Hearing Aids & Dizziness

[jimculleny]

I recently (within the past month and a half) started using a behind the ear hearing aid. Within the past two week I've experienced some dizziness. Might this be related to the presence of the hearing aid in my ear?

Thanks,
Jim

[Renovator]

I am not a physician, however it seems that anything putting any kind of pressure into the ear canal could possibly create some dizziness. I am dizzy without my HA's, so I could not tell you whether mine made me dizzy or even if they have made me more dizzy.

I hope this makes sense.

[kevels55]

Hi Renovator, ask your doctor about "Ménière's disease" and I would not wish that on anyone........................... I had it for many years! Cheers, Kev

http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com.../menieres.html

[Renovator]

I've had every test imaginable and they pretty much ruled out Meniere's due to my lack of hearing loss in the low-frequency range. I am told that, if I did have it, my lows would be gone as well, and they aren't.

For the longest time they called it Benign Positional Vertigo, until after about ten years a doctor said "ten years is not BENIGN!"

[kevels55]

Originally Posted by Renovator

I've had every test imaginable and they pretty much ruled out Meniere's due to my lack of hearing loss in the low-frequency range. I am told that, if I did have it, my lows would be gone as well, and they aren't.

For the longest time they called it Benign Positional Vertigo, until after about ten years a doctor said "ten years is not BENIGN!"

Originally Posted by Renovator

I guess if you have had it that long Renovator, you have been through all the "Vestibular Disorders" loops and back again! As you will be well aware, most doctors tend sit on the fence and BPPV is one of many disorders they may choose or discount in the same breath, they simply don't know for certain! I used to take Stemetil back then and at times I felt the cure was worse than the actual meniers, I ended up not taking them at all as they made me feel so ill..............I was lucky as eventually after a number of years it burned itself out, but unlucky also as it took most of my residual hearing with it!

I wish you luck! Cheers, Kev

Originally Posted by Renovator

I've had every test imaginable and they pretty much ruled out Meniere's due to my lack of hearing loss in the low-frequency range. I am told that, if I did have it, my lows would be gone as well, and they aren't.

For the longest time they called it Benign Positional Vertigo, until after about ten years a doctor said "ten years is not BENIGN!"

BPPV is treatable quickly and effectively in the office using a series of positions (canalith repositioning) if that is, in fact, what you have. If you have dizziness with certain head movements like looking up or down or even rolling over in bed and it's true dizziness, and by that I mean the room feels as if it is really moving/spinning, you could very well have BPPV. However, it is not something you should struggle with long-term. A good audiologist or even some physical therapists (esp those that specialize in vestibular therapy) can quickly diagnose and treat BPPV with a high success rate.

other than that, I would suggest an ENG (electronystagmography) to determine other possible causes of your dizziness.

typcially, hearing aid use doesn't cause dizziness...

[Hask12]

Don't know if hearing aids can cause dizziness but hearing loss can. They have medication for that such as anti-vert. You might want to talk to your doctor about it.

[Renovator]

I'm mixed up as to who is talking to whom here in this thread, it is like I was before my new hearing aids, HA HA!

Anyway, I have had vestibular exercises to do daily which helped. Some days are worse than others.

They finally had put me on small doses of meds for the dizziness, I don't want to mention them here. I can say I tried Meclizine and it made me so tired all the time that I ended up getting off of that. The two meds I am on now are working for the dizziness, most of the time.

I did have all kinds of tests for both ears, electrodes over my eyes, warm water flushing in each ear to see the stygmus, or whatever they were looking for. I don't really know if they ever determined it to be one side or the other or both sides. I was completely fine until one day in Dec, 1997 when I woke up, my world was spinning so badly I could not get out of bed. I had to crawl to the bathroom with my head tilted a certain way so I could vomit. I called my physician and told him there is no way I can even navagate stairs let alone get into a car!

An ambulance came and took me to the hospital.

It took about three weeks until I could drive again, I was so dizzy. Then the dizziness would get worse, some days, just making me want to go back to bed!

Although it has subsided with the meds, it really is never really ever GONE. I still have certain days that are worse than others! I've tried to connect it with weather, what I eat, other meds, etc, and cannot find any connection with anything at all!

Do you get dizzy with specific movements or is it just there, no matter what you do? If it's BPPV, usually it'll be caused by looking up or down or rolling over in bed/sitting up. It should only last 15-40 seconds and then go away until that same kind of movement is repeated. Although hearing loss may make you feel off-balance, it should not cause actual vertigo which is the sensation that the room (or you) is physically spinning around. Also, usually with BPPV there is very little improvement with any kinds of meds. It can almost always be treated successfully in the office by doing a series of positions.

If it's Meniere's, it can occur without the typical configuration of hearing loss but would almost always be accompanied by a sensation of fullness and a loud, roaring noise (tinnitus) at the same time.

[Vince Thompson]

I have the same experience, but it's not really a problem and I expect that it will be short term. It's not a constant thing; mainly for a few moments right after I put them in.