Originally Posted by russiarulez

I found it helpful when talking to doctors to distinguish between "vertigo" and "dizziness".

Vertigo is the feeling that either you or the environment around you is spinning.
Dizziness is the feeling of unsteadiness or like you're on a boat type of a feeling.

I used to just say "vertigo" to describe my symptoms and then a physical therapist explained the difference to me.
To an ENT it is very important to know when you're having one or the other, as it leads to different causes.