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What Do My Lab Test Reports Indicate?
Question: Will I benefit from seeing ENT specialist?
I did fall before Christmas. It was 3 d or 4 th fall in so many years. The GP did sent me to the neurologist specialist. He gave me Ronberg test (whatever that means) which was positive and ordered MRI with gadolinium. I did hear lot of various noises during the MRI in the headgear they put on me.
I did wear for 24 hours Halter ECG and did have a cardiac consultation, which have been satisfactory.
There has been no headache, diplopia, paraesthesia,and no episodes that would appear to be TIAs.
I have a hearing loss (diagnosed by the audiologist) in the left ear and wear an hearing aid and constant tinnitus (on both sides).
I do wear glasses,but there are no ocular issues.
He did consider intracranial pathology with acoustic neroma but did feel the scanning may come back fairly normal.
I did fall before Christmas. It was 3 d or 4 th fall in so many years. The GP did sent me to the neurologist specialist. He gave me Ronberg test (whatever that means) which was positive and ordered MRI with gadolinium. I did hear lot of various noises during the MRI in the headgear they put on me.
I did wear for 24 hours Halter ECG and did have a cardiac consultation, which have been satisfactory.
There has been no headache, diplopia, paraesthesia,and no episodes that would appear to be TIAs.
I have a hearing loss (diagnosed by the audiologist) in the left ear and wear an hearing aid and constant tinnitus (on both sides).
I do wear glasses,but there are no ocular issues.
He did consider intracranial pathology with acoustic neroma but did feel the scanning may come back fairly normal.
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Balance problems can have many different causes, but the two main ones by far are inner ear or brain issues. That is because the inner ear apart from the hearing function is also very much involved in balance as it has also some structures conveying information about position changes to the brain. The brain on his part uses that information to send the necessary commands to the muscles responsible for posture and balance. So a damage either to the ear or to the brain may cause falls.
It is a good thing you have been checked by a neurologist and furthermore have performed a MRI. In this way brain causes have been excluded which is important because while less frequent than ear ones, they could be more threatening. Also other issues such as blood pressure fluctuations or heart arrhythmia seem to have been already covered.
So to answer your question, I agree that now the next logical step would be a consult with an ENT (ear-nose-throat) specialist, to be evaluated for an inner ear origin. The fact that you already have had hearing issues reinforces that hypothesis as chronic ear problems often advance with age.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Balance problems can have many different causes, but the two main ones by far are inner ear or brain issues. That is because the inner ear apart from the hearing function is also very much involved in balance as it has also some structures conveying information about position changes to the brain. The brain on his part uses that information to send the necessary commands to the muscles responsible for posture and balance. So a damage either to the ear or to the brain may cause falls.
It is a good thing you have been checked by a neurologist and furthermore have performed a MRI. In this way brain causes have been excluded which is important because while less frequent than ear ones, they could be more threatening. Also other issues such as blood pressure fluctuations or heart arrhythmia seem to have been already covered.
So to answer your question, I agree that now the next logical step would be a consult with an ENT (ear-nose-throat) specialist, to be evaluated for an inner ear origin. The fact that you already have had hearing issues reinforces that hypothesis as chronic ear problems often advance with age.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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