Why Do Balance Disorders Accompany Hearing Loss?

The ear and its hearing process are more complex than many people think. Beyond making it possible for you to enjoy the sounds in your environment, your ears also help you to orient yourself and maintain balance and spatial awareness. So once your auditory system is compromised, other aspects of your spatial awareness and balance are also affected. However, if you’re currently struggling to maintain your balance, that does not automatically mean that you will experience hearing loss at any time. But balance disorders may accompany hearing loss, and understanding this connection can help you take better care of your overall wellbeing. 

The Connection Between Hearing Loss and Balance Disorders 

Hearing loss occurs in a degenerated process that affects your inner ear when it is age-related. As you age, your blood vessel walls thicken due to an aging process called arteriosclerosis. The thickening may lead to a gradual reduction of blood supply to the inner areas of the ear, which may result in partial occlusion, forcing the body’s balance mechanism to readjust. 

But sudden movements like getting up or turning your head too quickly can aggravate it. With time, the partial occlusion becomes complete as the inner ear’s blood supply drops even more. And this results in acute dizziness and balance disorders associated with vomiting and nausea. And this may persist for several days. 

How a Normal Ear Affects Your Balance

The inner part of the ear contains fluid, which bathes the delicate nerve endings of your hearing and balance mechanisms. It also stimulates nerve endings and causes the creation of an electrical impulse transmitted to the brain to interpret as sound. But beyond the sound interpretation, the fluid’s stimulation of the nerve endings also creates electrical impulses to the brain, interpreted as motion, which impacts balance. 

Ways an Issue with Your Hearing Can Impact Your Balance

Most specialists not only focus on improving hearing loss but also offer solutions for several balance issues associated with hearing loss. Here are some ways a problem with your auditory system can affect your balance:

• Circulation changes: Anything that interferes with or interrupts blood circulation to the delicate structures in the inner parts of the ear can lead to dizziness and, sometimes, hearing loss. The circulation disruption can be partial or complete, as indicated earlier.

• Balance maintenance: The human balance system comes in four main parts – the central nervous system, the muscles, the inner ear and the eye. And while all four parts work independently, they remain connected through the brain. Therefore, anything that affects one part of the balance system can impact the other parts of the brain. The inner ear, for example, contains the vestibular labyrinth, which is filled with fluid. And when you move your head, this fluid sends impulses to your brain by stimulating the nerve endings in the inner ear. 

The brain receives equal quantities of impulses from the two inner ears. When the inner ears fail to function properly, the impulses sent to the brain are no longer equal. And this causes the brain to perceive the impulses it receives as distorted or unbalanced. The brain then sends distorted messages to the eyes, and this causes them to move back and forth. This back-and-forth eye movement is known as nystagmus. It creates a sensation of your environment spinning, causing you to lose your balance. 

• A case of ear dizziness: Aside from the degeneration of the aging process, other factors like pressure, infection or inflammation of the inner ear, can lead to a disruption in the fluid pressure of blood circulation in the inner part of the ear. And this is a major cause of ear dizziness. The difference between ear dizziness and age-related imbalance is that you can experience the spinning sensation without hearing loss. 

• You can also experience dizziness or a spinning sensation due to an over-stimulation of the fluids in the inner ears. A typical example of this happening is when you spin very fast and come to a sudden stop. Your inner ear fluids will over-stimulate at this point and cause the dizziness mentioned. Again, this does not necessarily lead to hearing loss. 

If you’re experiencing hearing loss, balance disorders or both, it’s best to see a hearing professional for a proper diagnosis. They can help get to the bottom of your problems and recommend the right treatment. To learn more about Byron’s Hudson Valley Hearing Aid Centers and how we can assist your hearing loss and its related balance disorders, kindly contact us at these phone numbers: 845-481-9267, 845-232-2147 and 845-481-9266.