This type of induced vertigo is self-limiting it lasts for a few moments and then disappears. Many children attempt to create a sense of vertigo by spinning or riding a merry-go-round or rollercoaster. This system provides instantaneous feedback to the brain, along with vision and proprioception receptors in the body, regarding our position in space. This arrangement of the semicircular canals, in combination with the hair cells within the utricle and saccule and otoliths (tiny structures that trigger the hair cells in response to movement), make up the vestibular system. It is composed of three semicircular canals, positioned at right angles to each other, that are lined with sensitive nerve cells, which act like a gyroscope for the body. The inner ear is not involved with hearing. From there, the sound turns into vibrations, which transmit in the middle ear via three small bones - the incus, the malleus, and the stapes - to the cochlea and finally to the vestibular nerve, which carries the signal to our brain that interprets those nerve impulses as sound. Sound waves travel through the outer ear canal until they reach the eardrum.

To understand vertigo, it's helpful to understand the anatomy of the ear. However, most health care professionals consider vertigo to be a specific complaint that involves the balance centers of the inner ear and the brain.

Some patients use the term vertigo interchangeably with dizziness to describe a variety of symptoms, ranging from balance disorders and difficulty with walking to motion sickness or lightheadedness.

Vertigo is the sense of the world spinning, rotating, or rocking that is experienced even when a person is holding perfectly still.

Vertigo meaning