner-ear condition breaks the system in a different way. In benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, known as BPPV, some of those crystals drift into a canal where they do not belong and slosh with every head turn, sending a spurious motion signal that lasts as long as the crystals take to settle, typically under a minute according to Mayo Clinic. In vestibular neuritis, inflammation of the balance nerve switches one side down for days, so the brain receives a lopsided signal even when the head is perfectly still. In Meniere’s disease, fluid pressure within the labyrinth fluctuates, producing attacks that Mayo Clinic describes as lasting from 20 minutes to 12 hours, often with hearing changes.

Understanding the mechanism explains the treatments. Crystals can be guided back with head positioning. An inflamed nerve needs time, and the brain needs practice to recalibrate. Fluid pressure is managed through a longer-term plan. The specialist’s job is largely to work out which of these stories fits yours.

How long does vertigo last, and what the timing tells you

Duration is the single most useful clue you can bring to an appointment, because the common causes of vertigo run on very different clocks.

Spells lasting seconds, and only after a change of head position, fit BPPV. Mayo Clinic notes that these episodes are brief, generally under a minute, and are set off by specific movements such as lying down, rolling over or tipping the head back to look up. Between spells the person may feel slightly off balance but is not spinning.

Attacks lasting 20 minutes to several hours, arriving in clusters with fullness, ringing or muffled hearing in one ear, fit the pattern Mayo Clinic describes for Meniere’s disease. A single, unrelenting bout of severe spinning that lasts a day or more, with vomiting and difficulty standing, fits vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis, the inflamed-nerve and inflamed-labyrinth conditions. The NHS reports that symptoms of these usually ease over a few weeks, although some people are left with lingering imbalance for longer.

Vertigo tied to a headache, light sensitivity or visual disturbance, lasting minutes to days and recurring in a pattern, raises the possibility of vestibular migraine, a form of migraine in which dizziness is the main event rather than head pain.

Here is where honesty about the evidence matters. Duration helps, but it does not rule anything in or out on its own. A stroke affecting the balance centers of the brain can also produce continuous vertigo lasting hours or days, which is exactly why persistent spinning in someone who has never had it before should be examined rather than ridden out at home. The NHS advice is straightforward: see a doctor if vertigo will not go away or keeps coming back, and treat it as urgent if other neurological symptoms appear alongside it.

When to see a doctor for vertigo: the first-episode rule

A reasonable rule, and the one most guideline bodies converge on, is that a first episode of true vertigo warrants a medical assessment even if it has already passed. Not necessarily an ambulance, not necessarily today, but a booked appointment within days rather than a shrug.

The logic is about probability and cost. The most common cause, BPPV, is harmless and highly treatable at that same visit. Less common causes, including vestibular neuritis and Meniere’s disease, benefit from an early explanation and a plan. The rare dangerous cause, a stroke or transient ischemic attack in the back of the brain, is easy to miss precisely because it can mimic an ear problem, and a brief examination of eye movements and walking at the first visit is the best chance to catch it.

How long should you wait? If the spinning has settled and you feel well, the NHS suggests seeing your GP if vertigo is severe, lasts more than a few days, or keeps returning. If the spinning is ongoing and you cannot stand or keep fluids down, that is a same-day problem. If any red-flag symptom appears, that is an emergency call, not a wait.

A second episode changes the calculation further. Recurrent vertigo has a pattern, and patterns are diagnostic. Two or three spells in a month, especially if they behave the same way each time, are a clear reason to ask for referral to an ENT specialist or a vestibular clinic rather than to keep managing alone.

People who tolerate repeated spells for months often tell their specialist that they assumed nothing could be done. Usually something can, and the assessment itself is neither invasive nor lengthy. Knowing when to see a doctor for vertigo is less about a stopwatch and more about noticing that the problem has stopped being a one-off.

Vertigo red flags: the signs that mean same-day care

Clinicians use the phrase red flag for a symptom that, when it accompanies vertigo, raises the odds of a cause in the brain or heart rather than the ear. None of them proves anything on its own. Together they define the line between booking an appointment and calling emergency services.

The CDC lists the classic stroke signs as sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side; sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking, loss of balance or coordination; and a sudden severe headache with no known cause. Any of these arriving with vertigo turns the picture into an emergency.

Several other features deserve the same urgency. A new, severe headache unlike previous ones, particularly at the back of the head or neck. Double vision, or a drooping eyelid. Slurred or garbled speech. Numbness of one side of the face. An inability to walk without support when previously you could, or a tendency to fall to one side. Chest pain, palpitations or fainting alongside the dizziness, which shift concern toward the heart. New hearing loss on one side that appears suddenly over hours, which the NHS treats as a reason for urgent assessment in its own right.

