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If you鈥檙e experiencing chronic dizziness, vertigo, or balance problems that make it hard to function at work, you may be wondering whether you qualify for long term disability benefits. Vestibular dysfunction is often misunderstood by disability insurers because its symptoms can be invisible, unpredictable, and difficult to document through standard testing. Yet for many professionals, these symptoms are anything but mild. They interfere with concentration, mobility, and the ability to perform even routine job tasks.

Below we鈥檒l explain how vestibular dysfunction may qualify for long term disability and what evidence is most effective in building a strong LTD claim.

What medical conditions cause vestibular dysfunction?

Vestibular dysfunction happens when there鈥檚 a problem with the parts of your brain or inner ear that help control balance, spatial orientation, and coordination. When these systems aren鈥檛 working properly, it can lead to symptoms that make everyday activities, including the ability to work, extremely difficult or even dangerous.

Common symptoms of vestibular dysfunction include:

• • Dizziness or lightheadedness
  • Vertigo
  • Poor balance or frequent falls
  • Disorientation or difficulty focusing visually
  • Motion sensitivity
  • Nausea triggered by movement
  • Feeling 鈥渙ff鈥� or unsteady, especially when standing or walking

These symptoms can come and go, or they might be constant. Even mild episodes can make it hard to drive, use a computer, attend meetings, or perform physical tasks at work.

Medical conditions that can cause vestibular dysfunction include:

• • Traumatic brain injuries (鈥淭BIs鈥�): Even a mild concussion can disrupt how the brain processes balance and spatial information, especially if the injury affects the vestibular system or related pathways.
  • Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (鈥淧OTS鈥�): This condition affects blood flow and can cause lightheadedness, dizziness, and fainting when you stand, often leading to a form of vestibular dysfunction known as orthostatic intolerance.
  • Chronic fatigue encephalomyelitis (鈥淐FE/ME/CFS鈥�): Many people with CFE experience dizziness, balance issues, and 鈥渂rain fog鈥� due to dysfunction in the nervous system鈥檚 ability to regulate physical activity and posture.
  • Brain tumors: Tumors that press on areas of the brain responsible for coordination and balance, especially the cerebellum or brainstem, can lead to persistent vestibular symptoms.
  • Vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis: These inner ear infections or inflammations can cause sudden, severe vertigo and balance problems, sometimes with long-term effects.
  • Multiple sclerosis (鈥淢S鈥�): MS can damage the nerve pathways that control balance, leading to chronic vertigo or disorientation.
  • Stroke or transient ischemic attacks (鈥淭IAs鈥�): A stroke affecting the cerebellum or brainstem can result in sudden, disabling vestibular symptoms.
  • Migraines (vestibular migraines): Some people experience dizziness or vertigo as part of their migraine attacks, even without a headache.

Because vestibular dysfunction is often misunderstood and its symptoms can be difficult to prove with standard imaging or lab work, it鈥檚 easy for insurance companies to deny these claims. That鈥檚 why involving an experienced long term disability attorney early in the process can make a significant difference.

An attorney can help you gather the right medical evidence, work with your doctors to strengthen documentation, and present your claim in a way that clearly demonstrates how your condition limits your ability to work.

How severe does vestibular dysfunction need to be to support a disability claim?

To qualify for long term disability benefits, your vestibular dysfunction must be severe enough that it prevents you from performing the key duties of your job. For white collar professionals, that usually means showing that your symptoms interfere with your ability to work in a reliable, safe, and consistent manner鈥攅ven if your job is primarily sedentary.

Most long term disability policies define disability in one of two ways:

• • 鈥淥wn occupation鈥� standard: You鈥檙e considered disabled if you can鈥檛 perform the substantial and material duties of your specific job (for example, a software engineer, attorney, or financial analyst).
  • 鈥淎ny occupation鈥� standard: You鈥檙e considered disabled only if you can鈥檛 perform the duties of any job for which you鈥檙e reasonably qualified, based on your education, training, and experience. This standard often applies after the first 24 months of benefits.

