Common features
Episodes may involve spinning vertigo, motion-induced dizziness, imbalance, nausea and strong visual sensitivity. Migraine features such as light or sound sensitivity may occur with the vestibular symptoms.
Headache does not have to dominate
Some people expect every migraine attack to involve severe head pain. In vestibular migraine, dizziness, vertigo, rocking, motion intolerance or visual-motion sensitivity may be the symptom that interferes most with normal life.
Why supermarkets, scrolling and busy spaces can feel difficult
Large patterned environments, moving crowds, scrolling screens and rapid head or eye movement can create a high visual-motion load. People often describe feeling disoriented, visually overwhelmed or as though the ground is moving, even when they can still walk normally.
Other vestibular conditions can overlap
Vertigo and imbalance have many possible causes. Inner-ear disorders, benign positional vertigo, persistent postural-perceptual dizziness and other neurological or medical conditions can overlap with migraine symptoms, so persistent or changing dizziness deserves proper assessment.
What to track
Track vertigo or dizziness separately from head pain. Note duration, visual-motion sensitivity, nausea, balance symptoms, hearing or ear symptoms, migraine sensory features, menstrual timing where relevant and whether an episode happened with or without headache.
Treatment approach
Care can combine migraine management with rehabilitation for persistent motion or balance sensitivity. Preventive migraine therapies may help selected people, while vestibular physiotherapy can be useful when motion-induced dizziness, visual dependence or imbalance remains between attacks.
When to seek urgent assessment
New severe vertigo with weakness, facial droop, speech difficulty, new major vision change, inability to walk safely or another acute neurological symptom should not be assumed to be vestibular migraine.
Go to the original sources.
Clea checks source material, but PBS listings, medicine information and treatment access can change. Confirm current details with the TGA, PBS, your pharmacist or treating clinician.
How Clea sources and reviews migraine information →