Age and vascular history change the threshold too. Someone over 60 with high blood pressure, diabetes, atrial fibrillation or a history of smoking has a higher prior probability of a vascular cause, and most emergency guidance lowers the bar for imaging in that group.

One honest caveat: a small proportion of strokes at the back of the brain present with vertigo alone, at least initially. That is why a first continuous episode is examined even without red flags, and why a specialist will look at your eyes before deciding it is your ears.

BPPV vs stroke symptoms: how clinicians tell an ear problem from a brain problem

The comparison people search for most is BPPV vs stroke symptoms, and it is a fair question, because in the first frightening minute they can feel alike. The differences lie in triggers, duration, and what the eyes and legs are doing.

BPPV is provoked. The spinning starts a second or two after a specific head movement, peaks within seconds and fades within a minute as the crystals settle, according to Mayo Clinic. Between spells, sitting still, the person is not spinning. Hearing is unchanged. Speech, vision and limb strength are normal. The eyes may flick briefly during an attack, but they settle when the head does.

Vertigo from a stroke in the cerebellum or brainstem, the balance and coordination centers at the back of the brain, is more often continuous rather than triggered, and it does not switch off when you hold still. It is frequently accompanied by an inability to walk unaided, by double vision, by clumsiness of one hand, by facial numbness, or by slurred speech, features that do not belong to an inner-ear problem.

Emergency clinicians often use a bedside examination of eye movements, sometimes called the HINTS exam, which checks how the eyes correct after a quick head turn, whether the flicking movements called nystagmus change direction with gaze, and whether the eyes sit level. In experienced hands this examination, combined with the walking test, helps separate central from peripheral causes early. Brain imaging is added when the examination or the story raises concern, and a scan that is normal in the first hours does not always settle the matter, which is why observation is sometimes advised.

The practical lesson is simple. Vertigo that comes and goes with head position and leaves you otherwise well is far more likely ear than brain. Vertigo that stays, or brings friends such as weakness or speech trouble, is treated as brain until proven otherwise.

Who is usually referred to an ENT doctor for dizziness, and who is usually asked to wait

An ENT specialist, also called an otolaryngologist, is a surgeon and physician trained in disorders of the ear, nose and throat, including the balance organ. Many work alongside audiologists, who measure hearing and inner-ear function, and vestibular physiotherapists, who deliver movement-based rehabilitation. Not everyone with vertigo needs that team, and referral patterns generally follow the likely cause.

Pattern	Typical cause considered	Usual first step	Typical referral
Seconds of spinning on head movement, otherwise well	BPPV	Primary care assessment; repositioning maneuver may be offered	ENT or vestibular clinic if maneuvers fail or spells recur
Single severe bout lasting a day or more, gradual recovery	Vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis	Assessment to exclude central cause; supportive care	Vestibular rehabilitation if imbalance persists beyond a few weeks
Recurrent attacks of 20 minutes to hours with one-sided hearing change or ringing	Meniere’s disease	Hearing test, medical review	ENT for diagnosis and long-term plan
Vertigo with headache, light sensitivity or visual aura	Vestibular migraine	Primary care review of pattern	Neurology or ENT depending on local pathway
Continuous vertigo with weakness, speech or vision change, severe headache	Stroke or other central cause	Emergency department immediately	Stroke or neurology team

Who is asked to wait? Someone whose single episode has resolved, who has a clear positional trigger, normal hearing and no neurological symptoms, is often managed in primary care first, since many cases of BPPV are treated there. Someone with a persistent, unexplained or recurring pattern, or any change in hearing, is generally referred onward. The decision sits with the assessing clinician, and asking directly whether an ENT doctor for dizziness is appropriate in your case is entirely reasonable.

What actually happens at the vertigo assessment

The appointment is mostly conversation and observation, not machinery. Expect detailed questions about the timing and triggers you have already noted, your hearing, headaches, recent viral illness, head injury, medicines and vascular risk factors. Several common drug classes, including some blood pressure medicines, sedatives and certain antibiotics, can affect balance, and the clinician will want your list.

The physical examination focuses on the eyes and the gait. You will be asked to follow a finger, to keep your gaze fixed while your head is turned quickly, and to walk in a straight line and stand with your feet together and eyes closed. Nystagmus, the rhythmic flicking of the eyes that accompanies vestibular imbalance, is observed for direction and behavior, because its pattern helps separate ear from brain.