Even under the 鈥渁ny occupation鈥� definition, vestibular dysfunction can meet the threshold for disability if symptoms like dizziness, vertigo, or disorientation prevent you from performing critical job functions. These essential job duties might include:

• • Reading or focusing on a computer screen
  • Participating in meetings or video calls
  • Concentrating for extended periods
  • Traveling for work
  • Making sound decisions under pressure
  • Working a full day without needing to lie down or rest due to dizziness or visual disturbances

Insurance companies often overlook how disruptive vestibular symptoms can be, especially when the job doesn鈥檛 appear physically demanding on paper. But if your condition makes it impossible to work reliably day after day, it may qualify as disabling, even if you can push through for short periods.

Your claim will be strongest when your symptoms are well-documented by treating specialists, backed by objective testing when available, and clearly tied to how they interfere with your specific job duties.

What evidence can help prove that vestibular dysfunction is disabling?

Because vestibular symptoms aren鈥檛 always visible on a scan or easily measured, it鈥檚 essential to build a well-documented case demonstrating how your condition prevents you from doing your job. Long term disability insurers often deny claims for being 鈥渟ubjective鈥� or 鈥渦nsupported,鈥� so the more detailed and objective your evidence, the stronger your claim will be.

Here are key forms of evidence that can help prove vestibular dysfunction is disabling:

Detailed Medical Records

Your doctors鈥� treatment notes should describe:

• • The frequency and severity of your symptoms (e.g., vertigo, dizziness, imbalance)
  • How these symptoms impact your daily functioning and work tasks
  • Any safety concerns, like near-falls, inability to drive, or difficulty focusing

Specialist Evaluations

Seeing the right specialists is critical. These may include:

• • Neurologists who specialize in brain and nerve function
  • Neuro-otologists or ENTs who treat balance and inner ear disorders
  • Neuro-ophthalmologists who assess visual-vestibular interaction (e.g., blurred vision when moving your head, trouble with visual tracking)
  • Cardiologists or dysautonomia specialists for conditions like POTS that contribute to dizziness or lightheadedness

A neuro-ophthalmology examination can be especially valuable if you have symptoms like visual disorientation, motion sensitivity, or difficulty reading. These are common problems for professionals who spend time on screens.

Objective Testing

Even though some vestibular disorders don鈥檛 show up on imaging, there are tests that can document abnormalities:

• • Tilt table testing: Often used to diagnose POTS or orthostatic intolerance. It shows how your heart rate and blood pressure respond to changes in position, which can explain dizziness when standing or sitting for long periods.
  • Videonystagmography (鈥淰NG鈥�): Measures eye movements to evaluate balance function and inner ear response.
  • Rotational chair testing: Assesses how your eyes and inner ear respond to motion.
  • Posturography: Tests your ability to maintain balance under different conditions.

We鈥檒l delve deeper into the importance of objective medical evidence for vestibular dysfunction long term disability claims in the next section.

Functional Assessments

Functional assessments can play an important role in proving how vestibular dysfunction limits your ability to work, especially when symptoms affect your stamina, coordination, or cognitive functioning.

One common type of evaluation is a Functional Capacity Evaluation ("FCE"). This is a structured, objective test that measures your physical and sometimes mental ability to perform work-related tasks. It can assess things like your ability to walk, sit, stand, lift, maintain balance, or sustain activity over time. For someone with vestibular dysfunction, an FCE might reveal that even light activity leads to dizziness, disorientation, or fatigue, making it unsafe or unsustainable to perform job duties for a full workday.

In addition to FCEs, a neuropsychological evaluation may also be useful鈥攑articularly if your vestibular issues include 鈥渂rain fog,鈥� trouble concentrating, or difficulty with memory or decision-making. These tests are administered by a licensed psychologist and are designed to assess your cognitive functioning in detail. For white collar professionals, results showing impaired attention, slowed processing speed, or reduced executive function can be strong evidence that your symptoms are interfering with key mental demands of your occupation.

