Not while your symptoms are unpredictable. If the room spins without warning, or you feel unsteady when you turn your head, driving puts you and others at risk. Tell your physiotherapist and your GP how often episodes occur. Once positional vertigo has been treated and retested as clear, most people return to driving. Some conditions have reporting requirements, so check with your GP.

Vertigo is a specific type of dizziness that involves a sense of movement, usually spinning. General dizziness can also mean lightheadedness, faintness or feeling foggy, which often comes from blood pressure, dehydration, medication or anxiety rather than the inner ear. The distinction matters, because vestibular exercises help inner ear problems and do little for the others. Testing sorts one from the other.

No, you can book directly without a referral. Scans are rarely needed for the common causes, because BPPV and vestibular nerve inflammation are diagnosed through clinical testing rather than imaging. If your physiotherapist finds signs that do not fit a typical inner ear pattern, you will be referred to your GP or a specialist for further investigation.

Yes. BPPV recurs in a proportion of people, sometimes years later, and recurrence is more likely after a head injury or in older adults. That does not mean the first treatment failed. Your physiotherapist can teach you to recognise the pattern early so you book in quickly, and repeat treatment is usually straightforward.

Yes, both are common contributors. Anxiety heightens your sensitivity to normal motion signals, which can keep dizziness going long after the original problem has settled. Blood pressure tablets, sedatives, some antidepressants and combinations of several medications can also cause lightheadedness. Bring a list of your medications to your appointment, and speak with your GP before changing any of them.

Because it raises the risk of falls. Older adults often have less leg strength, slower reactions and reduced vision, so a brief spinning episode is more likely to end in a fall and a fracture. Treating the vertigo is only part of the plan. Strength, balance and home safety work reduce the consequences if unsteadiness returns.