If BPPV is suspected, a positional test is performed, most often the Dix-Hallpike maneuver. You lie back quickly from sitting with your head turned to one side and slightly extended, while the clinician watches your eyes. A burst of spinning and a characteristic eye flick after a short delay, fading within a minute, identifies which ear and which canal is involved. Mayo Clinic describes this as the standard way BPPV is confirmed. It is unpleasant for a few seconds and then over.

Hearing is checked, either with a tuning fork and whispered voice in primary care or with formal audiometry in an ENT clinic. A one-sided hearing loss redirects the investigation toward conditions of the labyrinth or the hearing nerve.

Imaging is not routine. Brain scans are reserved for people whose story or examination points toward a central cause, for new one-sided hearing loss, or for vertigo that fails to behave as an inner-ear problem should. Blood tests, heart rhythm tracing and blood pressure measurements lying and standing are added when the dizziness sounds more like faintness than spinning.

What treatment for vertigo usually involves

Treatment depends entirely on cause, which is why the assessment comes first. Three broad approaches account for most of what an ENT or vestibular team offers.

Repositioning maneuvers are the mainstay for BPPV. The best known is the Epley maneuver, a sequence of four head and body positions held for around thirty seconds to a minute each, designed to roll the loose crystals out of the affected canal and back into the chamber where they do no harm. Mayo Clinic describes this canalith repositioning as the usual treatment and notes it can often be done in the clinic, sometimes with a repeat session. It is not a medicine and there is nothing to swallow; the entire procedure is gravity and geometry.

Vestibular rehabilitation is a structured exercise program, usually supervised by a physiotherapist, that trains the brain to compensate for a weakened or mismatched inner-ear signal. Exercises involve deliberately provoking mild dizziness through head and eye movements so the brain learns to recalibrate. It is used after vestibular neuritis, for persistent imbalance, and for some people with Meniere’s disease or migraine-related dizziness.

Medicines have a narrower role than people expect. Short courses of vestibular suppressants, drug classes such as antihistamines or antiemetics that damp nausea and the spinning sensation, are sometimes prescribed for an acute severe bout. Most guidance advises against using them for long, because they can slow the brain’s natural compensation. For Meniere’s disease, longer-term options are discussed with the specialist based on attack frequency and hearing. For vestibular migraine, migraine-preventive strategies are considered. Any decision about starting, continuing or stopping a medicine rests with the prescribing clinician, who weighs your other conditions and medicines.

Surgery is uncommon and reserved for a small number of people with disabling, treatment-resistant disease.

What the following days and weeks usually look like

Recovery has a shape that depends on the diagnosis, and knowing the expected shape is reassuring in itself.

After a successful repositioning maneuver for BPPV, many people notice the position-triggered spinning has gone within the same day, although a vaguer sense of unsteadiness can linger for a day or two while the brain adjusts. Mayo Clinic notes that BPPV can recur, so a return of the familiar seconds-long spin months later is not a sign that something new is wrong, but it is a reason to go back for a repeat maneuver rather than to wait it out.

After vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis, the worst spinning and vomiting usually settle over the first few days. The NHS reports that most people’s symptoms improve over a few weeks, with balance gradually returning as the brain compensates for the weakened signal. During that stretch, sudden head turns, busy visual environments such as supermarket aisles, and darkness can feel unsettling. Gentle movement, rather than bed rest, tends to help compensation, which is why clinicians encourage getting up and walking as soon as it is safe. A smaller group has residual imbalance beyond that window and is the group most likely to benefit from formal vestibular rehabilitation.

Meniere’s disease follows a different rhythm of attacks and quiet periods, and the early weeks after diagnosis are usually about establishing a plan, tracking attacks and hearing, and learning what to do when one begins.

Driving deserves a plain word. You should not drive while you are having vertigo or feel liable to a sudden attack, and in some jurisdictions recurrent vertigo must be reported to the licensing authority. Ask your clinician when returning to driving, work at height, or operating machinery is reasonable in your case, and follow their guidance rather than your own sense of urgency.

What happens if vertigo is left untreated, and when to see a doctor for vertigo that keeps returning

The honest answer is that it depends on the cause, and that the cause is what you cannot know without assessment.

Untreated BPPV frequently settles by itself as the crystals dissolve or drift back, sometimes over weeks. Mayo Clinic notes that it can also persist or return. The main harm in the meantime is practical: falls. Spinning while getting out of bed or reaching up to a shelf is a genuine fall risk, particularly in older adults, and a hip fracture is a far worse outcome than a ten-minute maneuver would have been. Many people also start restricting movement, sleeping propped up and avoiding turning their head, which feeds a cycle of stiffness and anxiety.

