Thread: Dancing with Inner Ear Damage?

Part of the reason I took a break from dancing recently was because of problems with dizzyness and nausea. I've now been diagnosed with damage to my left inner ear. My doctor has just told me she expects I will have this for the rest of my life. I still don't know what has caused this, but I've had it for long enough that I know it's not going to just go away. I don't feel as steady dancing as I used to and sometimes I get bouts of dizzyness. Anyone have any advice on how to deal with this?

Wow! So it's permanent? I get bouts of dizziness and had an episode of vertigo about three months ago (haven't had one in years), so I quite understand. I have been off/on dealing with this for about 12 years now. What I was told for a couple of major episodes was that this was caused by some sort of ear infection or a cold (both times I had neither). I was prescribed Meclizine but I try not to take it because it makes one drowzy so, I only take it if I really need too. So of course, you have to be careful about not turning too quickly (so I guess spinning is pretty much out). I move about as I normally do but, if I start feeling "out of sorts" then I become more cognizant about not looking about abruptly, looking straight ahead, and about being more focused straight ahead as opposed to using peripheral vision. I apply this to dance as well.

I also haven't had an inner ear infection. I have had colds before but nothing that I would think would cause permanent damage. I think it may be from a car accident I was in. We were hit from behind, around April-May. I started having problems later that summer. That's the only thing I could think would have caused it. I don't want to give up spinning altogether. :(

May I ask how long you have had this?

Is your hearing affected?

meclizine (spelling?), non-drowzy formula, is what helps me. I have problems with dizzyness and inner ear problems (benign vertigo) and motion sickness pills help stop the spinning and nausea.

I lost the nerve connecting inner ear to the brain on one side about 15 year ago due to a tumor in the nerve. My tolerance for spinning and head-tossing is limited and balance is rather unreliable. I've been able to build my ability to compensate over time and can do MUCH more now than I could when I first started dancing.
Some things that help me:
1. Making sure I'm well-hydrated. Even mild dehydration can reduce balance ability because of reduced fluid level in the labyrinth. I'm especially careful about this before a performance.
2. Dancing barefoot. I never ever dance with shoes of any kind. Yes there are drawbacks to this, but for me it's worth it. If my naked feet are directly in contact with the floor, I balance and dance better.
3. Practicing balance-challenging moves regularly but intermittently, rather then trying to drill them over and over all at once. When I was in classes, I explained to my teachers why I would be dropping out of line when the class was drilling on spins or turns. My motto: "I only spin on my own terms."
4. In planning a solo, if I want to include a very long spin or repetitive turning, I do it at the end of the piece. That way if I do get dizzy, it's okay because I'm done anyway. I can just take my time about about bowing and move off stage slowly.
Rosette

Ah, one more thing. For me, the practice known as "spotting" in turns is actually counterproductive. That quick turn of the head at the end of the slower turn of the body just sloshes the fluid in the labyrinth and makes me get good and dizzy. The "Dervish turn" technique of focusing on my hand doesn't work for me either. My balance is highly vision-dependent and the best thing for me is doing just what they tell you not to. I keep my eyes looking outward at environment encircling me, the walls, front row of the audience, etc. The better visually oriented I can stay to the space, the less dizzy I will be. The point being I guess that what works is different for different individuals. One person's good balancing technique may be another person's balance wrecker. Better to experiment with various techniques than to force yourself to use just one that you've been told is "correct."

One thing though that will never hurt and can only help: good posture.

Originally Posted by jasani

meclizine (spelling?), non-drowzy formula, is what helps me. I have problems with dizzyness and inner ear problems (benign vertigo) and motion sickness pills help stop the spinning and nausea.

I will have to look into that...all my Meclizine RX's pharmacological sheets say "sleepiness" or "drowziness may occur so to avoid heavy machinery."

Yeah, the one I found is a non-drowsy formula and it's a generic brand.

I'm not really sure how long I've had it since I don't know what caused it. I have been going to the doctor for over almost 2 years now with problems with nausea, which progressed to nausea and dizzyness. My hearing is fine, I just have lightheadedness which turns to full blown vertigo when I am not feeling well. Occasionally I get motion sick easily, usually when I am starting to not feel well or right around my period. Most of my problem is the nausea from it which I have almost all the time.

A lot of the diet changes I've been given thus far I already do. I don't drink caffeine aside from a green tea now and then. I don't eat a lot of salty foods and I try to drink lots of fluids. I have a weakness for chocolate, but other than that I don't have a lot of processed sugars. I don't drink soda or anything with high fructose corn syrup or processed sugar. I mostly drink water and 100% juice.

