Vestibular migraine is a condition in which the symptom of vertigo is more prominent than that of headache. A vestibular migraine attack can last from minutes to hours and people suffering from extreme vestibular migraine often complain of a constant sense of imbalance.

Symptoms of vestibular migraine:

• Continuous spinning sensation and feeling of vertigo for a prolonged period.
• Hypersensitivity to sound and light
• Nausea and vomiting

Causes of vestibular migraine:

Vestibular migraine is supposed to be hereditary in nature. It is hard to pen down the exact cause of this type of migraine but it is thought that changes in the vestibular structures that play an important role in maintaining the balance of the body trigger these migraines. As per research, when the brain stems overlapping these structures get excited, vertigo seeps in.

Vestibular migraine tends to make the sufferer hypersensitive to motion, iridescent lights and wine. This type of migraine does not occur quite frequently and very few cases are reported to doctors. Vestibular migraine is thought to be most common among individuals prone to getting migraine attacks quite often, but this cannot be supported by any concrete evidence. Chances of misdiagnoses of this type of migraine are quite high and it is often mistaken for other ailments such as Menier’s disease and benign positional vertigo due to the dominance of the symptom of dizziness over that of a headache.

Treatment for vestibular migraine:

Since research has not yielded any positive results in the field of treatment forvestibular migraine the usual treatment includes medicines used for migraine in general.

Calcium channel blockers, anti epileptic drugs and certain antidepressants are used for suppressing frequent attacks of vestibular migraine.

Triptants, anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs, anti nausea agents and certain muscle relaxants are used to treat acute attacks of vestibular migraine.