Untreated vestibular neuritis usually improves as the nerve recovers and the brain compensates, but the NHS notes some people have longer-lasting symptoms, and those who avoid movement tend to compensate more slowly. Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, a chronic sense of unsteadiness that can follow an acute vestibular event, is more likely when fear of movement takes hold.

Untreated Meniere’s disease may progress toward permanent hearing loss in the affected ear over years, according to Mayo Clinic, which is one reason a diagnosis matters even between attacks.

An untreated central cause is the scenario the whole assessment is designed to avoid. Vertigo from a small stroke may be the warning shot before a larger one, and the window for prevention is measured in days.

So when to see a doctor for vertigo that keeps returning? After the second episode, if not sooner. Recurrence is information. It tells the clinician there is a pattern to find, and it is the point at which referral to an ENT or vestibular service becomes a reasonable request rather than an over-reaction.

What people often get wrong about vertigo

Vertigo attracts a particular set of myths, and several of them keep people away from care that would help.

Vertigo is a fear of heights. The confusion is old and stubborn. Fear of heights is acrophobia; vertigo is a sensation of movement that can strike lying flat in bed. Someone with BPPV may be perfectly comfortable on a balcony and floored by rolling over.

It is just an inner-ear thing, so it cannot be serious. Most vertigo is inner ear, and that is exactly why the minority that is not gets missed. The CDC’s stroke signs exist because sudden loss of balance or coordination is one of them. The symptom is common and usually benign; the assessment is what earns the word usually.

Anti-dizziness tablets are the treatment. For BPPV, medicine does nothing to the crystals; the maneuver does. For vestibular neuritis, prolonged suppressants may slow recovery. Medicines have a supporting role in some acute situations, decided by a prescriber, and are rarely the main event.

Rest until it passes. Complete bed rest is reasonable for the first day of a severe bout when standing is unsafe. Beyond that, clinicians generally encourage graded movement, because the brain recalibrates by practicing, not by hiding.

A normal scan means it is definitely the ear. Imaging is a tool, not a verdict. Early scans can miss small strokes at the back of the brain, which is why the eye and gait examination carries so much weight and why some people are kept for observation.

Once it has gone, it is finished. BPPV and Meniere’s disease both recur. A returning pattern is worth reporting, not tolerating.

Only older people get vertigo. BPPV becomes more common with age, but vestibular neuritis and vestibular migraine are frequent in younger adults, and head injury can trigger BPPV at any age.

Questions to ask your care team about vertigo

A good consultation is a two-way exchange, and the questions below tend to surface the information that matters most. Bring them written down; vertigo and memory are poor companions.

• Based on what you have found today, do you think this is coming from my inner ear, my brain, or something else, and how confident are you?
• Have you checked for the signs of a stroke or other central cause, and is there anything about my story that still concerns you?
• Which ear and which canal do you think is involved, if this is BPPV, and can a repositioning maneuver be done now or at a follow-up visit?
• Do I need a hearing test, and what would a change in hearing mean for the diagnosis?
• Do I need a scan, and if not, what would change your mind?
• How long would you expect this episode to last, and what should improvement look like week by week?
• Should I be moving more or resting, and are there specific exercises I can start safely?
• Is any medicine appropriate for me, for how long, and what is it actually doing?
• Could any of my current medicines be contributing to the dizziness?
• When is it safe for me to drive, return to work, or do activities involving heights or machinery?
• What specific symptoms should bring me back urgently, and where should I go if they happen out of hours?
• If this comes back in a few months, do I need a new referral or can I contact the clinic directly?
• Would referral to an ENT specialist, a vestibular physiotherapist or a neurologist add anything in my case?

You are entitled to a plain-language explanation of the working diagnosis and the plan. If the answer to the first question is genuinely uncertain, that is useful to know too, because it shapes how closely you should watch for change in the coming days.

When to call your doctor about vertigo, and when to call emergency services

Call emergency services, or have someone take you to an emergency department immediately, if vertigo occurs together with any of the following: sudden weakness, numbness or drooping of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side; slurred speech or difficulty understanding words; double vision or sudden loss of vision; a severe headache that came on abruptly or is unlike any you have had; inability to stand or walk without support when you could before; fainting, chest pain or a racing or irregular heartbeat; a recent head injury; or a fever with a stiff neck. These are the CDC’s stroke signs and the wider set of features that point away from the inner ear, and minutes matter.

