Hearing loss doesn’t only affect your capacity to hear and understand. Balance problems or vertigo are only a couple of the numerous health issues it may be linked to.
The hearing nerve is located in the cochlea, deep inside our inner ear, and it is also the location where our sense of balance is based. Because of that, be careful, because It can be compromised if you have hearing loss obtained by a head or ear injury.
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What is Vertigo?
Vertigo is a motion or spinning sensation that is frequently referred to as dizziness. The phrase is commonly used to refer to a fear of heights, although this is incorrect.
It is a symptom of an underlying ailment rather than a disease. For those suffering from vertigo, even small movements can be especially strong, and they can affect daily life, and what’s triggering the episodes will likely affect the symptoms.
Hearing loss, vertigo, and other balance issues are not usually related. You can suffer from vertigo even without hearing loss, or you could have hearing loss without ever having a balance issue. To avoid future balance issues or falls, it’s crucial to get prompt medical assistance if you experience hearing loss as a consequence of a head or ear injury. You could have even Ménierè’s disease if you just started suffering abrupt hearing loss and balance or dizzy issues.
Vertigo: Symptoms
- Balance issues
- Headaches and a feeling of motion sickness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Migraines
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears),
- Nystagmus, in which the eyes twitch involuntarily (typically from side to side)
Vertigo: Types
There are two primary types of vertigo:
- Peripheral Vertigo – An issue with some parts of the inner ear or the vestibular nerve, which connects the inner ear with the brain, can result in peripheral vertigo. The most typical form of vertigo is this one.
- Central Vertigo – When the brain malfunctions, particularly in the cerebellum, a condition known as central vertigo can develop.
Recently, a new type of vertigo has just been identified. Researchers referred to it as “recurrent spontaneous vertigo with headshaking nystagmus” (RSV-HSN), and it firstly occurred in a study that was published in June 2018 in the journal Neurology.
RSV-HSN
In a pitch-black room, participants sat still for around 15 seconds as an examiner swayed their heads from side to side. The participant’s eye movements were then captured on video by researchers. The results revealed that individuals with RSV-HSN experienced longer “nystagmus (twitching)” eye movements than those who were experiencing vertigo.
According to the researchers, RSV-HSN causes more severe episodes of motion sickness than other types of vertigo. People with RSV-HSN who participated in the study experienced attacks that included nausea, vomiting, headaches, and intolerance to head motions. They could have had symptoms a few times every week or once a year.
RSV-origin HSN’s is still unknown, but the typical medical treatment seems to be effective in treating the illness.
Ménière’s Disease & Its Connection to Vertigo
Ménière’s illness is an inner ear ailment that results in severe vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss, and a sense of fullness or congestion in the ear, and only one ear is often affected by it.
Dizziness episodes might strike suddenly or after a brief period of tinnitus or muted hearing. Some patients experience only one episode of vertigo, which is separated by a significant amount of time. Others could have several attacks that happen near together over several days. Some sufferers of Ménière’s illness have vertigo that is so severe that they lose their equilibrium and trip and fall.
Although Ménière’s disease can manifest at any age, individuals between the ages of 40 and 60 have the highest risk of developing it. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), there are presently 615,000 Ménière’s disease diagnoses in the United States, and an additional 45,500 cases are reported each year.
Why Do People Get Ménière’s Disease?
There are several ideas on what causes Ménière’s illness, but no conclusive evidence exists to support any of them. Some scientists hypothesize that Ménière’s illness results from blood vessel constrictions similar to those that cause migraine headaches – others believe that viral infections, allergies, or autoimmune responses may be the cause.
Ménière’s illness may potentially be brought on by genetic changes that result in anomalies in the amount or control of endolymph fluid because the condition seems to run in families. The fluid is what causes Ménière’s disease symptoms.
The semicircular canals and otolithic organs, which are used for balance and hearing, are located in the labyrinth (the cochlea). The bone labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth are its two divisions.
Endolymph, a substance that fills the membranous labyrinth, activates receptors in the balancing organs when the body moves. The receptors then communicate information about the body’s location and motion to the brain. The cochlea experiences fluid compression in reaction to sound vibrations, which activates sensory cells and causes the brain to receive information.
Ménière’s Disease: What To Do?
Finding the source of your hearing loss and vertigo and providing treatments to make you feel better are two ways an audiologist may assist you.
You’ll experience improved overall health if you take care of your hearing. It’s crucial to maintain excellent ear health and visit a hearing specialist on a regular basis since our ears are linked to our bodies and general health.
Six out of ten patients, according to scientists, either get well on their own or can control their vertigo with a diet, medications, or equipment. However, surgery is the sole treatment option for a tiny subset of Ménière’s disease patients.
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