Most of your senses are involved in helping you to maintain your balance. Your brain interprets information from various areas of the body to help keep you upright. Information from your visual center helps your brain know if you are upright or leaning. Your nervous and muscular system feed information to the brain about where pressures are on the body. In addition, information from your inner ear is also required. If there is a problem with the structures in your inner ear, your balance may be affected.
Identification
Your inner ear contain structures that help you maintain your balance. Located inside of the inner ear is an organ called the labyrinth. This organ consists of three semicircular canals and the vestibule. You have fluid located within the semicircular canals. As your position changes such as when your lean or turn your head or body, this fluid moves and puts pressure on hairs within the inner ears. This pressure sends signals to your brain about your position and if any adjustments are needed to help maintain balance. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Vertigo is the most common form of dizziness. Although dizziness can have many causes, true vertigo is usually due to a problem in the inner ear.”
Types
There are different issues that can affect your inner ears' ability to help maintain balance. Infections, head injury, tumors, disruption of blood flow, medications and changes that occur with aging can all affect the structures of the inner ear and your balance. These conditions can disrupt your body's ability to sense the movement of the fluid. This means your brain will not receive the information it needs. Diseases, such as Meniere syndrome, labyrinthitis and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can all be causes of balance problems related to the inner ear.
Symptoms
The National Institutes of Health states that if you are experiencing balance problems, you may have symptoms such as feeling like your surroundings are spinning, being dizzy or lightheaded, trouble focusing your eyes, blurred or double vision, feeling like you are moving when you are standing still, loss of balance and falling. These symptoms can come and go quickly or last for long periods of time.
Diagnosis
Diagnosing a balance problem can be challenging. Your physician will need to go over your history of symptoms. This, along with a physical exam of the ears, can help narrow down the cause. You may need to be evaluated by an ear specialist also called an otolaryngologist and/or a neurologist. Your health care provider may use hearing tests, Electronystagmograph, MRIs, other scans and blood tests to help diagnose the cause.
Treatments
The type of treatment you receive will depend on the cause of your balance problem. In many cases, it means treating the underlying condition, such as an infection. The Mayo Clinic states that performing specialized vestibular rehabilitation exercises, taught by a trained therapist, can help you to improve your balance. Changing your diet and certain medications may also help. You and your doctor will need to discuss all of the potential treatment options to determine which one is right for your situation.
