Dizzy spells can happen to anyone and are usually normal. It’s when they start affecting your ability to complete daily activities and your overall quality of life that they become a problem. If you experience frequent episodes of unsteadiness, trouble balancing when in motion or feel like the room is spinning, you may have a balance disorder. Understanding why balance disorders occur is the first step in effective management and treatment.
What Are Balance Disorders?
They’re a collection of conditions that affect your ability to balance while you’re sitting, standing or walking. You may experience unsteadiness, dizziness or a sense of falling that occurs with a specific movement or happens randomly. Your inner ear contains tiny fluid-filled canals that respond to head movement. Your eyes provide visual cues and your skin senses pressure changes to provide your brain with a clear picture of your spatial awareness. If any of those systems are out of sync, your brain may struggle to coordinate the different stimuli.
Common balance disorder symptoms include:
- Persistent dizziness or vertigo
- Blurred or double vision
- Difficulty walking straight
- Frequent falls
- Nausea or vomiting
- Hearing changes or loss
- Sensitivity to motion or busy visual environments
Types of Balance Disorders
Meniere’s disease: This condition is characterized by sudden dizzy spells and often accompanies hearing loss or tinnitus. It typically affects one ear.
Vestibular neuritis: If the vestibular nerve in your inner ear becomes inflamed, you may experience vertigo that lasts for hours or days. That affects your brain’s ability to process balance signals.
Labyrinthitis: Swelling of your inner ear can result in hearing loss, tinnitus and loss of balance. You can develop labyrinthitis following an upper respiratory infection.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: Also known as positional vertigo, this condition includes intense episodes of dizziness that occur when you turn or tilt your head. That’s the result of displaced calcium crystals in your inner ear.
Orthostatic hypotension: A sudden drop in blood pressure can happen when you stand, resulting in unsteadiness.
Balance Disorder Causes
Inner ear conditions: The delicate structures of your inner ear can’t send balance signals to your brain properly if they’re damaged or disrupted. That includes fluid imbalances, inflammation and hearing loss.
Age-related hearing loss: Your hearing changes naturally as you age. Your hearing and balance systems are closely linked, so those shifts can impact your environmental awareness and steadiness.
Medication: Ototoxic medications negatively impact your hearing health and include drugs used in chemotherapy and certain antibiotics. Blood pressure medication, antidepressants and sedatives can leave you feeling lightheaded or slow your reaction time.
Chronic health conditions: Diabetes can cause nerve damage that reduces sensation in your feet, which directly impacts your ability to stand and walk. Neurological conditions like Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis also impact your motor control. Cardiovascular diseases reduce blood flow to your brain, which may lead to dizzy spells.
Head trauma: Concussions, whiplash and ear trauma can damage your vestibular system and the neural pathways to your brain. Balance issues may develop immediately or over time.
How Are Balance Disorders Diagnosed?
If you see your primary care physician, they may recommend visiting an otolaryngologist or audiologist to properly diagnose your balance issues. Assessment begins with a physical evaluation and a discussion of your medical history. It’s important to talk about preexisting conditions, as that can help your specialist determine what’s going on.
Depending on your symptoms, you could undergo any of the following tests:
Videonystagmography: Goggles track how your eyes follow a moving object. That determines how your eyes and brain respond to stimuli.
Hearing test: A hearing evaluation determines if you have hearing loss and assesses your inner ear function, which influences your ability to balance.
For more complex cases, specialized tests—typically available at university or specialty clinics—may be used:
Rotational chair testing: You’ll sit in a chair and wear goggles to measure your eye movement as the chair turns. This is done to determine if both your ears are affected.
Video head impulse test: While wearing goggles, you’ll focus on a target while your specialist moves your head.
Treatment Options
Treatment depends on the cause of your condition, but may include the following:
Vestibular rehabilitation: This type of physical therapy helps you retrain your brain and cope with imbalance. You learn to use specific head and eye movements to improve your body coordination, reduce your fall risk and manage dizziness.
Balance and strength training: Exercise improves the physical systems that allow you to regulate your balance. By strengthening your legs, core and postural muscles, you can improve your stability, which compensates for inner ear and sensory loss.
Medication management: You can use medication to regulate the underlying cause of your disorder, such as anti-vertigo and anti-nausea drugs. Managing your chronic health issues and avoiding ototoxic medications can also ease symptoms.
Balance Disorder Treatment at Hearing Associates
Seeking balance disorder treatment can improve your well-being so you can enjoy your life without having to worry about discomfort. Hearing Associates offers comprehensive balance testing and care plans to help you address your needs and live well. Contact us to learn about our aural rehabilitation and schedule your appointment.