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The inner ear

The inner ear

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Balance is often referred to as our "sixth sense" and goes unnoticed by people with healthy vestibular systems. It’s only when things go wrong you realise how important it actually is. Our sense of balance is created by a complex interaction of the following:

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  • The inner ears (Labyrinth) which monitor the directions of motion such as turning, forward-backward, up-down or side-side motions.

  • Eyes which observe the directions of motion as well as where the body is in space.

  • Skin – especially skin receptors in the feet – sense which part of the body is touching the ground.

  • ​​​​​​​​​​Muscle and Joint sensory receptors which report which parts of the body are moving.

  • CNS (brain and spinal cord) process the above information and makes sense out of it all.

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What can go wrong?

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Research suggests that about 60% of dizziness is of Labyrinthe origin. It is important to note that the term “dizziness” can be used to describe a lot of different sensations however. Lightheadiness or “typical” dizziness can be caused by a range of problems including: systemic illnesses, change in blood pressure, cervical (neck) dizziness and others. Inner ear dizziness, as we have both found out, is quite frankly, in a league of its own! The symptoms section will describe this in more detail but vertigo or motion is almost always involved in some form.

 

There are a number of inner ear disorders which can cause dizziness:

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