I've also been told to stay well rested, which is hard for me. I am a night person but I get up early for work so it's hard for me to feel ready for bed at the time I need to be.

The doctor mentioned dance might be good therapy for helping my body to adjust to the change. I think I have been this way for almost 2 years now, having just now gotten any hint of a diagnosis.

I've suffered the same damage as you after a viral infection, and it took me almost a year to get better. That said, my vertigo returns when I'm tired or run down, or sick. I used to love dancing with sword but only do that on a VERY good day, and there are some days when I can't even do a simple turn. There are exercises you can do to help your brain retrain itself to cope with the injury, but I found just living my normal, action-packed life was exercise enough. Look up labyrinthitis on the net and see what you come up with. Hope your situation improves soon :)

Dima, you may seriously consider looking up VEDA (a vestibular dysfunction resources website) on the web or asking for a referral to a vestibular specialist trained physical therapist. Emory University has a program for specialty training just in vestibular rehabilitation analysis and treatment that can do a very thorough analysis and develop a treatment plan. Even if the damage is permanent you can still do a treatment plan that under most circumstances will help tremendously with reducing the intensity and duration of your symptoms. Do be sure , not all therapists are created equal so if you give one a chance and it doesn't work don't give up. It does take some time and diligence on the patient's part but really can be done. If you don't find a good resource on line feel free to PM me and I can try to give you more information. Hope that helps some, Aunna

Oh, almost forgot, be sure to realize that meclizine is the same medicine in over the counter Bonine and primarily is to help you deal with the nausea/stomach disturbance associated with the dizziness but as far as I know will not alter the dizzyness itself but instead just make it more tolerable for some.

I've suffered the same damage as you after a viral infection, and it took me almost a year to get better. That said, my vertigo returns when I'm tired or run down, or sick. I used to love dancing with sword but only do that on a VERY good day, and there are some days when I can't even do a simple turn. There are exercises you can do to help your brain retrain itself to cope with the injury, but I found just living my normal, action-packed life was exercise enough. Look up labyrinthitis on the net and see what you come up with. Hope your situation improves soon :)

I was asking if you had hearing loss because I had a similair experience as Robyn. After a virus, I was left deaf in one ear and motion sick. It lasted for months- I saw a specialist and a round of steriods brought back my hearing however I do get motion sick easy.

I've had bouts with Vertigo.

What caused mine were odd - coming from virus's or even seasonal change (allergies/sinus that are severe enough to affect the ears).

My doctor would put me on Antivert (Meclizine) temporarily. It took the edge off, but I hated being on any kind of medicine so I toughed it out. In dance I love to spin, so I started slow and built up gradually. When I have my sensitive moments, I pull back.

This link is a more holistic technique that might help. It sure intrigued me.

Simple move stops spins for vertigo victims - Health care- msnbc.com

Originally Posted by AunnaBarika

Oh, almost forgot, be sure to realize that meclizine is the same medicine in over the counter Bonine and primarily is to help you deal with the nausea/stomach disturbance associated with the dizziness but as far as I know will not alter the dizzyness itself but instead just make it more tolerable for some.

Interesting - The "stuff" I take is a generic form of Dramamine and I have bouts of dizziness when I get out of bed in the morning. I take one of those and the room spinning goes away.

my teacher gave us exercises to help our balance, your balance is reliant on 3 main systems and your vestibular is only one of them. if you strengthen your ankles and visually keeping you balance you should be able to compensate, to a certain extent probably not 100%.
she had us first stand with one foot directly in front of the other and back toe to front heel (think field sobriety test), this challenges your ankles because of the smaller base of support.
from there turn your head side to side, which messes with the vestibular system. you might skip this because of the damage, or do it to get your eye-brain connection practiced. from there you can close your eyes to make it more challenging.
after that's easy do it on one foot (keep your hips square) when all that seems easy add a torso twist with the head turn (so instead of turning from the neck turn from the waist)
by challenging your systems your body should try to adapt and hopefully fill in some of the gap.
i've also found that engaging my pelvic floor helps balance, if you're not already. the same way you engage your lower abs to keep neutral pelvis but don't clamp down the abs 100%, do with your pelvic floor.

I try to avoid driving as much as possible, it sets me back. It took me two years to figure this out (90-mile commute to work!). Now I use a van pool whenever possible.

I also find that going for long walks at various levels of light (daylight, moonlight, new moon) helps 'challenge' and rebuild.

