What is it?
- Known as Bilateral vestibular hypofunction (BVH) or bilateral vestibular hypofunction (BVL)
- Loss of balance
- Difficulty seeing clearly while moving the head
- Difficulty walking in the dark or on uneven surfaces
- Unusual sensations in the head when moving it
Symptoms
- Off balance feeling when standing, walking, lying down, or sitting
- Loss may be progressive
- Higher incidence rate of falls
- Oscillopsia: vision blurring that increases during unpredictable & irregular head movements
Causes
- Considered idiopathic in most cases because underlying cause cannot be identified
- Ototoxicity: drug or chemical related damage to the inner ear
- Meningitis
- Sequential vestibular neuritis
- Autoimmune disorders
- Neurofibromatosis
- Chronic inflammatory peripheral polyneuropathy
Implications on Daily Living
- Patients with BVH may limit their daily activities due to their loss of balance and vision blurriness
- Loss of ability to travel
- Cannot drive
- Cannot walk in unfamiliar areas without help
- This can cause patients to become socially isolated
Treatment
- Gaze stabilization exercises
- Exercises to improve postural stability
- In the future, devices and technologies may used to improve the symptoms of BVH
- These will focus on improving postural stability rather than improving gaze stability