Your Inner Ears Are the Key to Maintaining Your Balance
The complex labyrinth located in your inner ear that plays an essential role in processing sound for your brain also helps your body to remain upright. The cochlea, the otolithic organs and the semicircular canals are three components of the inner ear; the latter being the one that aids in controlling balance.
The semicircular canals are characterized by three circular loops. Each loop senses movement in a different direction as the fluid within these loops moves and interacts with the hair cells of the inner ear, similar to the bubble used in a carpenter’s level or plumb.
When your brain receives the signals from these inner-ear hair cells, it signals your body to make the necessary adjustments to keep you upright.
Symptoms and Causes of Common Balance Challenges
Sensations of dizziness, vertigo, nausea and/or a loss of balance are often related to damage or deterioration of the structures in the inner ear. This damage can lead to a form of motion sickness that makes sitting or standing complicated as well as produce symptoms of severe vertigo even when you are lying down
A range of health conditions contribute to these symptoms, such as:
Labyrinthitis – an inner ear infection with inflammation in the labyrinth structure of the inner ear that can lead to tinnitus and hearing loss.
Meniere’s Disease – an increased in pressure within the labyrinth structure of the inner ear, which has no cure, but medications can help manage it and it usually disappears naturally aer a few years.
Perilymph Fistula – a condition associated with birth defects, head injury or head surgery, a severe ear infection, or a side effect of scuba diving in which from the inner ear leaks into the middle ear.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) – a common, but less critical issue involving positional balance.
Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) – an ongoing sensation of movement like the rocking of a boat or the motion of a treadmill aer you have le the boat or treadmill.
PHC’s Treatment for Balance-Related Disorders
Treatment for balance-related disorders is determined by the cause and severity of each condition, which can include correction, rehabilitation or symptom management.
Pharmaceutical Solutions
Treating inflammation causing infections like labyrinthitis and vestibular neuronitis are among the pharmaceutical solutions used to treat balance-related disorders. Other medications designed to reduce pressure are used to help manage Meniere’s disease.
Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT)
Among our primary treatment options for dizziness, vertigo and balance disorders is vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT). The primary application of VRT involves treatment for BPPV and MdDS, but it is also used to improve and maintain their balance while they undergo other forms of treatment for various balance-related disorders.
VRT includes a series of exercises that help desensitize your balance system, especially as it makes adjustments during certain movements. Through VRT patients learn how to move around without triggering dizziness or vertigo, which protects them from feeling out of balance and prevents falls.