I found this thread while looking up motion sickness because I think that's what I'm having. I can't do more than 3 spins (just 3!!!!) before I start feeling sick, and I'm frustrated because I want to do a whole lot more. I have found that even a few swaying moves with my head sets it off. Then the headache and nausea stick with me a long time after. I noticed earlier this year when I went to an amusement park the rides were making me sick, and that was the first time EVER. I didn't connect it then with motion sickness, but then recently I took a long train ride and was horribly sick, and now with the dancing problems on top of it I believe that's what it is. Driving is not an issue at all.

When I go to town tomorrow I'll get some Dramamine or whatever is on the shelf. Is that going to help me with this particular kind of motion sickness from dancing? What about ginger? Am I ever going to be able to do more than 3 spins??? ,f::

I would suggest going to a Doctor and making sure there isn't a physical reason for this - inner ear issues, a misalignment in your neck (this is my bete noir). Then as others have said, dramamine, ginger helps, as does mint. The rest is simply practice. Former sailor here. Every time I went out to sea, we'd stay out on the water just a little longer. Each time my tolerance would improve. If we went out 3 x a week for a month, I could usually do a full day sail without any issues, even on rough water.

{{{HUGS}}}

Originally Posted by Rosette

Ah, one more thing. For me, the practice known as "spotting" in turns is actually counterproductive. That quick turn of the head at the end of the slower turn of the body just sloshes the fluid in the labyrinth and makes me get good and dizzy.

"My cookbook says that if I don't have 2 eggs I can substitute with 3 egg yolks. I don't think my cookbook understands my problems..." How come people who don't have motion/balance/inner ear problems assume that people who do just need to learn to spot turn? Considering that whipping my head around quickly is one of the fastest ways to make me dizzy, spotting isn't a great strategy for me, either.

Seriously...I've tried Dramamine, and it hasn't done much for me, neither on a boat nor in dance class. The only thing I've found that helps me on turns is to skip the turn sequences when I'm learning. I can't drill turns in class, and if I'm trying to learn a new choreography, it just messes me up to do more than one rotation at a time. However, once I have the rest of the sequence down and I'm not frantically trying to follow the teacher, I can put the turns (up to two at a time per direction) back in, and I'm usually okay.

Have you tried any holistic remedies like ginger or accupressure bands? Some people find them helpful.

I´ve had two students with inner ear damage this term,and they of course skipped the spinning part in the term choreos(customized it for them)

Someone mentioned ginger. Ginger helps me alot.

But forget the wimpy ginger tea sold in little bags and try the real ginger root. Just cut off a chunk (maybe an inch-ish), cut off the dry bits and bark and then smash it once or twice. Drop in a cup, microwave to boiling, and then let it steep a few minutes. The stronger the better.

A friend of mine just had surgery to remove a growth on her inner ear- she is planning on taking dance classes to help her readjust, so I appreciate this thread & would welcome more guidance & advice!

Vertigo, whatever the cause is the hallmark of spazzy diseases. I had benign positional vertigo a few years ago and it does come back from time to time. Be patient with yourselves and even adding one more turn to your spinning every couple of weeks is a success and if you can't just capitalize on what you can do. Ooey gooey camels? Great! Slithery snake arms? Awesome! Mind boggling hip articulation? Even better!

Since my case had no obvious cause, hence the benign diagnosis, my doctor prescribed a maneuver that actually brought on the dizziness on purpose to help what was believed to be calcium deposits floating around in my inner ear fluid settle. Here's what I did:

Sat on the bed, feet on the floor, arms crossed across the chest.
Laid back pretty quickly head turning to one side.
Sat up, repeated procedure, head turning to opposite side.
Repeat up to a half dozen times.

I tell you, this will make you very dizzy and to this day I'm not sure if it worked or if the vertigo just resolved on it's own. If your doctor says it's okay to do and you have that ginger remedy that Bella Bella suggested handy, it just might help.

Good luck, it's no fun!

Petite Jemilla (sp?) of Bellydance Superstars mentioned at a workshop that she had inner ear problems (considering what she does, this blew me away). Perhaps if the BDSS come to your area you could arrange for a private lesson with her, or maybe she'd be willing to meet with you on skype.

I don't have inner ear problems, but another issue that messes with my balance. I started forcing myself to walk on releve daily, just doing housework or walking from room to room, so that when I do lose balance my ankles can stay standing or I can at least sit down without falling.

I feel that having a problem to overcome makes you even better because you need to work so hard to correct it.