About Vertigo

[RangelVE]

I am inquiring about the condition of my 28 year old son who is experiencing Vertigo.  After seeing a doctor, there was no indication of an inner ear infection.  He was prescribed amoxicillan.  I am concerned because he has the classic symptoms, like vomitting (only once so far), the feeling of off balance during movement.  He does work alot and am concerned that stress may be the major factor.  Should he get a second opinion and perhaps have a complete physical exam?  He has had symptoms for approximately five days now.  Thank You.

[RangelVE]

Do you think these symptoms could also be a sign of a stroke?  It almost seems impossible because of his age.  I am very concerned.  My father has a history of angina and has had a triple by pass recently.  Could this be a factor?

[caregiver222]

Imagine a sphere half-filled with liquid and millions of sensors arranged on the interior of the sphere so if you tilted the sphere a computer could tell exactly how the sphere was orientated on the x and y axis. The body has two such spheres, but they are made of tissue and the fluid contained within impacts on tiny hairs, called cilia (tiny hairs). These cilia, as they are disturbed by the fluid, send siglals to the brain. These are the vestibular organs, just inside the ear. This is how a human being senses he is "level" and does not tip over.

If these are disturbed "sea-sickness" results and if there is sometime affecting the cilia a person may feel he is "swimming" and fall over when he walks. Commonly this is due to a short lived viral infection. I have had them several times in my lifetime. I could not walk without falling sideways.

Now there are other serious things that can cause disturbances of the equilibrium, but the most common and probably is a bacterial or a viral infection.

[RangelVE]

Thank you so much for your reply.  I am not medically inclined to know some of the terminology, but does vestibular organ mean some part of the ear.  I have done some research and I still am not to clear on what this is.

[caregiver222]

Let me qualify that. I would wait at least three weeks before thinking about further investigation. The most likely cause of loss of balance is an infection of the vestibular organs. There are less likely causes, including structural changes by tumors, but basically, these syndromes go away by themselves.

I have had vertigo as a pilot, and it is indeed unpleasant, frightening, and disconcerting.

[caregiver222]

The problem is you cannot easily tell the difference between a bacterial and viral infection. As for "there is no indication of an inner ear infection", it is not possible to inspect the vestibulatory canals, although sometimes there is inflammation in the outer ear.

Viral infections tend to last ten to fourteen days, and he is already being appropriately treated on the assumption he has a bacterial infection.

Stress is irrelevant, except insofar as stress degrades the immune system.

I see no reason for a "second opinion".