Vertigo is a common complaint of migraine patients. Ear-nose-throat specialists at the University of Pisa examined 22 patients with migraine headaches who complained of vertigo and 22 who did not, as well as 22 control subjects without migraines. They found that in both groups of patients with migraines a third had abnormal vestibular function on laboratory testing. In half of the patients in both groups the abnormality was in the inner ear (peripheral dysfunction) and in half in the brain (central dysfunction). This study confirms that both central and peripheral vertigo are common in migraine patients, whether they complain of vertigo or not. The most important question patients ask is what can we do about it. Fortunately, once migraines are brought under control, vertigo also subsides.