These functional assessments are especially helpful because they go beyond subjective descriptions and provide measurable data. When paired with your medical records and diagnostic testing, they help paint a fuller picture of how your condition impacts your ability to work consistently, safely, and effectively.

Symptom Diaries or Logs

Keeping a daily record of your symptoms, including severity, duration, and what triggers them, can provide real-world context to support your claim. This helps show the pattern and unpredictability of your condition, which is often missed in brief office visits.

Statements from Employers or Colleagues

Written observations from people who鈥檝e witnessed your difficulties at work (such as needing to lie down, missing meetings, or appearing visibly disoriented) can help show your insurer how your symptoms interfere with your job duties.

Consistency Across the Record

It鈥檚 important that your reported symptoms, your doctors鈥� findings, and your test results all align. Inconsistencies can be used by insurers to question your credibility, even if your condition itself is well-documented.

Are there objective tests that can confirm your vestibular symptoms?

Yes. Although vestibular symptoms like dizziness and imbalance are often described as 鈥渟ubjective,鈥� there are several medical tests that can provide objective evidence of how your balance system is functioning. These tests can help validate your symptoms to an insurance company that might otherwise dismiss them as unproven or exaggerated.

Common objective tests for vestibular dysfunction include:

• • Videonystagmography (鈥淰NG鈥�): Measures involuntary eye movements in response to visual and positional changes. Abnormal results can indicate inner ear or brain balance pathway dysfunction.
  • Rotational chair testing: Evaluates how your eyes and vestibular system respond to controlled movement, often used when VNG results are unclear.
  • Posturography: Tests how well you can maintain balance under various conditions, such as standing on different surfaces or with eyes closed.
  • Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (鈥淰EMP鈥�): Measures how sound or vibration triggers responses in certain neck or eye muscles, which can show whether parts of the inner ear are functioning properly.
  • Tilt table testing: Often used when dizziness is related to posture or blood flow changes. This test monitors your heart rate and blood pressure as your body position shifts, and is particularly relevant if your symptoms involve lightheadedness when standing.
  • Neuro-ophthalmologic testing: Conducted by a neuro-ophthalmologist to assess how visual processing and eye movements interact with your balance system. These exams can detect problems like visual instability, difficulty tracking motion, or eye movement abnormalities that contribute to dizziness and disorientation.

These tests can be especially valuable in long term disability claims because they provide measurable, objective data. Even if imaging like MRIs or CT scans appear normal, vestibular testing can reveal clear dysfunction in how your balance system is operating.

Because insurers often demand 鈥渙bjective proof,鈥� having these tests in your medical record can make a major difference in showing that your vestibular symptoms are real, measurable, and disabling.

Can you receive long term disability if your vestibular symptoms fluctuate?

Yes, you can still qualify for long term disability benefits even if your vestibular symptoms fluctuate. Many people with vestibular dysfunction experience good days and bad days鈥攐r even good hours and bad hours. That unpredictability is part of what makes these symptoms so disabling, especially in professional environments where consistency, focus, and reliability are essential.

Disability policies generally don鈥檛 require that you be incapacitated every minute of every day. Instead, they look at whether your condition prevents you from performing your job regularly and reliably. If your dizziness, vertigo, or imbalance flares up frequently enough to interfere with your ability to work full-time or safely carry out your responsibilities, you may still meet the definition of 鈥渄isabled鈥� under your policy.

This is particularly true for white collar professionals who need to:

• • Maintain focus during long meetings or screen time
  • Travel or move between work sites
  • Work full days without needing to lie down or recover from disorientation
  • Make clear-headed decisions consistently

Even if you鈥檙e able to push through your symptoms for short periods, what matters most in a long term disability claim is whether you can perform your job consistently and reliably. For many people with vestibular dysfunction, the unpredictable nature of symptoms makes sustained work impossible鈥攅specially in professional roles that require focus, coordination, and stability throughout the day.

