Balance disorder

Step by step to balance

Balance disorders and feelings of dizziness have very different causes – it may be harmless sensory vertigo, triggered by unfamiliar sensory stimuli such as travel sickness or altitude sickness. However, it may also be caused by inflammation or poor blood supply to the vestibular organs, or damage to certain structures of the brain.

The affected patient is always under considerable strain, as alongside the dizziness, they may also experience sweating, palpitations, nausea and fainting.
During diagnosis, it is important to distinguish precisely between the various forms of dizziness – e.g. spinning dizziness, unsteadiness, a tendency to fall, or blackouts. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the cause.

In our specialist laboratory for the investigation of balance disorders, we are able to identify the causes in most cases using state-of-the-art measurement techniques. We carry out the following tests: video head impulse test (vKIT), caloric electronystagmography (ENG), and the video positional test.

If other causes are suspected, the diagnosis is supplemented by examinations by a neurologist, orthopaedic surgeon and consultant in internal medicine.