Balance and Vertigo Testing

Semicircular canals and cochlea

Rotational Chair

  • A balance test for dizzy or unsteady patients.

  • Involves recording of the inner ear balance system in response to movement.

  • The patient will be seated in a darkened booth in a chair that rotates at different speeds.

  • The patient will wear goggles or electrodes to record the inner ear response to the movement.

  • Specific preparations will be needed from the patient, including not eating, drinking, or taking certain medications prior to testing. Detailed instructions will be given upon scheduling of testing.

  • Test time- 10-15 minutes.

Videonystagmography (VNG)

  • A balance test for dizzy or unsteady patients. Dix-Hallpike is part of this testing and the Epley Maneuver can be performed on patients who test positive for BPPV.

  • 3 part test includes:

    • Recording of the eyes during various eye movements.

    • Recording of the eyes while moving in different positions.

    • Recording of the eyes while stimulating the balance system by putting air in the ears.

  • Specific preparations will be needed from the patient, including not eating, drinking, or taking certain medications prior to testing. Detailed instructions will be given upon scheduling of testing.

  • Test time- approximately 1 hour.  

Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMPs)

 
 
 

vHIT

  • A diagnostic evaluation for dizzy or unsteady patients.

  • Gives information about the balance system in the inner ear.

  • Involves placing wires around the head and neck and placing ear plugs in ears.

  • Records inner ear nerve and muscle responses while the patient holds head and neck in a certain position and listens to a clicking sound.

  • No preparations needed from the patient.

  • Test time: 15-20 minutes.

  • Patients wear goggles while the audiologist moves their head. This tests the function of each of the six semicircular canals individually by measuring the eye rotation response to an abrupt head rotation in the plane of the canal.

  • This is used to help diagnose reduction in vestibular function in one ear versus the other in patients with balance issues. It gives hearing health professionals the ability to quickly and objectively measure the vestibular ocular reflex (VOR) in response to a patient’s head movements within the normal range of daily motions.

  • Test time: 15 minutes.