Brady Workman

A vestibular evoked myogenic potential, or VEMP, is a measure of vestibular function that only recently is seeing widespread clinical use. A VEMP is a measurement of a change in muscle activity in response to stimulating the vestibular system. These measures allows us to intuit the function of specific end organs of the inner ear, predominantly reflecting the function of

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient, necessary for building and maintaining healthy bone structure by promoting calcium absorption in the body. Despite its importance, vitamin D is not found naturally in many foods. Also, with populations spending less time outdoors, vitamin D obtained naturally from sunlight is likely declining. As such, vitamin D deficiency is widespread with an estimated 1

Vestibular disorders are the most common reason for symptoms of dizziness regardless of the clinical setting. A five study average reveals that vestibular disorders account for around 45% of all dizziness and are much more common than cardiovascular or potentially life threatening neurologic causes for dizziness. Despite the magnitude of individuals suffering from vestibular type dizziness, these disorders are historically

The most common vestibular disorder is the condition of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), which accounts for up to 40% of all patients experiencing vertigo. This condition is the result of otoconia (inner ear crystals) migrating into one of the semicircular canals (head turn sensors) of the inner ear. The majority of cases can be readily treated with canalith repositioning

Just imagine, you wake up one morning and the entire room is spinning around you. You have no idea why this is happening or how to make it stop. You notice that if you remain still the spinning will stop, but whenever you move again, the spinning sensation starts again. Because the world appears to be spinning around, you become

As Halloween draws near we thought we would look into the question of “can you be scared dizzy?”. I will preface this post by stating that feeling fearful or being scared would not directly trigger dizziness symptoms associated with most inner ear conditions and in turn, the majority of the conditions discussed are outside of my area of specialty. The

September is falls prevention awareness month and as such we are going to discuss some of the more common risk factors for falling. Falls are an enormous problem that can impact one’s health, quality of life and financial stability. Falls are the second leading cause for unintentional injury death worldwide and cost over $50 billion in medical expenses in the

This month’s post is by Amanda Davis. Amanda is a 3rd year audiology doctoral student at UNC Chapel Hill completing her vestibular clinical rotation with us. She has a particular interest in cochlear implants and a recent patient that we saw inspired her to write this.  There are several hypothesized reasons for postoperative vestibular dysfunction, including but not limited to:

Vestibular disorders are the most common cause of dizziness, accounting for around 45% of all dizziness, regardless of the clinical setting. Despite this, vestibular disorders have historically been poorly managed due to protocols that often miss or misdiagnose those with vestibular dysfunction. Not surprisingly, protocols in the emergency department are focused on identifying life threatening pathologies and vestibular disorders are

Last month’s post was an introduction to Third Mobile Window Syndromes (TMWS) in general. This month’s post will focus on the diagnostic techniques that may be helpful in the diagnosis of a TMWS. Diagnosis is often reached through a combination of measures including vestibular and hearing tests, imaging with CT scan or MRI, as well as correlation with consistent symptoms.