Balance Services

Dizziness & Balance

We are proud to offer both diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of dizziness and balance problems. Many patients don’t realize that balance disorders have a variety of origins. For example, disorders of the inner ear, brain or central nervous system, vision, or cardiovascular system can all adversely affect balance.

Our diagnostic services are focused on determining the cause of your balance disorder so we can institute appropriate medical or rehabilitative treatment. In addition to our board certified Doctors of Audiology, we are partnered with several specialized Vestibular Physical Therapists in the community, whose practice is devoted to the rehabilitation of patients suffering from balance disorders.

Balance Tests

• Dix-Hallpike Testing:

  A test used to determine if Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is present. BPPV is the most common peripheral vestibular disorder, it is a condition. BPPV is a condition that causes positional vertigo when the small calcium deposits or crystals in your inner ear become loose. These loose crystals send a confused signal to your brain and cause you to feel dizzy or like you are spinning. This type of dizziness is easily identified and treated in our office. More information on this test can be found in Patient Forms.

• Videonystagmography (VNG) Testing:

  A test used to evaluate the balance system by recording eye movement in response to changes in head position, viewing moving objects, motion of the body, and/or thermal stimuli (warm and cold) applied to the ear canal. Special cameras are used to measure these eye movements. This test takes approximately 1 hour. More information on this test can be found in Patient Forms.

• Electrocochleography (EcoG) Testing:

  A test used to measure the electrical potentials of the cochlea and a ratio between the cochlear response and the firing of nerve fibers. A recording electrode is placed as close as practical to the eardrum. It is most commonly used in the diagnosis of Meniere's disease.

• Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential (VEMP):

  A muscle response measured through stimulation of the reflex necessary for maintaining postural stability.