Balance is controlled by a complex interaction of sensory organs including the inner ear, brain, eyes, and peripheral nervous system.  Balance problems can lead to a drastically diminished level of activity, a severe decrease in your quality of life, and injury due to an increased risk of falling.

If you suffer from hearing or balance problems, we urge you to let us help!  The friendly, professional staff at our Center for Hearing and Balance have a compassionate, patient-centered approach to the diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of these frequently devastating problems that affect so many people.

The Center for Hearing and Balance is under the very capable direction of Dr. Patrick Slater, a board certified neuro-otologist with over 12 years of proven experience in the diagnosis and effective treatment of balance problems.  Bruce Forsyth, PT provides specialized rehabilitative services through our Center to help address the unique needs of our patients with balance disorders.

William Sparrow, Aud., provides comprehensive, state of the art diagnostic testing and solutions for patients suffering from mild to severe hearing loss.  Ronny Baker is a valuable member of our team, providing his unique brand of compassionate, friendly, professional care as a hearing aid technician.  He has over 30 years of experience in this field, providing an unparalleled level of service.

Vertigo is not a disease; it is a symptom of disease. Just like pain in your leg can be caused by many different things – bumping into something, fracture of the bone, clogged blood vessels… – so too can the sensation of vertigo be produced in many different ways. With vestibular disorders, the type and severity of symptoms can vary considerably.

In addition to serving as the organ of hearing, the ears have a significant role in the control of balance. As the ears sense movement, they send signals to the muscles of the eyes, neck, trunk, arms and legs. These signals allow those organs to maintain a stable position even as the body and head undergo complex motions.

A common symptom that arises from disturbances of the inner ear system, or vestibular system, is vertigo. Vertigo is either the perception of motion when no movement is present, or the abnormal perception of motion in response to movement.

Symptoms can be frightening and difficult to describe. Functioning in the workplace, going to school, performing routine daily tasks, or just getting out of bed in the morning may be difficult for some people. The following is a list of symptoms that have been reported by people with vestibular disorders. Not all symptoms will be experienced by every person with an inner ear disorder, and other symptoms are possible. An inner ear disorder may be present even in the absence of obvious or severe symptoms. It is important to note that most of these individual symptoms can also be caused by other conditions, unrelated to the ear.

• Dizziness
• Balance and spatial orientation
• Vision Problems
• Hearing Difficulty
• Cognitive and psychological origins
• Nausea or Vomiting
• Motion sickness

Treatment of vertigo depends on its cause. If a specific causative disease is identified, therapy can be tailored for that disorder. Frequently there can be multiple, coincident causes of vertigo, and each needs to be treated individually. Surgery can be helpful and even curative for many causes of vertigo. There are a number of different operations that can eliminate vertigo from various inner ear diseases. In general, surgery is reserved for patients in whom more conservative treatments have failed to control the symptoms. Medications are often helpful in controlling the acute symptoms of vertigo, but can frequently be counter-productive for people with more chronic problems.

In certain cases, one specific cause of vertigo cannot be identified, but, depending on the nature of the vertigo treatment may still be provided with good hope for improvement.  In many instances, vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is recommended.

Vestibular & Balance Therapy in Association with Advance Therapy

Vestibular and Balance Rehabilitation is the exercise-based approach to lessening the severity of dizziness, balance problems, and associated limitations. Patients undergo comprehensive physical therapy assessments of strength, dynamic balance skills, and movement tolerance to determine an individualized and customized exercise program.

Research has shown these specialized exercises to be very effective at lessening the severity symptoms and improving function in all ages, which may include anyone from children to the elderly, athletes and professionals. Treatment frequency and duration varies according to initial findings but typically averages one treatment session each week for 8-10 visits.

Completely in the canal

• Completely-in-the-canal hearing aids are molded to fit inside your ear canal and can improve mild to moderate hearing loss in adults.

In the canal

• An in-the-canal hearing aid is custom molded and fits partly in the ear canal, but not as deeply as the completely-in-the-canal aid. This hearing aid can improve mild to moderate hearing loss in adults. Is less visible in the ear.

Half-shell

• A smaller version of the in-the-canal hearing aid, the half-shell is custom molded and fills the lower portion of the bowl-shaped area of your outer ear. This style is appropriate for mild to moderately severe hearing loss.

In the ear (full shell)

• An in-the-ear (full-shell) hearing aid is custom made and fills most of the bowl-shaped area of your outer ear. This style is helpful for people with mild to severe hearing loss.

Behind the ear

• Behind-the-ear hearing aids hook over the top of your ear and rest behind the ear. The hearing aid picks up sound, amplifies it and carries the amplified sound to an ear mold that fits inside your ear canal. This type of aid is appropriate for almost all types of hearing loss and for people of all ages.

Open fit

• These are very small behind-the-ear-style devices. Sound travels from the instrument through a small tube or wire to a tiny dome or speaker in the ear canal. These aids leave the ear canal open, so they are best for mild to moderate high-frequency losses where low-frequency hearing is still normal or near normal.