Vertigo is the term for an abnormal perception of your body spinning relative to your surrounding environment, or of your surrounding environment spinning relative to you. It differs from dizziness, which can make you feel faint, lightheaded or unsteady. Vertigo has several potential underlying causes, but it does not typically occur as a consequence of taking supplements.
Background
Your sense of balance and spatial orientation is largely maintained by a group of structures in your inner ear, or labyrinth, known collectively as the vestibular system. Components of this system include three fluid-filled structures called the semicircular canals — which orient your head to up-and-down and side-to-side movement — and the otolithic organs, which help you sense movement that follows a straight line and determine the position of your head relative to gravity. To fully maintain your sense of balance, your body coordinates information from the vestibular system with information from your skeletal system and your eyes.
Vertigo and Balance Disorders
Vertigo frequently occurs as a symptom of a balance disorder, which is the term for any condition that relays false information to your senses and impairs your ability to properly balance or orient your body and/or head. There are over a dozen separate balance disorders, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, or NIDCD. The most common include benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV, which features recurring, brief bouts of vertigo; Meniere’s disease, which features severe, extended episodes of vertigo; vestibular neuronitis, which features sudden attacks of vertigo; and labyrinthitis, which can feature vertigo or dizziness.
Balance Disorder Causes
BPPV occurs when tiny calcium carbonate grains, called otoconia, spill from one of your otolithic organs into a semicircular canal and impair the function of a structure inside the canal called the cupola. Vestibular neuronitis is an inflammation of your inner ear’s vestibular nerve that sometimes develops as a consequence of a viral infection. Labyrinthitis is an inflammation of your labyrinth that stems from viral infections such as colds or flu, or from a bacterial infection. No one knows what triggers the onset of Meniere’s disease, the NIDCD reports.
Additional Vertigo Causes
The National Health Service lists additional potential causes of vertigo that include migraine headaches and head injuries, as well as less common causes such as multiple sclerosis, a tumor in the cerebellum at the bottom of your brain, a non-cancerous tumor on your brain’s acoustic nerve called an acoustic neuroma, a stroke, and a transient ischemic attack, sometimes referred to as a “mini-stroke.” Consult your doctor for more information on balance disorders and other potential causes of vertigo.
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