Why Do Balance Disorders Accompany Hearing Loss?

Many people associate the sense of balance with the brain, aging or a person’s overall fitness. But, as it turns out, most proprioception begins in the ear. Moreover, there appear to be several links between a person’s sense of balance and their ability to hear. In this article, we discuss the links between the two. The more you understand how hearing loss and proprioception go together, the less likely you are to experience a severe fall.

How the Ears Control Balance

The inner ear contains two key components: the cochlear and the vestibular system. The cochlear is a snail-shaped object containing thousands of tiny hair-like filaments that detect sounds and convert them into electrical signals the brain can understand. By contrast, the vestibular system is a complex of looped tubes or semicircular canals containing fluid.

As the body moves through space and changes its orientation, the fluid in these tubes moves, too. When this happens, it informs a person’s sense of balance. Under normal conditions, the balancing apparatus works flawlessly. However, when you spin around, it disrupts the fluid in the tubes, making you feel dizzy temporarily. After you stop moving, everything around you seems to continue spinning, thanks to ongoing electrical signals the vestibular system is sending to the brain.

Conditions that affect the vestibular system can also cause dizziness, faintness, unsteadiness and related symptoms. Vertigo, for instance, makes patients feel like they are spinning or that other objects are rotating around them. Other conditions, such as disequilibrium, refer more to spatial disorientation and can make it hard to walk or stand.

The Link Between Hearing Loss and Balance

Researchers are still uncovering the links between hearing loss and balance. However, there are already several theories out there that explain the connection. For many patients, aging is the prime culprit. As the body ages, so too does the cochlear and vestibular complex. The fine hair-like filaments in the cochlear begin to lose their flexibility and ability to convert sound energy into auditory nerve signals.

The same basic process is underway in the vestibular system. Over time individuals lose their ability to balance because of a reduction in the quality of the tissue. In addition to this, some diseases affect both the cochlear and the vestibular tubes. Meniere’s disease, for instance, causes hearing loss, ringing in the ears, and loss of balance because it impacts both systems.

Most patients experience repeated rounds of vertigo and have constant, background hearing loss. Symptoms tend to get worse over time and, eventually, can progress to permanent hearing loss and serious balance issues. In most cases, Meniere’s disease won’t go away, but it can be managed.

Lastly, some people experience both balance problems and hearing loss after an injury. Severe head trauma can damage the cochlear and vestibular systems at the same time. In this case, symptoms are usually temporary while the body heals.

How to Treat Hearing Loss and Balance Disorders

Treatment for hearing loss and balance disorders varies according to the underlying condition. If aging is the problem, then anti-dizziness medications and hearing aids might be the right course of action. Hearing aids amplify incoming sounds so that you can hear them better.

If your symptoms are from Meniere’s disease, then you may receive anti-nausea medications and corticosteroids for hearing loss. These mitigate symptoms, but they do not address the underlying cause. Likewise, if a bacterial infection is the suspected cause of symptoms, you’ll receive a course of antibiotics.

In benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, tiny crystals form in the ear. These can sometimes cause vertigo. If you have this condition, you may receive treatment to eliminate these crystals and restore your hearing to normal.

Get help for balance disorders and hearing loss

In most cases, proper treatment can resolve balance issues. It can also resolve hearing loss if excess fluids in the middle ear or an ear infection is the cause. However, if ageing is the cause of hearing loss, then hearing restoration isn’t possible. Patients may need to wear hearing aids or get a cochlear implant if there is damage to inner ear tissues.

Experiencing both hearing loss and balance issues at the same time can be challenging for patients. However, help is always available. There are numerous medical treatments for both conditions.

If you have balance and hearing loss occurring in tandem, contact our team at the Nu-Life Hearing Centre today. Call (855) 867-7449 to talk to a hearing instrument specialist about your symptoms and how a hearing aid could help.