Vestibular neuritis
Vestibular neuritis is an inner ear disorder causing a person to experience sudden, severe vertigo, dizziness, balance problems, nausea, and vomiting.
Symptoms of Vestibular neuritis
Vestibular neuritis concerns swelling of a branch of the vestibulocochlear nerve found in the vestibular portion that affects balance.
Signs include:
- Sudden, severe vertigo (spinning/swaying sensation)
- Nausea, vomiting
- Dizziness
- Concentration difficulties
- Balance difficulties
Reasons
The most likely cause of this condition is a viral infection on the inner ear, a viral infection found in the body, or swelling around the vestibulocochlear nerve (caused by a virus)
Examples of other areas of the body affected include:
- Herpes virus (causes cold sores, shingles, chickenpox),
- Measles
- Flu
- Mumps
- Hepatitis and polio
Diagnosis
The doctor may advise you to undergo a specific testing process to evaluate hearing and vestibular damage.
These tests help determine if symptoms:
- Hearing tests
- Vestibular (balance) tests
- A head impulse test
The presence of uncontrolled rapid eye movement is an alarm of vestibular neuritis. If symptoms prolong beyond a week or worsen, you get other tests.
Some of the possible health conditions include:
- Stroke
- Head injury
- Brain tumor
- Migraine headache
You may summon an MRI to figure out the brain’s disorders.
Treatments
Treatment consists of managing the symptoms and treating a virus.
Managing symptoms. When vestibular neuritis develops, treatment focuses on reducing symptoms.
- Drugs to reduce nausea include ondansetron and metoclopramide
- Drugs such as meclizine, diazepam (Valium), Compazine, and lorazepam reduce dizziness. It would aid if you did not use vestibular suppressants any longer than three days
- Steroids
Treating a virus. Antiviral medicine such as acyclovir is employed if a herpes virus is to cause vestibular neuritis. (No antibiotics to treat vestibular neuritis because bacteria do not cause this disorder).
Reviewed by – Dr. Priyanka, MBBS MD Microbiology
Page last reviewed: 04 October 2022