BALANCE AND DIZZINES PROBLEMS

The audiology department at Northern Jersey ENT Associates is staffed by highly trained audiologists that hold a minimum of a Master’s level or Doctor of Audiology degree. All audiologists are certified by the American Speech Language Hearing Association or the American Board of Audiology. Licensure in Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensing is held by all the audiology staff members.

Hearing Evaluation is available to all age groups, from infant to older adult. Tests include: Complete audiological testing, Middle Ear Analysis, Acoustic Reflex, Otoacoustic Emissions, Auditory Brainstem Response, and Electronystagmography. Special Testing for Vertigo and Imbalance is also conducted.

Our audiologists are licensed to dispense several types and brands of hearing aids. All styles from Completely-In-the-Ear to Behind-the-Ear are available. The audiologists and the client will discuss the type of product most suitable for the age, hearing loss, and lifestyle of the patient. In addition to Hearing Aids, our audiologists can advise clients on Earmold selection, Custom Swim and Ear Protectors for Musicians, Hunters and Servicemen, and Dental Professionals are available. Custom molds for mobile phone or headphone uses are available as well. We stock TV EARS and Assistive Listening Headsets. Amplified Phones and other special products can be ordered.

Balance problems are extremely common, particularly in senior citizens. The inner ear balance system is responsible for maintaining balance and equilibrium, particularly during motion. The primary goals of the balance evaluation are to determine what is contributing to the imbalance and to determine if there is an underlying disorder that requires treatment.

Dizziness is a term often used by patients to relate to disequilibrium. The term is general and can include a wide array of symptoms such as off balance, lightheadedness, confusion, vertigo, and many others. Vertigo is a medical symptom. Vertigo is different from dizziness as it is a spinning sensation, not an off balance feeling.
Conditions that involve Vertigo that are diagnosed and treated by our staff include:

BPPV (Benign Positional Vertigo)
Meniere’s Disease
Endolymphatic Hydrops
Labrynthitis
Vestibular Neuritis
Acoustic Neuroma

Read more about Hearing Aids
Read more about tinnitus

Dizziness is a term often used by patients to describe a feeling of movement our uneasy equilibrium. The term is very general and can include a wide array of symptoms such as fatigue, visual disturbance, lightheadedness, confusion, vertigo, and many others.

Vertigo is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Vertigo is the feeling of motion when you are not moving.
There are many types of vertigo. Each one is diagnoses by specific tests and the story that surrounds the symptoms. Vetigo types include:

Meniere’s disease/Endolymphatic hydrops
Meniere’s disease is a combination of three symptoms: ear pressure, tinnitus, fluctuating hearing loss, and vertigo, and is the result of excess pressure of endolymphatic fluid (hydrops) in the inner ear. This type of vertigo can come and go and can be debilitating at times. Meniere’s disease usually occurs in only one ear, but may involve both ears in 10% of patients.

Treatment for Meniere’s disease includes diuretics, diet control, and oral steroids.

In severe unrelenting cases, treatment involves such measures as a labyrinthectomy or vestibular nerve section. Fortunately, the third stage of treatment is rarely necessary.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (“BPPV”)
ther are calcium crystals that float on a bed of mucus in our balance mechanism in our ears. Occasionally, these particles settle or move in one of the semicircular canals of the inner ear. Certain positional changes, such as rolling to one’s side in bed, can result in reorientation of the canal in space, causing the particles to sink to the new “bottom.” This typically results in a sensation of “room spinning” that lasts for less than one minute. Motion Sickeness in a car is one form of BPPV.

Treatment involves head positions exercises (Cawthorne exercises) or a maneuver to reposition the crystals done by your physician at an office visit called an Epley Maneuver.

Rarely is medication necessary. This type of vertigo is usually short lived and may occur only once in a lifetime.

Vestibular Neuronitis
Viral infection of the vestibular (balance) nerve can result in vertigo lasting for several days, followed by more prolonged imbalance. This usually occurs after the patient has suffered a cold or upper respiratory infection. It is characterized by a beginning phase where the dizziness becomes worse, then a middle phase where the patient can tell that one day it was the worst it has been, followed by a recovery phase where the dizziness gets better as days go on.

Treatment initially is with steroids and anti-dizziness medication. This is short lived and usually not cumulative.