Bionic Ear Blog

I had the ENG (electronystagmography) last Monday to determine why I have dizziness and vertigo. It turned out there is an 80 deficiency in one ear and 20 percent in the other. They’re out of balance, which causes dizziness and eye problems. The brain usually compensates, but with the stress in my life — it has not been able, too. If this condition has existed for a long time (years), it would have made adjustments. So we don’t know if this is new and it was something else earlier or what. Doing eye and balance exercises should pinpoint the problem because if I do them regularly, it should improve.

The test was tiring. I started by looking into a machine. It would not have been so bad except the nose part pinches the nose and you have to breathe through your mouth. Since I spent most of the test counting out loud (to ease the dizziness), I was thirsty as heck when the test was over. I didn’t have any electrodes attached to my face.

The first test was following a moving light with only my eyes. It was OK until it moved fast. The doctor also moved my head from side to side as well as my body into different positions.

At the end of the test, the doctor monitored eye movements while blowing cool and warm air inside my ears. This test is called the caloric test and may be done without using electrodes to detect the eye movements.

For now, I’m doing