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Dizziness and Poor Balance

Balance - the ability to move around safely and steadily - is the job of several body parts working together. The inner ear plays a key role by sensing movements, such as the speed and rotation of the head when a person nods or looks to the side. Sight gives information about the body's position and surroundings. Other signals come from the muscles and joints. Every movement is coordinated by this balance system.

Balance disorders can be debilitating. "It is a silent sickness," said Sam Marzo, M.D., otolaryngologist and medical director of the Balance Center at Loyola's Oakbrook Terrace Medical Center. "People who have balance disorders may appear normal and healthy, but they cannot make common movements or complete simple tasks such as exercising or doing housework."

Balance problems can be caused by an inner ear abnormality, infection, accident or can occur for no apparent reason. Complicating matters, balance disorders can be entwined with other health problems. Elderly people, in particular, may have several interacting conditions that affect balance, such as arthritis, stroke, heart problems, poor eyesight and general muscle weakness. In fact, dizziness, which can be a symptom of a balance disorder, is the most common reason people 65 and older visit a physician.

Dizziness, unsteadiness, vertigo (a sensation of moving) are symptoms of a balance disorder, but hearing problems also can be related. Symptoms may include: hearing loss, ringing, buzzing and fullness in the ears, pressure over the temples or around the ears, drainage from the ears and fatigue.

With so many complex, interacting systems involved, a team of specialists can best diagnose and treat balance disorders. The Balance Center at Loyola's Oakbrook Terrace Medical Center is the only balance clinic in the Chicago area equipped for complete diagnostic testing under one roof. Specialists in ear, nose and throat, cranial base surgery, audiology, neurology and physical therapy work together using the latest techniques and technology. For example, the center is one of the few places in Illinois with a rotary chair that gently moves to stimulate the patient's inner ear balance canals.

Collaboration among specialists is important because "most people with balance problems get bounced from one specialist to another. At our center they can get diagnosis and treatment usually in one appointment," Marzo said. "Many of our patients are relieved to find that there are treatments that can solve their balance problem."

The most common problem physicians see at Loyola's Balance Center is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). People with this problem can get sudden bouts of vertigo when they turn their heads a certain way or get out of bed. The vertigo is thought to be caused by tiny calcium crystals that have broken loose and are floating in the wrong part of the inner ear as a result of an illness, accident or aging. In half of the cases, the cause is unknown.

Marzo is one of only a few physicians in the Chicago area who performs particle repositioning maneuvers in his office to get the crystals back where they belong. Patients are moved into several different positions for about 30 seconds at a time. About 80 percent of patients are cured of BPPV in only one session.

The particle repositioning maneuver is just one of the many leading-edge treatments used at the center. Physicians use the latest medications, therapies, and when other options are exhausted, surgical treatments. In nearly all cases, there is something that can be done to improve balance. To make an appointment at the Balance Center, call (708) 216-7985.

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