To build a strong claim, it鈥檚 essential to document how often your symptoms occur and how they interfere with your work. That includes keeping a symptom diary, securing detailed records from your treating doctors, and collecting statements from coworkers, supervisors, or family and friends who have witnessed your struggles.

An experienced long term disability attorney can help coordinate this evidence and make sure it clearly connects your symptoms to your functional limitations. In many cases, your attorney can also work directly with your medical providers to strengthen the language in their written statements, help identify the right testing to support your claim, and ensure your insurer can鈥檛 simply brush off your condition as 鈥渟ubjective.鈥�

Fluctuating symptoms don鈥檛 disqualify you. They鈥檙e often the hallmark of vestibular disorders. With the right legal and medical support, you can present a claim that accurately reflects how disabling your condition truly is.

How can symptom diaries or personal documentation support your long term disability claim?

Tracking your symptoms and documenting how they affect your daily life can be one of the most powerful tools in a long term disability claim, especially for conditions like vestibular dysfunction that don鈥檛 always show up clearly on imaging or lab tests.

Symptom diaries help fill in the gaps between doctor visits. While a physician might only see you for 15 minutes every few months, your daily notes provide a fuller picture of how often your symptoms occur, how severe they are, and how they interfere with your ability to work.

For example, you might record:

• • Days when dizziness or vertigo prevented you from getting out of bed
  • Episodes of imbalance or near-falls that made it unsafe to drive or walk unassisted
  • Times when nausea, visual disorientation, or 鈥渂rain fog鈥� made it impossible to focus on work tasks
  • How long symptoms last and what triggers or worsens them
  • Recovery time after a flare-up

This kind of documentation can help your doctor understand and describe your limitations more accurately in their notes. It also shows your insurance company that your condition is real, ongoing, and functionally limiting, even if some test results look 鈥渘ormal鈥� or symptoms vary from day to day.

You can keep your symptom log in a notebook or a spreadsheet. The format doesn鈥檛 matter as much as the consistency and detail. Over time, this record can become crucial evidence that supports both the credibility of your symptoms and the severity of your limitations.

In many cases, personal documentation is what ties all of your other medical evidence together. It can often be the deciding factor between an approval and a denial.

Why do insurers often deny claims based on vestibular dysfunction?

Insurance companies frequently deny long term disability claims involving vestibular dysfunction. Not necessarily because the condition isn鈥檛 real or serious, but because it gives them just enough wiggle room to argue there鈥檚 a lack of proof. Dizziness, vertigo, and balance issues often don鈥檛 show up clearly on standard imaging or lab tests, which makes them easier for insurers to label as 鈥渟ubjective鈥� or 鈥渦nsupported.鈥� In many cases, these denials are driven less by medical facts and more by financial motives.

Insurers often rely on a playbook of tactics to justify denying claims based on vestibular symptoms, including:

• • Claiming there鈥檚 鈥渋nsufficient objective evidence鈥� of impairment, even when specialized testing (like VNG or posturography) or clinical observations confirm dysfunction
  • Downplaying symptoms as mild or intermittent, ignoring how unpredictability can make consistent work impossible
  • Relying on in-house or third-party medical consultants who never examine you in person, yet issue opinions that your condition isn鈥檛 disabling
  • Cherry-picking favorable notes from your medical records while ignoring repeated complaints of dizziness, falls, or functional limitations
  • Misrepresenting your job demands, especially in white collar roles, by suggesting that sedentary work is 鈥渆asy鈥� even when symptoms prevent concentration or screen time
  • Suggesting that daily activities like walking short distances or preparing meals mean you can sustain full-time work, all while ignoring how full-time work requires stamina, focus, and reliability over time

These tactics are designed to cast doubt on your credibility and shift the burden of proof onto you. The reality is that vestibular dysfunction is often invisible but profoundly disabling. Just because a symptom can鈥檛 be seen on an MRI doesn鈥檛 mean it isn鈥檛 real or that it doesn鈥檛 prevent you from doing your job.

