Vertigo / Dizziness / Imbalance

Dizziness can include a variety of symptoms, some of which may be related to a problem in the inner ear. Your ENT consultant will try to identify what may be causing your dizziness and if there is an ear-related cause, look at treatments and strategies to improve your symptoms.

Vertigo is a specific term used in ENT to describe a sensation of horizontal or vertical spinning, which is the commonest type of dizziness related to a problem with the inner-ear balance organs. This may include very brief episodes of dizziness related to certain movements (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) or vestibular hypofunction, related to previous labyrinthitis).

There can be longer episodes of vertigo, lasting hours and even days, often associated with feeling sick, which may be related to a worsening of the hearing loss and tinnitus. This could be labyrinthitis, or if it continues over weeks and months, may be due to Menieres’s disease or Vestibular migraine.

It is very important to rule out other non-ENT causes of your symptoms and your consultant will spend time determining if these may be contributing or causing your dizziness or balance problem; these include conditions of the brain itself, blood-pressure changes (orthostatic hypotension) and cardiovascular disease, eye conditions, neck and spine issues, joint problems, diabetes, thyroid disease, effect of medication and older-age related issues.