so i saw my neurotologist today, and he said i had a 43% weakness in my left ear. and he said my dizzyness lightheaded crap is most likely due to this. calling it something like vestibular neurotas or however u spell it. i was wondering who else has this? and what does it mean? he told me it takes normally 4 to 6 months for it to get better. is this true? any other info i should know.

thanks
scott

Hey Scott
I think what's up is that you have a damaged vestibular nerve on the effected side which is permanent from a viral infection called Vestibular Neuronitis. You must have suffered an infection that affected this nerve, caused inflammation and resulted in the damage.
The long recovery time is due to you brain needing to compensate for the damage of the inner ear. What you ear can no longer do, the brain must take over for and relearn all of the lost balance information.
Although the damage and infection is long gone, the effects can last a long time, some on this board are years into it. That isn't intended to make you feel hopeless, others have recovered to nearly 100% in the few months suggested by your doctor. The frustrating thing with all of this is the slow rate of improvement which tends to be noticed over months, not days, and is sometimes mixed in with some deompensation events which are triggered by stresses and fatigue.
Check out Scotsman's thread on video clips from Harvard, they are very informative and will give you more info.
Hope this helped
FC

Scott,

I believe time is different for everyone and doctors shouldn't really give a time frame. I know a couple of people with inner ear problems that recovered in 6 months where as Firechick stated there are people here who have had it for years and then it goes. I've been battling this for a little over a year now. I'm better, but not YET recovered.

I was never actually diagnosed with VN but so many other things were ruled out and considering mine started from an infection/virus, you can pretty much say it is VN. I truly believe eating healthy and staying active helps you to beat this thing quicker.

Take care - Gloria

Hi there

Just to utter the above - VN or labyrinthitis (theoretically similar things) can take any amount of timeframe to get better and noone can hazard a guess. I have had it 3 yrs but the majority take weeks. There is often no logic as to why some recover quicker than others. I have remained active throughout yet still seem to make little progress. The only treatment is time and VRT - Vestibular Rehab Therapy - ask your specialist about this.

Clxxx