Do you experience passing dizziness where you feel like you momentarily lose your balance? Though it is pretty common to experience a brief spell of dizziness, only about 40 percent of people seek medical help because of significant dizziness episodes. In fact, this balance loss could cause a spinning or floating sensation related to your inner ear. To help you avoid future serious injuries, and to prevent hearing loss, Hometown Hearing Centre in Ontario explains why your fall might be related to your ears.
The Cause of Balance Disorders
Vertigo gives you a spinning, rotational sensation and is caused by imagining movement of surrounding objects or oneself. Similarly, disequilibrium is the imbalance, instability, or equilibrium loss usually associated with spatial disorientation.
The disequilibrium feeling with a spinning sensation is associated with the inner ear, though vertigo is often a result of inner ear disorders.
If you find yourself falling down a lot, or experiencing these situations frequently, it could be a potential sign of hearing loss; but Hometown Hearing Centre can help with a free hearing test!
Ear Effect on Balance
Your inner ear has two different regions: the vestibular system responsible for balance, and the cochlea responsible for hearing.
The vestibular system is composed of a looped tube network, three in every ear, referred to as the semicircular canals; the central area they loop off of is the vestibule.
Your vestibular system uses sensory cells, activated by moving your head, to detect movement and is sensitive to small head movements.
The system sends the vestibular nerve signals, then joined to the cochlear nerve and carried to the brain.
If early signs of hearing loss start to develop, then this process is interrupted and can cause a patient to continually lose balance or fall down.
Relation Between Hearing and Balance
Various factors may lead to hearing loss, most of which Hometown Hearing Centre can help you prevent and manage.
Generally, hearing loss is thought to be part of the aging process and may develop independently or together with other body systems.
However, balance disorders can occur as a result of inner ear issues and early stages of hearing loss, resulting in a patient falling down more often than normal; these two factors can be related or occur separately, depending on the hidden cause.
Diagnosis of Balance Disorders
Evaluation of balance disorders uses videonystagmography (VNG), audiologic testing, and usually magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
In addition, a unique eye movement type called nystagmus is examined using VNG.
Nystagmus occurs as the brain tries to establish the body position on receiving conflicting information from the ears.
It allows the examiner to identify the position at which you feel dizzy though it is not always position-related, and not all dizziness causes lead to nystagmus.
Get Ahead Of The Fall With Hometown Hearing Centre
Some disorders of the ear might lead to balance issues and hearing loss — and if you find yourself falling down a lot, now is the time to take action.
At Hometown Hearing Centre in Ontario, we have extensive clinical practices specializing in ear surgery and rectifying ear issues and inner ear disorders. Book your appointment today!
