# My equilibrium has gotten out of whack **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-equilibrium-has-gotten-out-of-whack/1013648 "2025-01-30T23:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-equilibrium-has-gotten-out-of-whack/1013648/21 "2025-01-31T17:59:32Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > If it’s vertigo as others have already suggested there are simple treatments available that can address the problem. I think it’s called the Epley Maneuver: > > [Epley Maneuver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTnV3m4bWDg) I had this problem once, and the Epley Maneuver did, indeed, clear things up in short order (a day or two). ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-equilibrium-has-gotten-out-of-whack/1013648/22 "2025-01-31T18:47:40Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Yes, today my ears feel a little stuffy. I’m imagining that this has something to do with inner ear issues. Hi. Five months ago I lost 90% of my hearing in one ear due to SSHL (sudden sensorineural hearing loss), aka Sudden Deafness. I thought it was a clogged ear. The damage takes less than a week to complete, and treatment (large doses of steroids) after two weeks is mostly futile. [NIH LINK](https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/sudden-deafness) So, I advise seeing an ENT today. I went to my PCP first, who put me on decongestants for 3 days and told me to report if there was no progress. I think they knew the potential issues, but didn’t explain them to me, so I didn’t get back to them for 5 days. Anyway, it’s a fucked up condition that has hurt my balance, made music much less enjoyable, and generally reduced my quality of life. (Paul Simon had this happen and, last I read, it caused him to stop touring — sound isn’t just lower, it’s actively distorted like a blown speaker.) ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-equilibrium-has-gotten-out-of-whack/1013648/23 "2025-01-31T20:26:29Z")
I’ve been up a couple hours now and I’m feeling ok. The dizziness is gone. I am very tired, though. Last night in bed I could hear crackling in my sinuses. Today my nose is running. I think it was sinus pressure pushing on my ears that was the problem. I will talk to my doctor about an ENT referral just to be on the safe side. Thanks to everyone for your responses. I hope those of you suffering with the various forms of this problem continue to do well. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-equilibrium-has-gotten-out-of-whack/1013648/24 "2025-02-01T10:30:33Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > If it were me, I’d get it looked at by a doctor asap. It hit me hard and I was taken in an ambulance to hospital. Shortly after, I was tested by an ENT consultant who told me that I had lost all hearing in one ear. I was a truck driver at the time and had been waiting outside a collection when I thought someone had run into me from behind. I felt as if I was in a giant ball, being rolled over and over. Sick and dizzy. ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-equilibrium-has-gotten-out-of-whack/1013648/25 "2025-02-01T11:57:54Z")
nm---- ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-equilibrium-has-gotten-out-of-whack/1013648/26 "2025-02-01T18:29:39Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > When it happened to my late husband (nothing to do with his death!), he thought he was having a stroke. I ignored a sinus infection, because my experience lately is that you get told that until you’ve had it for 7 - 10 days, you can’t have an antibiotic. So, that was enough time for it to move into my inner ear. Poor balance and double vision. I didn’t feel safe to drive, so I called off work (supervisor not happy), and took and Uber to Urgent Care. They rushed me into a room, which was a bit alarming, and I told them I’ve had an inner ear infection before, and was pretty sure that’s what this was. The doctor did a bunch of tests, and because I have a weird Babinsky in one foot after and injury, and low blood pressure I’ve had all my life, and _wasn’t_ running a temp (because I’d taken Tylenol for other reasons), he insisted that I needed to go to the ER and be checked for stroke. I left the ER with an Rx for antibiotics, an order to take decongestants, and a ticket for a free can ride home-- and a work note giving me two days off which got me to the weekend, so, four days to be seeing normally. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-equilibrium-has-gotten-out-of-whack/1013648.md?page=1)