Dizziness due to crystals in the ear

Dizziness: Crystals in the ear bring the affected person out of balance

12/10/2013

About one in ten suffers from acute dizzy spells during their lifetime. All of a sudden everything turns, the ground gives way, and those affected lose their bearings. Nausea and vomiting often accompany dizziness attacks. Fearing to fall, sufferers constantly look for seating or something to hold on to. Scared, they hardly dare to leave the house - especially in winter, when snow and ice increase the risk of falling anyway. And those who take a step outside the door usually have their eyes fixed on the next wall of the house. One of the most common causes of such sudden giddiness is the benign positional vertigo caused by certain movements, e.g. a look to the ceiling or a twist in the bed, is caused and lasts only a few seconds. Since the seizures can be very violent, they often trigger the fear of suffering from a serious illness. „Patients should definitely consult an ENT specialist. He can easily differentiate between benign positional vertigo and possible other dizziness causes by a simple examination“, advises Dr. Uso Walter, ENT doctor and CEO of the medical network HNOnet NRW.

The cause of benign positional vertigo lies in the inner ear. There, in a certain part of the equilibrium organ, microscopic crystals in a gel-like mass normally measure gravity. If these small stones loosen, they are easy to get into the archways. With appropriate head movements they whirl up there and irritate the sensory hairs. Since the other side does not transmit stimulus to the brain, conflicting information is transmitted to the brain, resulting in a violent dizzy spell. „The reports of the two organs of equilibrium do not match. The result is a confusion in the head, which is perceived as dizziness“, explains Dr. Walter. The affected are mainly older adults, as the detachment of the crystals is favored by aging processes. But also whiplash or severe cervical spine problems seem to trigger the disease. Women are affected more often than men. In principle, however, the disease can occur at any age, even in children.

In order to assess the clinical picture and therapeutic success, ENT doctors first of all question patients in a detailed discussion about complaints, triggering factors and impairments in everyday life. Then they check the symptoms. With the help of special glasses, ENT specialists recognize the cause of the discomfort caused by the eye movements. If these occur in headlamp position during a so-called storage test, the diagnosis is valid „benign positional vertigo“ as assured. The subsequent therapy consists of a sequence of defined movements that carry the stones out of the archways again. ENT doctors use so-called „liberation maneuvers“ such as. the Epley maneuver. „These are several consecutively executed 90 ° turns of the head about different axes“, describes Dr. Walter the therapy. „Already often repeatable, the first treatments already lead to freedom from symptoms in the majority of patients.“ Drugs are ineffective in this type of vertigo, but can occasionally attenuate the dizziness occurring in the storage maneuvers symptomatic. The success rate of treatment is nearly 100 percent. However, relapses may occur over time. (Pm)