Inner Ear Disorder?

Ears, nose and throat
1

Hello, 

First time poster, I am hoping to get some insight into this. For the past 6 months I have had the weirdest sensation, it is like a unbalanced, bouncy feeling when I walk or even turn my head or body a certain way. It varies in intensity and sometimes I can go days without barely feeling it all. Everytime I think it's gone away it comes back. 

I am a healthy, 29 year old male. I exercise and work out 4-5 days a week. I have had bloodwork done a couple of times and everything appears fine with me. My doctor's seem a little stumped. It's very strange because it is not severe and it does not impede my daily activities, when I am at work I am fine or basically whenever I am sitting down. Even when I am exercising it does not seem to affect me. I only seem to feel it when I am walking around (I work in a city, so I do a good amount of walking every day to and from work). I feel slightly unbalanced and bouncy, like the ground is not even, sometimes even a "dipping" sensation. 

I have read about this alot and it seems to be related to the inner ear but I just wanted to be sure. It is not severe, and I do not feel dizzy or naseous and I can deal with it, but sometimes it really annoys me and I don't feel like myself and kind of stresses me out because it keeps coming and going. This has been going on for almost 7 months.

Is there anything I can do to help it, medication I can take? Or do I just have no choice but to wait it out? 

Thank you for the advice!

2

Read up on BPPV.....an ENT doctor could perform the Epley manoeuvre (see it on YouTube), no fear needed!

3

I have a similar sensation and I have been tokd it is mugrainous vertigo. I have been doing VRT exercises fir 14 months byt this sensation is new I think it means damage to the vestibular system. My problen originates in the brain, in the balance centre, There is no medication, I hope it wilk get better with time and pkenty of exercise.

4

Hi Kyle,

There is some additional information that would be useful if you could provide.  There are many causes of dizziness that have overlapping symptoms and many don't have specific tests so they are generally diagnosed based on patient history and clinical observations.  However the following questions will help others provide you better advice.

For your dizziness, do you feel like the room is spinning type of dizzy (called vertigo), or unsteadiness imbalance type of dizzy, or a lightheaded type of dizzy like you might pass out type of dizzy?

Does your dizziness symptom come and go or is it fairly constant, or do you have attacks of dizziness?  If you have had any attachs of dizziness, how long do they last and do they seem related to head position changes?

Did your dizziness follow a cold, illness, or accident or did you just start to notice the symptoms one day?  And have the symptoms become worse of the past 7 months?

Do you have headaches?  

Do you notice any difference between your left ear and right ear?

Do you have any other symptoms, such as hearing related, vission related?

Other possible symptoms,

(ringing in your ear, fullness or sense of pressure in your ear, hearing your own voice more loudly when you speak (called autophany), sound induced dizziness, pain anywhere on your head or face).

I beileve my dizziness is very similar to what you have described. However, I have a fairly rare condition that you are unlikely to have.  With any type of cronic dizziness I think it is important to get a diagnosis.  Most causes are not dangerous but there are a few that should be ruled out to be safe.  You will probably need to meet with a specialist, and ENT, or Otologist to get some additional testing.

Some conditions do have treatments that include medication, others do not.  Some conditions, need diet changes and some conditions require vestibular rehab.

5

Hello!

Thank you for replying, Dizzyear. I am not sure if it is related (I doubt it) But I had some food poisoning a couple of weeks before it started. 

I almost hesistate to call what I'm feeling "dizzyness" because I do not feel like the room is spinning or feel like I am about to pass out. It really is an imbalanced feeling when I take get up and take a step or move my head a certain way. It is a continuous sensation when I am walking. If you were to ask me to stand on one toe and point to my nose, I can do it no problem, so it is not that kind of imbalance. It almost feels  like my body is vibrating internally for some reason, but my symptoms are not severe just mentally distracting. 

One thing I've noticed, and maybe this will help, I've noticed that whenever I go to see a movie in a theater, I feel the imbalance pretty strongly when I come out of the theater. I've watched several movies with big loud sound in them and lately I've been sitting closely to the movie screen. So, maybe, potentially it is sound related? Maybe its the loud vibrations?

Other than that, I do not have any vision or hearing problems. I feel fine when I'm sitting down at my computer at work or at home. If I have to simply wait this out, I will but it does get me down sometimes because its such a weird feeling and I can't pinpoint what's causing it.

​Thank you for your advice!

6

Kyle I to have what your describing now for 5 yrs ,it's called MdDS ( Mal de Dembarquement Syndrome) it feels like your on a boat in rough seas ,or walking on sponge ,or bouncing on a trampoline . 

