The inner ear

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:

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.

What can go wrong?

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:

BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) – brief, sudden episodes of vertigo and/or nausea with head movements. Usually episodic though BPPV can cause Vestibular damage which can result in similar symptoms to uncompensated Labyrinthitis. See: http://www.vestibular.org/bppv.html
Labyrinthitis or Vestibular Neuritis – infections of the Labyrinth or Vestibular Nerve – can cause permanent damage or temporary inflammation. See: http://www.vestibular.org/labyrin.html
Meniere's Disease - which is believed to be caused by fluctuating inner ear fluid levels. See:http://www.vestibular.org/vestibular-disorders/specific-disorders/meniere92s-disease.php
MAV – Migraine Associated Vertigo. Not inner ear related but can cause inner ear damage in some cases and can present similar symptoms to inner ear dysfunction though MAV is generally episodic. See: http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic727.htm
Labyrinth trauma/concussion caused by head injury. See link for Labyrinthitis as Labyrinth trauma is basically inner ear dysfunction.
Otoxicity – certain medications/antibiotics can cause damage to the inner ear. See: http://www.vestibular.org/ototox.html
Acoustic Neuroma - a benign tumor, which lies in the vestibular portion of the eighth cranial nerve. Affects balance but mainly hearing. See: http://www.vestibular.org/vestibular-disorders/specific-disorders/acoustic-neuroma.php
Perilymph Fistula - a tear or defect in one or both of the small, thin membranes between the middle and inner ears. See: http://www.vestibular.org/vestibular-disorders/specific-disorders/perilymph-fistula.php
Third mobile window syndrome (TMWS) (also known as third window syndrome [TWS] or otic capsule dehiscence syndrome [OCDS] is a vestibular-cochlear disorder in which a third mobile window of the inner ear creates changes to the flow of sound pressure level energy through the perilymph/endolymph. For further information, see: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-16586-