Published Daily Herald Monday February 06 2006 |
Judy Sorden was just 32 years old when she felt a spinning sensation. A dance teacher, she was quite familiar with the feeling of doing a pirouette or twirling to music. The problem was this spinning hit her when she was in bed and sleeping. Awakened by a woozy wave of dizziness, Sorden had no idea where it came from. Neither did the many doctors she consulted over the years ... 23 years, to be exact. Eventually, she gave up finding relief from this chronic and often debilitating problem. She stopped trying to explain to people why she could barely turn her head - which would result in unbearable dizziness - or why she had taken a fall. But two years ago, an article in the Daily Herald gave the Geneva resident a name for her condition: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which is characterized by brief episodes of intense dizziness associated with a change in the position of the head. Sorden found treatment and at least temporary relief at the Center for Balance Disorders, a part ofthe Hearing Health Center in Naperville. "When this hits me, I feel like I'm just swimming," explained Sorden, 58. "Your head is still, but your brain is on a merry-go-round. It was a real relief to find a name attached to it and find a place that understood it." Dizziness, vertigo or feeling unsteady - experienced by more than 50 percent of people at some time - can be a sign of any number of health problems. A short list of disorders having symptoms of dizziness includes Addison's Disease, atrial fibrillation, brain tumors, some dental problems, complications from diabetes, high or low blood pressure, lupus, hypoglycemia, migraines, Meniere's Disease or stroke. It isn't unusual for patients to go to five or six doctors in their quest for relief. Patients frequently are prescribed medications that mask symptoms without solving the problem. "These people need to be treated for dizziness. And what doctors usually do is to treat with drugs that exacerbate the problem," said audiologist Ronna Fisher, president of Hearing Health Center Inc. But quick diagnosis and treatment is rare. One study found that an average patient has to tell his doctor four times before referral for services for relief, said Lisa Prather, director of audiology at the Fall Prevention Clinics of America in Naperville. Older adults might feel dizzy as a result of another health problem or because of medications they take. "I went to so many doctors: our family doctor, a neurologist, ophthalmologists, ENTs. I had CT scans, MRIs. It was just like stabbing in the dark," Sorden said. She even had one neurologist admit that he hated to have patients with dizziness because the disorder can be so difficult to treat. "You want to find a doctor with a real interest in vertigo, one that has dedicated his career to such disorders," said Dr. Richard J. Wiet of the Ear Institute of Chicago in Hinsdale, a professor of clinical otolaryngology and neurosurgery at Northwestern University Medical School. First, find a physician specializing in vestibular (inner ear) disorders so you can get a correct diagnosis, he said. The Vestibular Disorders Association's Web site, www.vestibular.org, lists physicians specializing in inner ear problems, including 14 in the Chicago area. About 20 percent of all dizziness is because of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, most often diagnosed through a Dix Hallpike test. The disorder is thought to be caused by debris - called "ear rocks" or octoconia, small crystals of calcium carbonate - collected within a part of the inner ear. Octoconia become dislodged, sometimes because of a head injury, infection or other disorders of the inner ear, or simply because of aging. As they dislodge they float within the ear canal, creating waves of dizziness that can last minutes, days or once, for Sorden, six months. Once Sorden was diagnosed, she received therapy at the Center for Balance Disorders in Naperville. The treatment was simple, involving no medication and just three visits to the center before Sorden felt steady again for almost a year. Last week, after a trip to Hawaii, Sorden again experienced waves of nausea and dizziness. She wasted no time in heading back to the Center for Balance Disorders for therapy. Treatments involve simple sequential movement of the patient's head designed to remove ear rocks from the posterior canal, a more sensitive part of the ear, into a less sensitive location. Treatment is about 80 percent effective, with 30 percent of patients requiring another treatment after one year. Studies now recommend it as the first line of treatment for this disorder. Some health insurance programs cover the treatment. "I don't fully understand what this treatment does," Sorden said. "I just know that what they do, works."
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