 I've tried various exercises ,but to date no luck ,but I won't stop looking for an answer . Watch your salt intake ,sodium not good . I have tinnitus 10 yrs ,I can put you in touch with a group who deals soley on MdDS ,very informative . Im only sorry you've got this debilitating balance to ,many have this issue ,even I was surprised myself . 

7

Agree with mdds as a diagnosis. Also could be migrainous if you have a personal or family history of migraine.

Klonopin helps me with those symptoms, but can be addictive. Vestibular therapy can help some. Also, allergies, obvious or not, can cause this. You may want to cconsider trying an elimination diet if you dont have any obvious environmental allergies.

8

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for the additional info.  Since you don't have spinning dizziness that comes as eppisodes.  This pretty much rules out 2 common conditions, BPPV, Meniere's disease.  There are still many things that can cause the imbalance types of dizziness.  Definately follow up and get additional testing.  Most likely, your Dr will request a hearing test, then MRI to rule out a couple of conditions (MS, Acoustic Neuroma). There are also some much less common causes like the one I have, Superior Canal Dehiscense.  Additional tests may include a CT scan or other diagnoistic tests.  I would stick with it to get a proper diagnosis.  Dizziness conditions can be difficult to diagnose and require some time.  Getting a proper diagnosis is key to coming up with the best treatment option.  You should be trying to locate a Otolaryngologist another name for ear nose and throat Dr (ENT). or an Otologist.  Otologists have additional training beyond that of Otolaryngologist related to inner ear.

9

Hi Dizzyear,

Thank you, I will definitely be going to see an ear doctor shortly. My gut tells me it has something to do with an inner ear infection. In your opinion, being that I seem to feel it strongly when I come out of a movie theater, could the imbalance be sound related? I dont have any trouble hearing but I've noticed on three separate occassions when I go to see a movie and when I come out of the theater, the imbalance sensation is fairly strong. 

Thank you for your help!

10

Hi Kyle,

Balance problems can definately be caused by an infection, but are more commonly caused by viruses.  These can attack the vestibular nerve that carries the balance signals to the brain or attack the balance organs directly.  Normally, these simptoms come on quite quickly and can be very severe.  The virus/infection can leave a person with a vestibular loss which can cause the dizziness feeling.  The vestibular system is working to move your eyes in an opposite direction to your head movements so that your vission is not affected.  If this system is compromised, it can cause a lot of weird symptoms and dizzy feelings. There are many tests for this, Caloric, VNG, ENG, VHIT, etc.  If this is the case, then Vestibular Rehab Therepy (VRT) is considered the best treatment.

I am not sure about the movie theater being sound related.  There is a lot of visual stimulus as well.  The balance system uses vision as well as one of its inputs.

By any chance do you have a change in sensitivity to loud sounce since you became dizzy?  Like clapping, other specific sounds?

11

Have you learned about or tried Epley maneuvers?  Sounds like you have inner ear imbalances that could be helped by this or other similar BPPV related exercises.

Dave

12

Hi dizzy ear, I've read with interest your above reply. My labyrinthitis started 7 weeks ago and on the same day as I was diagnosed with a chest infection. I didn't leave the house for ten days! I know that labyrinthitis can cause anxiety/depression, but I have residual anxiety....a knot in my stomach, a loss of confidence, and feel anxious about everything I have to do. Would this be normal? I feel that other symptoms are lessening. Iris

13

Hi Iris,

While I haven't had Labyrinthitis, or vertigo, and I am not a Dr,  I have ready a lot of posts from people that have had vertigo attaches like those with LAB, and this causes anxiety for a lot of people.  The fear that it might happen at any time and the fact that it can feel life threating can trigger a lot of anxiety.  I think this is fairly common for people with this.  It will probably take some time to recover from this feeling.   Three are medications that can help with the anxiety, but I think probably the most helpful thing is to feel confident in your diagnosis and understand that this is not a life threatining symptom even though it can be quite debilitating.  Are you seeing a Dr for this?  Did you get any medication?  I seem to recall that steriods are often give to lower inflamation.  There are also vestibular depressents like Valium that can help reduce the vertigo symptoms.

14

Hi Marlene,

Thank you for your reply and I a sorry to hear that you have been living with it for 5 years. How have you been able to manage it? Does it go on an off for you or has it been constant dizziness for 5 years?

15

Hello Kyle ,I've had it constant ,no respite . I've had a MRI for tinnitus 3 yrs prior to getting MdDS ,all was clear . I've had regular eye test ,nothing again wrong there . I've got allergies pretty bad ,maybe that's all part of it ,but can't say a definate yes . You can only go by symptoms of it . Will say be wary of what you do for it ,if not happy ( gut feeling ) don't do it .