Vestibular Neuritis and Labyrinthitis

What is Vestibular Neuritis?

This is a condition that is caused by inflammation or pressure on the vestibular nerve. The vestibular nerve sends messages between the inner ear and the brain about movement. This can be inflamed due to infection, a virus, reduced blood flow or exposure to allergens or toxic substances.

Vestibular neuritis can cause you to feel a sudden onset of spinning, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, imbalance and difficulty walking. Severe symptoms will be present for a few days and the severity of these symptoms will reduce over time. It is common that quick movements of the head will continue to trigger symptoms over the next few weeks or months.

What is Labyrinthitis?​

Labyrinthitis is when infection or inflammation occurs in the portion of the inner ear called the labyrinth. The symptoms include; sudden hearing loss, spinning sensation and loss of balance. Initially symptoms of vertigo can be constant, gradually improving to intermittent dizziness and imbalance with particular head movements or position changes. With sudden onset of hearing loss, it is important to seek advice for a medical professional.

How are they treated?​

Your doctor may give you medication initially to settle the symptoms. It is important to move around as normally as soon as possible and move your head to allow the system to recover. Vestibular exercises will help your system return to normal and you to return to your normal activities. The earlier you do this the quicker your system will recover.

Many people get into the habit of avoiding positions and situations that trigger their symptoms, these habits will slow down recovery and lead to additional problems.

How long does it take for them to improve?

Research suggests it takes on average 8 weeks for your system to readjust. However, each individual will respond differently, and your recovery will depend on the amount of pressure on the nerve/inner ear, the length of time you have been living with your symptoms, age and your general activity level. In some cases, minor symptoms may remain.

Exercise​

Once your balance improves, you should resume regular exercise which will help your balance system recover slowly. During your normal day to day activities and during exercise, you might think that keeping your head in a fixed position will help prevent dizziness but doing this actually does more harm than good. It is very important to move as naturally as possible to allow your balance system to return to normal.

Here are some simple balance exercises you could try at home:

• Focus on a point in front of you, preferably on a blank wall and shake your head like you are saying “no” or “yes”. Do this until your symptoms start. Try to repeat this 2-3 times per day. If you can manage 30 seconds without getting any symptoms, then you do not need to do this exercise.
• Practise standing with your feet closer together, try holding this position for 30 seconds. If you do not feel steady, try holding onto something. When you feel steady enough to do this without holding on then start doing this when you are washing your hands or brushing your teeth.

For more advice on your balance system and exercises see our balance page.

General Health

Your GP may wish to monitor your blood pressure over a period of time. Both high and low blood pressure can cause dizziness. If you have palpitations, please inform your GP about this.

On occasions, dizziness can be brought on by prescription medication. This is especially so with:

• Antidepressants
• Epilepsy drugs
• Medications to control high blood pressure
• Anxiety medication
• Sleeping tablets

If you take one or a combination of these medications, it may be worthwhile speaking to your GP about the doses or whether or not you need them.

A good diet and healthy sleeping pattern will make you feel healthier. Reduce the amount of ‘screen time’ as this can cause eye strain. Alcohol can affect the part of the brain that controls balance so we advise reducing alcohol intake.

Make sure you have had a recent eye check with your optician. Eye strain can cause symptoms of dizziness

Mental Health

Sometimes, there will be some setbacks in your recovery. Many people with vertigo will feel anxious about resuming activities. This anxiety can affect your confidence in resuming physical activity and delay your recovery. Slow down and increase your activity slowly. Be reassured that feeling this way is quite natural and that most will make a good recovery.

Stress, low mood and anxiety can have many effects on the body. It can make vertigo worse. It is important to address this if you feel that this is a significant problem for you. Your GP may be able to advise you but there is useful online advice on these matters here:

• NHS Inform – Mental Health
• Lanarkshire Mind Matters

Anti-Vertigo and Anti-Sickness Medication
These tablets can help during a bad attack of vertigo but we strongly discourage you from taking these medications on a regular basis especially for prolonged periods as they can cause side effects and prevent you from recovering from the original problem. Please do not take them to “prevent dizziness”.