Many people come to Orlando ENT Hearing Center with balance issues searching to find the cause. Vertigo is often times the reason behind their balance issues. Today we will discuss vertigo and balance testing.
The balance system:
There are multiple parts of the body that work together to keep a person balanced. Feeling unbalanced can cause nausea and headaches. The balance systems incorporated the inner ear called the vestibular, the eyes, and sensory nerves throughout the body.
Doctors at Orlando ENT Hearing Center perform balance testing in order to find the root of the balance issues such as from vertigo, feeling faint, dizziness, lightheadedness, unsteadiness, blurriness, and confusion. Vertigo is the sensation that you or your surroundings are spinning. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, BPPV, is one of the most common causes of vertigo.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo:
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo causes anywhere from mild to intense episodes of dizziness. Vertigo is mostly triggered by the changing of the position of your head. For example, turning your head up or down when someone calls your name from the second story or below you downstairs.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is bothersome, but it is not often serious unless it causes a dangerous fall. You can receive successful and affective treatment for this issue during a doctors office visit.
Signs and symptoms:
You should seek medical attention if you experience dizziness or have a sense that you or your surroundings are moving, a loss of balance or steadiness, experience a fall, nausea, or vomiting. These symptoms can come and go. Beware, these signs and symptoms may stop for an extended period of time and return, so seek attention to be relieved of all the horrible affects.
Different activities bring back these symptoms depending on the person, but mostly, they are brought on by the change in the position of your head. Some patients say they felt dizzy just standing or walking. You do not have to live with these symptoms. Visit Orlando ENT Hearing Center for relief.
For the most part, vertigo cannot cause any serious health issues unless you vomit so often that you lose weight or nutrients. However, vertigo or dizziness may not always be harmless. It may be a sign of another health issue.
Vertigo may be a symptom of something deeper and more serious. This is why it is important to have balance testing performed on you by doctors. Dizziness and vertigo along with fever, hearing loss, trouble speaking, trouble speaking, or a new headache is a sign of something more serious.
Also, if you have vertigo along with double vision, loss of vision, numbness, tingling, leg or arm weakness, loss of consciousness, or trouble speaking, it is best to have a loved one take you for a trip to the Emergency Room as soon as possible. These are all very significant signs.
If a cause is determined, it is usually associated to a minor or sever blow to the head. It is less common, but sometimes damages from surgery to your inner ear or prolonged positioning such as laying in a dentist chair causes this vertigo. Migraines are commonly hand and hand with vertigo.
The ears play a role:
The vestibular labyrinth is a tiny organ inside your ear. There are three loop-shaped structures inside your ear that contains fluid and hair-like sensors that sense the rotation of your head. Otolith structures inside your ear monitor the movements.
They monitor the up and down, left and right, and back and forth movements of your head. This is where it gets interesting. The otolith organs contain crystals that make your body sensitive to gravity.
These crystals can become dislodged for a multitude of reasons. If they become dislodged, they may move into one of the loop-shaped structures referred to as semicircular canals. This can happen when you are, for example, lying down.
This causes the semicircular canals to become sensitive to changes in head positions they otherwise would not be sensitive to. This is what causes you to feel dizzy.
Thank you for stopping by and learning about what makes you feel vertigo. Next week we will go into how doctors at Orlando ENT Hearing Center perform balancing tests to find the causes of your vertigo. Make an appointment today to get balance tested.
We hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner with loved ones and make this holiday one to remember!
Staff Writer
