Balance and Dizziness

Millions of Americans experience dizziness or vertigo. Symptoms may include feeling unsteady, woozy, lightheaded, being unable to walk without staggering or having the sensation of movement or spinning. Other symptoms that sometimes accompany balance problems or dizziness include, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, faintness, anxiety or panic.

Because the balance organ is located in the inner part of the ear, people experiencing balance disorders will often have a hearing loss and/or tinnitus occurring in conjunction with the dizziness.

Because dizziness and balance difficulties are symptoms of a problem, people experiencing these symptoms should have a medical examination by a physician to check factors associated with balance problems, such as head injury, circulation problems, visual disorders, viral or bacterial infections, side-effects from medicines/drugs, tumors and other auditory system disease processes. An audiologist should also evaluate your hearing and balance. An audiologist will perform audiologic and balance assessment tests to help your physician determine the possible causes of vertigo. These results, along with the physician’s medical findings, will provide information on how to treat the dizziness and balance problems.

The audiologists at St. John Hospital and Medical Center are equipped to provide a complete range of audiologic and vestibular testing and rehabilitative services, including hearing aid selection and dispensing.

Appointments

Appointments can be scheduled by contacting the Audiology department 313-343-3165. You can also contact audiologists at St. John Hospital via e-mail at audiology@stjohn.org