Air pressure changes during flight, inner ear disorders, and factors like dehydration can all contribute to vertigo.

Vertigo is the false sensation that you or the things around you are moving. People often describe it as a feeling of:

  • dizziness
  • falling
  • floating
  • rocking
  • spinning
  • swaying
  • tilting
  • whirling

Sometimes, severe vertigo can make it difficult to retain your balance. You may also notice symptoms of motion sickness, such as:

  • headache
  • nausea
  • sweating
  • vomiting

Your vestibular system maintains your sense of balance and orientation in the space around you. Your visual system, inner ear fluid, the sensations of your body, and the vestibular regions in your brain are all in communication.

As you move your head, your eyes and the fluid in your ear quickly re-adjust to your location.

Sometimes, rapid head movements or changes in atmospheric pressure cause a mismatch of the vestibular structures, leading to a sense of disorientation of your position. That can happen while you’re flying.

Pressure changes can also aggravate pre-existing conditions of the vestibular system or the central nervous system (CNS), such as:

In rare cases, changes in air pressure can injure the inner ear. Barotrauma or “airplane ear” results from eardrum inflammation. Symptoms would include severe pain, sudden hearing loss, and bleeding from the ear.

Other factors also play a role. This includes symptoms that flying may induce, such as:

  • Stress: Flying can cause stress, which can worsen symptoms of underlying conditions, like Meniere’s disease, that may lead to vertigo.
  • Fatigue and dehydration: When you’re dehydrated, fluid volumes in your body can decrease, affecting blood volume, inner ear fluids, and electrolyte levels. Fatigue can amplify the feeling of low energy and instability, which may worsen symptoms.
  • Moving sensation: For some people, vertigo can result from the sensation of moving without the visual of a fixed horizon. When you feel like you’re moving, but your brain doesn’t have a fixed reference point, it can result in a sensory mismatch that makes you feel dizzy.

Mild cases typically resolve without medical treatment. You may find it helpful to:

  • hydrate
  • move slowly and with control until your symptoms subside
  • practice deep breathing
  • rest in a quiet, comfortable place
  • take ginger or other anti-nausea aids

If vertigo persists after a flight, even with careful management, it may be helpful to speak with a healthcare professional.

The severity of vertigo and how long you experience it after a flight vary depending on the underlying cause.

Alternobaric vertigo, the type of vertigo associated with changing atmospheric pressure, generally resolves within a few minutes after pressure rebalances within the ears.

Vertigo from other causes may persist for days, weeks, or months after flying.

Most of the time, vertigo that’s associated with flying is an unpleasant, but not dangerous experience. Less often, vertigo that is associated with flying can be a sign of an underlying medical condition.

You may need urgent medical care if your vertigo hasn’t resolved within a few hours after your flight, or it is accompanied by other significant symptoms such as:

Vertigo during or after flying can occur for many reasons. Flying can predispose you to dehydration, fatigue, stress, motion sickness, and sometimes rapid changes in atmospheric pressure.

When vertigo doesn’t go away within a few hours of flying or is accompanied by other symptoms, speaking with a doctor can help you rule out underlying medical conditions.