Balance tests

What are balance tests?

Balance tests are a group of tests that check for balance disorders. A balance disorder is a condition that makes you feel unsteady or dizzy. Dizziness means different things to different people. It can include:

Vertigo is a feeling that you or everything around you is spinning

Feeling as if you're going to fall

Feeling lightheaded or as if you are going to faint

Balance disorders can be mild or so severe that you may have trouble walking, climbing stairs, or doing other daily activities. They can happen at any age, but they are more common in older people. Balance disorders are one of the main reasons that older adults tend to have more falls than younger people.

Good balance depends on your brain receiving signals about your position and movement from your ears, eyes, and the muscles and touch sensors in your legs. These signals also help your eyes stay focused on objects when you change position. Problems with any of the signals that are part of your sense of balance can cause dizziness and other symptoms.

The part of your ears that controls your sense of balance is called the vestibular system or "the labyrinth." It is in your inner ear. It includes special organs filled with fluid and lined with sensors that have hair-like structures. When you move your head, the fluid in your inner ear moves the hair sensors. This triggers them to send nerve signals to your brain about your head's position and in which direction it's moving.

Balance disorders may be caused by conditions in your inner ear, head injuries, or certain medicines and medical conditions that affect your inner ear or brain. Other conditions can also cause problems with balance, such as vision problems, heart disease, blood vessel disorders, migraine headaches, and arthritis.

Balance tests help find the cause of balance problems so that you can get the right treatment to improve your balance and avoid falls.

Other names: vestibular balance testing, vestibular testing

What are they used for?

Balance tests are used to help find the cause of balance problems, so you can get the right treatment to improve your balance and avoid falls. There are many types of balance disorders, including:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). BPPV is the most common cause of vertigo in adults. With this condition, you feel a spinning sensation when you move your head in certain ways. Normally, part of your inner ear has grains of calcium that trigger signals that tell your brain about your head's position and movement. BPPV happens if these grains slip out of place and get into a part of your inner ear where they don't belong. When the grains move around in the wrong place, they trigger confusing signals about how your head is moving.

Labyrinthitis. This balance disorder can cause dizziness and temporary hearing loss. It happens if your inner ear becomes irritated and swollen, usually from a cold or flu.

Meniere's disease. This disorder causes vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and a full feeling in your ears. It happens when too much fluid builds up in the vestibular system. The cause is unknown.

Vestibular neuritis. This is inflammation (swelling) of the vestibular nerve. This nerve carries signals from the vestibular system in the inner ear to your brain. It's usually caused by a virus. The main symptoms are nausea and vertigo.

Perilymph fistula. This happens when fluid in the inner ear leaks into the middle ear, where your eardrum is. It causes an unsteady feeling, dizziness, and nausea. The symptoms usually get worse with activity. Causes include head injury, ear surgery, and many long-lasting ear infections.

Mal de Debarquement syndrome (MdDS). This condition is triggered after long periods of motion, such as being on a boat or running on a treadmill. After you stop moving, you still have a swaying or bobbing feeling that can last for hours or days. Severe cases can last months or even years. The cause is unknown.

You'll stand barefoot on a platform facing a screen.

You'll wear a safety harness to catch you if you lose your balance.

Your balance will be measured when the platform is still and when it's moving while:

Your eyes are opened and closed

You are looking at a moving image on the screen in front of you

Other tests include:

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) tests to measure how certain parts of your inner ear are working. This test involves lying back in a chair and listening to sounds through earphones while you lift and turn your head. Electrodes attached to your neck and face record your muscle movements.

Dix-Hallpike manoeuvre to check how your eyes move when your provider quickly moves your head in different positions. This test can show whether vertigo is caused by changes in head position or a more serious condition. A newer version of this test is called a video head impulse test (vHIT). For this test, you wear goggles that record your eye movements while your provider moves your head.

Tests for balance disorders may also include hearing tests. That's because many balance disorders are related to hearing problems, such as tinnitus. You may also have imaging tests of your head and brain.

Inputs Courtesy: ENT Specialist Doctor with 41 years of experience. He can be reached only by WhatsApp messages at 9243301223.