Dizziness Depot

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.

Third mobile window syndromes (TMWS) are a relatively recent discovery but are an increasingly recognized pathology in otology. The hearing function of the human ear works by the pinna and the external auditory canal funneling sound to the eardrum. The eardrum vibrates once stimulated with the sound waves and moves the middle ear bones called the ossicles. The ossicles then

Dear Readers: During this holiday season, the editors at Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) are taking some time off. However, we are not leaving you without anything to read on our blog this week. Instead, we are publishing a special holiday edition filled with what we call our Readers’ Choices. Our Readers’ Choices featured this week are the posts

We have completed skull vibration testing as part of our clinical protocol for several years and have found it to be a helpful cross check measure for detecting peripheral (inner ear) vestibular abnormalities. It is important to note that we use skull vibration as a part of our test battery and not as an isolated measure. In general, abnormal skull

Editors Note: This is a coauthored case report with one of our Audiology Doctoral Externs Jordan Hennessee. Jordan is a 4th year Doctor of Audiology Extern at Wake Forest Baptist Health.  Her interests include working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, pediatric audiology, vestibular audiology, cochlear implants, and adult hearing diagnostics. Jordan is currently enrolled at Salus University’s Osborne College

The vestibular system has two primary roles: to provide visual stability during head movements and to assist with postural control. The peripheral (inner ear) vestibular system is able to do this with three semicircular canals (angular sensors) and two otolith organs (linear sensors) on each side. The information coded by these organs is transmitted to the brain and either sent

It is not uncommon to have a patient describing a history consistent with current active BPPV, and to have your exams, including Dix-Hallpike tests, be negative. My last post described techniques that can improve the likelihood of a positive test in these patients, but sometimes despite your best efforts, you cannot trigger an episode of positional vertigo in your office.

The vestibular system (inner ear and brain pathways) has a primary role of providing visual stability associated with head movement through the vestibular ocular reflex (VOR). The VOR is able to provide visual stability by causing the eyes to move in the opposite direction of a head turn or head tilt. For instance, if a head is turned right, the