Hearing Balance Disorders

Hearing Balance Disorders Diagnostic Services

Forty percent of adults experience some form of dizziness in their lives. A careful history of your symptoms can sometimes be enough for a medical specialist to make a diagnosis and recommend treatment but often further assessment of balance is necessary and will include assessing your symptoms moving in different positions or lying down. The balance mechanism attached to the inner ear is linked to the eyes by a reflex and so testing will also include recording your eye movements under different conditions.

Dizziness and Balance Tests (Vestibular Function Testing)

Electronystagmography (ENG)

Small discs are place on the surface of the skin to record your eye movement whilst you watch a red dot that moves on a screen in a dark room.

Caloric Test

Warm or cool air is blown in one ear for 45 seconds causing the balance mechanism attached to the inner ear to react, resulting in eye movements that are recorded. After a few minutes rest the other ear is tested in the same way and the whole test takes about 20 to 30 minutes. These recordings show whether each balance mechanism is responding equally. It is completely normal to feel as though you are turning for 2 or 3 minutes during this test.

Vestibular Rehabilitation

Vestibular rehabilitation is a way of managing and improving dizziness or balance problems caused by the balance (or vestibular) organs attached to the inner ear. Most people find that their symptoms improve over time but if there is little or no improvement then vestibular rehabilitation can help. This may involve carrying out a programme of exercises under the supervision of a physiotherapist or a simple manoeuvre carried out by the audiological scientist. Some fluctuating inner ear problems such as Meniere's disease cannot be treated with exercises but advice can help in the management of this condition and your ENT consultant will advise you on this.