How does hearing loss affect your balance
Hearing problems cause more issues than just hearing loss. They can also affect your ability to walk, stand up and maintain your balance. Your ears do not just help you hear but they work in symbiosis with other systems in your body to help you understand your positioning in space. Many people with balance disorders realize that it is their ears that are involved. These disorders of balance in the inner ear can give you feelings of instability, imbalance or constant movement. These feelings of dizziness can seriously affect your ability to walk, stand, and even sit. Before discussing equilibrium disorders and their treatment, it is important to understand why the ears are associated with them.
How do we balance?
Our balance system, the labyrinth, is a combination of bone and tissue located in the inner ear. It includes different parts such as the semicircular canals, the otolithic organs and the cochlea. The cochlea is used to hear while the semicircular canals are used for balance. These look like three loops, each channel being responsible for detecting a different type of motion. One detects the vertical movement, the other the horizontal movement, and the last detects the inclination. When the channel liquid starts moving, the hair cells detect it and inform our brain. This allows us to understand how we move in space.
Disorders with the inner ear can result in balance problems, dizziness, vertigo and even nausea. These are all serious problems that can affect the ability to move and sit. People who have severe dizziness may even feel uncomfortable when lying down. Several factors can cause balance problems but hearing loss can be an early sign of a potential balance problem.
Hearing loss and balance disorders
Although some of these conditions are related to each other, hearing loss and balance problems do not always occur together. All people with balance problems do not suffer from hearing loss, and all hearing-impaired do not suffer from a significant loss of balance. However, they can sometimes occur simultaneously.
Both labyrinthitis and Meniere’s disease can cause hearing loss and balance problems.
Labyrinthitis is due to an infection or inflammation of the inner ear. It occurs when the labyrinth, a structure inside your inner ear, becomes swollen and inflamed. This can lead to hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness and nausea. This condition is also known as vestibular neuritis, with the exception that it does not cause hearing loss. Most people do not have hearing loss when they have an inner ear infection, but it is possible. Most cases of these conditions can be treated and cured, but serious infections can cause lasting damages.
Meniere’s disease, also known as endolymphatic hydrops, is increased pressure in the labyrinth that can cause hearing loss, vertigo and tinnitus. Usually, Meniere’s disease affects only one ear, although bilateral cases have been reported. There is no cure for the disease, however, medications can be a source of relief. After a few years, the disease can disappear naturally.
Experiencing vertigo or dizziness? Speak to your GP and request a comprehensive diagnostic balance and hearing test for us today. At Attune Hearing, our Audiologist can help gain a holistic understanding of your balance issues and perform a diagnostic balance assessment or recommend the appropriate referral pathway for treatment. Call us on 1300 736 702 for an appointment now.
