I had an ENG test done today and I have a couple questions. First, is it common to still feel a little bit dizzier than usual hours after the test due to the air blowing in the ears? Also, if you feel dizzy while the air is blowing in your ears does that mean that there is no inner ear problem?

For many it is normal to feel a bit dizzy for a few hours after an ENG. Did the doctor who performed it not warn you of this? Also, I am not a doctor and so I can't share anything other than my own experience with the ENG, but the point of the blowing air is to get you to feel dizzy. When the inner ear is stimulated with the warm/cold air, the normal response is dizziness. The ENG looks to see what type of response you have to gauge if your inner ear is acting normally or if there may be damage. For me, damage was on the right side and it showed up on the test because when the air was blown in on that side I did not get as dizzy as I did when air was blown into my left, fully-functioning side. My ENT warned me that the ENG is not a perfect test, and there are many on this board who can vouch for the fact that despite a "normal" result on the test, they still have inner ear problems. But to answer your question, yes, according to the way the ENG test is supposed to work you are supposed to feel dizzy when they blow the air in the ear. That is supposed to indicate a normal functioning inner ear.

Absolutely Treefarmer.

They compare the readings (and the readings don't always match with the subjective feelings) from one side to those of the other, if there is a vast difference then that signifies a weakness. A difference of 20% (some centers say 10% some say 30%) is within a normal range (ie can occur naturally), which is quite a large deficit so it's easy to see why ENGs aren't too reliable... (added to that they only check a small part of the ear and at certain frequencies etc..)

However, the optokinetic(bouncing lights) part of the test is much more usefull, as it pretty much rules out central involvment - implying the vertigo must be comming from the ears.

Hi Tallman,

Yes...it's normal to feel worse after the caloric test. Mine was a nightmare for me...it really sent me off the planet and it took me nearly 2 weeks to get back to earth again. But I think I'm an exception with this sort of reaction. You are supposed to feel dizzy during the caloric test, if you weren't then there would be no inner ear function happening at all. You probably wore special glasses that tracked your eye movements following the air blast. They are actually measuring eye "nystagmus".


Nystagmus refers to rapid involuntary movements of the eyes that may be from side to side (horizontal nystagmus), up and down (vertical nystagmus) or rotary. Depending on the cause, these movements may be in both eyes or in just one eye. The term "dancing eyes" has been used in regional dialect to describe nystagmus........Cold water (or air) is placed in the ear canal with a bulb syringe. This should cause nystagmus. This test is then repeated using warm water/air. The nystagmus should occur in the opposite direction (towards the warm water then slowly away, rather than away from the water and slowly back).

Cheers.....Scott :cool:

Tallman

How are you doing today - settling down?

James

I'm still feeling some effects of it with a little more dizziness than usual. With that said I've still been able to get around. Thanks for asking.