A cholesteatoma can be dangerous to your health if left untreated. This abnormal skin growth behind the eardrum can lead to serious complications by damaging crucial structures in the ear. Here’s what you need to know: Potential Complications: Facial Nerve Damage: This can lead to facial palsy. Hearing Bones Damage: This may cause deafness and tinnitus. Balance System Damage: This can result in dizziness or total loss of balance and hearing in that ear (known as a dead ear). Brain Risks: The bony barrier between the ear and brain can wear away, increasing the risk of severe infections. Infection Risks: Mastoiditis: Infection spreading into the mastoid bone. Brain Abscess or Meningitis: Infections spreading into the brain. Blood Vessel Blockage: Infection in the mastoid bone can block the main blood vessel, draining blood from the brain. Treatment: Surgical Removal: Nearly always recommended to prevent these dangerous complications. If you suspect you
What's a vestibular migraine? Vestibular migraine is also known as migraine-related dizziness, migraine with prominent vertigo or migrainous vertigo. Patients will have vertigo symptoms, dizziness or imbalance, and some migraine symptoms. It is vital to understand that not all vestibular migraine patients will have headaches as the main symptoms. So migraine symptoms can be any of these: headache with or without nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to sound or lights or motion sickness. Each episode can last for minutes to hours. What causes or triggers a vestibular migraine? A lot of factors can trigger a vestibular migraine attack. The most common trigger factors are stress and anxiety, poor sleep hygiene, fasting and dehydration, menstrual cycle and food such as chocolate, cheese and red wine. How is vestibular migraine diagnosed? Diagnosis of vestibular migraine solely depends on patients history of symptoms. It is beneficial to record his or her episode in a vertigo or dizziness