The cervical spine has long been blamed as the cause of vertigo. Cervical osteoarthritis is indeed frequently cited. Nowadays, however, there are significant reservations about this aetiology.

In 1882, Barré and Liéou argued that irritation of the vertebral sympathetic plexus caused by cervical injuries would lead to a reduction in blood supply to the labyrinth, due to constriction of the internal auditory artery. This condition was termed Posterior Cervical Sympathetic Syndrome.

However, it is now known that intracranial blood flow is self-regulating, independent of control by the cervical sympathetic nervous system; it is therefore unlikely that lesions of the sympathetic plexus could cause changes (focal constriction) in the blood vessels of the inner ear.