Contact your doctor the same day if the spinning is continuous and has lasted several hours without easing, if you cannot keep fluids down, if you notice sudden new hearing loss or loud ringing in one ear, or if this is your first-ever episode and it is not settling.

Book a routine appointment within the next several days if you have had a first episode that has now resolved, if brief spells are recurring, if a previous diagnosis of BPPV has come back, or if unsteadiness is lingering weeks after an acute bout. The NHS advice is to see a GP if vertigo keeps returning, is severe, or is interfering with daily life.

Do not drive yourself to any of these appointments while symptomatic.

Every threshold in this article is a guide, not a substitute for a clinician who can see your eyes and watch you walk. If you are unsure which category you fall into, call and describe the symptoms; the person on the line is trained to make exactly that call. Whatever the eventual diagnosis, the decisions about tests, referral and treatment belong to you and the team assessing you.

Frequently asked questions

How long should I wait to go to the doctor for vertigo?

Do not wait if red-flag symptoms are present; call emergency services. For a first episode without those signs, book an appointment within days even if it has passed. The NHS advises seeing a GP if vertigo is severe, lasts more than a few days or keeps returning. Ongoing spinning that prevents standing or keeping fluids down is a same-day problem.

What is called the red flag in vertigo?

A red flag is any accompanying symptom that raises the odds of a brain or heart cause rather than the ear. The CDC’s stroke signs cover the main ones: sudden one-sided weakness or numbness, slurred speech or confusion, vision loss or double vision, trouble walking, and a sudden severe headache. Sudden one-sided hearing loss and chest pain or fainting are also treated urgently.

How can I tell if my vertigo is serious?

You often cannot tell with certainty at home, which is why a first episode is assessed. Reassuring features are brief spinning triggered by head movement, normal hearing and speech, and being able to walk normally between spells. Concerning features are continuous spinning that persists when still, inability to walk unaided, or any neurological symptom alongside it.

What will happen if vertigo is left untreated?

It depends on the cause. BPPV often settles on its own over weeks but can persist or recur, and the main risk meanwhile is falling. Vestibular neuritis usually improves as the brain compensates, though avoiding movement slows that. Untreated Meniere’s disease can progress toward permanent hearing loss over years. An unrecognized stroke is the outcome assessment aims to prevent.

How long does vertigo last with the common inner-ear causes?

BPPV spells last under a minute, according to Mayo Clinic. Meniere’s disease attacks last 20 minutes to 12 hours. A bout of vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis is typically severe for days, with the NHS reporting that most people improve over a few weeks. Vertigo lasting hours in someone who has never had it deserves examination rather than waiting.

Should I see an ENT doctor for dizziness or my regular doctor first?

Most people start with their regular doctor, who can examine eye movements and gait, test for BPPV and often perform a repositioning maneuver. Referral to an ENT specialist or vestibular clinic is usual when spells recur, hearing changes, maneuvers do not work, or the diagnosis is unclear. Emergency symptoms bypass both and go straight to an emergency department.

What are the key differences between BPPV vs stroke symptoms?

BPPV is triggered by head movement, lasts seconds, stops when you hold still and leaves speech, vision, strength and walking normal. Stroke-related vertigo is more often continuous, does not switch off with stillness, and frequently comes with inability to walk unaided, double vision, facial numbness, clumsiness or slurred speech. Clinicians confirm the difference with an eye-movement and gait examination.

Can a repositioning maneuver like the Epley be done at the first appointment?

Often, yes. If the Dix-Hallpike positional test identifies BPPV in a particular ear and canal, a clinician trained in the technique can frequently perform the Epley maneuver at the same visit. Mayo Clinic describes this canalith repositioning as the standard treatment and notes a repeat session is sometimes needed. Whether it is offered depends on the clinician’s assessment.

Do I need a brain scan for vertigo?

Not routinely. Scans are reserved for people whose history or examination points toward a central cause, for sudden one-sided hearing loss, or for vertigo that does not behave like an inner-ear problem. A normal early scan does not always exclude a small stroke at the back of the brain, so the eye and walking examination remains central to the decision.

Is it safe to drive after an episode of vertigo?

Not while you have symptoms or feel liable to a sudden attack. Some jurisdictions require recurrent vertigo to be reported to the driving licensing authority. Ask your clinician when returning to driving, working at height or operating machinery is reasonable in your situation, and follow their advice rather than a self-set deadline.

References

• NHS: Vertigo
• CDC: Signs and Symptoms of Stroke
• MedlinePlus: Dizziness and Vertigo

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.