Healthy people take balance for granted.  Then one day, the room won’t stop spinning.  Dizziness may give way to nausea that leads to total impairment, and blurry speech or disorientation may result.  Rather than involving an issue with the brain or another organ, the answer is sometimes as close as the very inner part of your ear.

Here at the Tallahassee Hearing Center, we serve a dual purpose.  Not only do we diagnose hearing impairment and provide customized hearing aids to our patients, but we also diagnose and treat those experiencing balance challenges.  Our own resident expert on balance problems and treatment is Dr. John Koonz, who calls excellence in this field his “daily goal.”

Common diagnoses of balance challenges include:

• Vertigo that occurs when the head is shifted.  There are different types of vertigo, but this form can strike with the slightest movement and can be the result of an inner ear infection.
• Vestibular neuronitis – Caused by a virus, this condition involves the infection of the vestibular nerve.
• Meniere’s Disease – The culprit here is the fluid balance found in the inner ear, which can cause ringing (tinnitus), feelings of vertigo or hearing loss that ebbs and flows.
• Labyrinthitis – Yes, we actually have an organ found in our inner ear that is named after a labyrinth.  When this “maze” becomes inflamed or infected, dizziness can result.
• Perilymph fistula – Again, we find a balance culprit in the inner ear fluid.  This condition results from leakage.