Ultimately, insurance companies are businesses. If they can find a reason to deny your claim and avoid paying benefits, they will. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so important to back up your claim with thorough medical records, objective testing, and detailed symptom tracking. It鈥檚 always recommended that you consult an experienced long term disability attorney. A knowledgeable attorney can help you push back against your insurer鈥檚 assumptions and make your claim as strong as possible.

How can an attorney help with your vestibular dysfunction long term disability claim?

If you鈥檙e struggling to get long term disability benefits for vestibular dysfunction, you鈥檙e not alone鈥攁nd you鈥檙e not imagining the obstacles. These claims are often denied or delayed because insurers treat symptoms like dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance as vague or 鈥渟ubjective.鈥� That鈥檚 where an experienced long term disability ERISA attorney can make a real difference.

An attorney understands how insurance companies operate and how to build a claim that overcomes their common tactics. When you鈥檙e dealing with fluctuating symptoms and complex diagnoses, your focus should be on your health, not fighting an uphill paperwork battle.

Here鈥檚 how a long term disability attorney can help:

• • Gather the right medical evidence. Many claims are denied simply because the records don鈥檛 fully explain how your symptoms affect your ability to work. An experienced attorney can work directly with your doctors to ensure your records clearly connect your diagnosis to your functional limitations.
  • Identify and obtain key testing. Attorneys often know what objective tests (like VNG, tilt table, or posturography) can support your claim and how to highlight these results to an insurer who might otherwise ignore them.
  • Handle communications with your insurance company. If you鈥檙e overwhelmed by repeated requests, surveillance concerns, or unfair denials, your attorney can take over correspondence and protect your rights.
  • Challenge improper denials. If your claim is denied, an attorney can review your insurer鈥檚 decision, identify weaknesses in their reasoning, and craft a strong appeal backed by legal and medical evidence.
  • Present your case clearly and persuasively. Whether you鈥檙e applying, appealing, or preparing for litigation, your attorney can make sure your claim explains clearly how your symptoms prevent you from doing your job in a reliable, safe, and sustained way.

When you鈥檙e dealing with a serious medical condition that causes vestibular dysfunction, you shouldn鈥檛 have to fight your insurance company alone. A long term disability attorney can give you a clear strategy, reduce your stress, and help you pursue the benefits you deserve.

Riemer Hess Client Success Story: Vestibular Migraines

When our client 鈥淥livia,鈥� a project coordinator in a fast-paced office environment, began experiencing debilitating episodes of dizziness, migraines, and visual disturbances, she knew something was wrong. After being diagnosed with a vestibular disorder, she filed for long term disability benefits鈥攂ut her claim was denied. The insurer claimed there wasn鈥檛 enough medical evidence to support her inability to work. Frustrated and overwhelmed, Olivia turned to Riemer Hess for help with her appeal.

Our attorneys immediately stepped in to strengthen her claim. We recommended that Olivia keep a detailed headache journal to document the frequency and severity of her episodes. Recognizing the need for objective support, we referred her for a Functional Capacity Evaluation and coordinated with her specialists to obtain additional testing, including an EEG and MRV. We also worked closely with her doctors to craft comprehensive narrative statements directly addressing the reasons her insurer had used to justify the denial.

Because Olivia鈥檚 migraines left her unable to sit at a computer, we even dictated her affidavit for her to ensure her voice was heard. With a strong, well-documented appeal package in place, we successfully persuaded the insurer to reverse its decision and approve Olivia鈥檚 long term disability benefits. Thanks to the support of Riemer Hess, Olivia now has the financial stability she needs to focus on managing her health. 

If you鈥檙e looking to file a long term disability insurance claim for brain cancer, appeal a wrongful claim denial, or litigate your insurer, Riemer Hess can help. Contact us today at (212) 297-0700 or click the button below for a consultation on your disability case.