Labyrinthitis

What is labyrinthitis?

The labyrinth is a system of narrow fluid-filled channels in the inner ear, which is involved in the detection of body movement, helping to control balance and posture.

Labyrinthitis causes

Infection of the labyrinth by a virus (or less commonly a bacteria) can cause inflammation of the delicate structure and lead to intense symptoms. Although viral labyrinthitis may often seem to strike very suddenly, it is preceded by an upper respiratory tract infection (coughs and colds) in up to 50% of cases.

Labyrinthitis symptoms

There is typically a sudden loss of function of the labyrinth on one side of the head, and loss of hearing on that side.

Vertigo (which people often describe as dizziness) can develop very suddenly - everything spins around, or moves up and down in front of you. This is followed by nausea, vomiting, sweating and an urgent need to lie down. In fact, lying down very still with eyes closed is probably the only way to get relief without taking medication. Often the virus also causes symptoms such as ringing or buzzing in the ears (known as tinnitus) and headache.

The balance mechanisms within the inner ear are disturbed by the infection. This causes the body to receive irregular and mixed-up messages about its position, so it's not sure where it is. It's similar to a severe bout of seasickness, but much worse.

Labyrinthitis treatments

Treatment involves measures to calm the symptoms down, while the body combats the virus. This includes bed rest (to avoid stimulating the balance mechanisms) and medication. In the later stages anti-sickness medication can be taken as tablets, but early on, because of the vomiting, it's better to take the medicines through a different route, either injection or rectal administration, or via medicine that dissolves in the mouth. Taking plenty of liquid little and often helps to prevent dehydration, without upsetting the stomach.

The symptoms usually last between one and three weeks, but its not uncommon for problems such as unsteadiness and positional vertigo (dizziness in certain positions or on getting up suddenly) to persist for several months.

Hearing loss can also persist – especially in bacterial labyrinthitis which, although rarer, often causes more major long term problems (it accounts for one third of all cases of acquired hearing loss.) The hearing loss is usually mild to moderate and tends to affect higher frequency sounds.