Can PD be the cause of an inner ear problem?

[Arlington7]

On Sunday's Zoom event, one of the participants mentioned PD as the possible cause of an inner ear problem, and mentioned treatment with what sounded like a "noisy galvonic vestibular simulation." I may have misheard the correct name as my left ear is blocked (not by wax). Can anyone offer info on this problem? Thx.

[Godiv]

Arlington, I think you have it almost right. I believe it was galvanic vestibular stimulation.

[Godiv]

There’s a website that advertises a device but I’m not sure if it’s for regular folks or for doctors to offer to regular folks. But it says:

Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) is a method of non-invasive electrical stimulation to effect the vestibular system and potentially change balance. The stimulus produces stereotyped automatic postural and ocular responses.

That info came from solterixmedical.com. And I also did see references to a “noisy” system of the same name.

I wish I could remember who was talking about it.

[GymBag]

Very interesting area of research for you , but also complex and a long path. There are a few types of Vestibular Disease and each with its own cause. I have never head that PD is a cause although many of the symptoms are also symptoms of PD. But it may be. I have extreme Tinnitus and one ear almost deaf , problems with balance and that sounds like Vestibular but when you have advanced pd , one should not expect investigations from medical people . I guess its like putting crowns on all the teeth of a person with last stage cancer. I am going to ask for a scan of my head looking for tumers ( I just heard someone say "that explains a lot" ) but I have not seen my doctor since the COVID thing started in February. He wants to meet over the phone ( like I could hear him ).

[LAJ12345]

Or is the inner ear problem the cause of the PD symptoms?

[MarionP in reply to LAJ12345]

I had an uncle, but this is a number of years ago, maybe 20 or so, who had some kind of vestibular problems, and his story that he got from his doctor was that somehow his balance problem made his Parkinson's a little more difficult to keep his posture and balance up or proper, and I don't know much of anything else.

[kaypeeoh]

My first sign of problems three years ago was waking up with vertigo. At the emergency room the nurses tried the maneuver of tilting my head various amounts to open the semicircular canals. Then I had an MRI that showed MS and after a year on meds for that someone decided it's PD. I still have momentary bouts of dizziness but never as bad as the first attack of vertigo. I go to PT twice weekly. I practice standing on one leg. I've gone from lasting 15 seconds to 60 seconds.

[LAJ12345]

I don’t have PD but do have problems with my inner ear and the feeling of fluid backing up in my head that at times has made me feel dizzy, nauseous , and ill all the time.

I have found going to a physio who specialises in TMJ therapy on my jaw has greatly helped. Also going to a Chinese traditional medicine doctor who has done cupping on my back, acupuncture and diaphragm release techniques on my chest has really helped.

I started off dubious it would work but desperate as the ear nose and throat and muscular skeletal specialists I consulted at great expense didn’t help and mri and CT scans didn’t show up anything. It has taken time, nearly a year, and a lot of daily stretching exercises on my neck, back and chest muscles at home between visits but it feels 90% better.

My poor posture bending over my iPad on the bench had caused a bit of a hump in the top of my back and my shoulders to round inwards and I think this caused a lot of muscle knots and spinal lesions which needed freeing up so lymph fluids could properly drain. I can now stand straighter, turn my neck further each way and have regained nearly an inch of height and can also breathe more easily and the feeling of water in my head and dizziness has nearly completely gone.

[MarionP in reply to LAJ12345]

" regained nearly an inch of height"

Now that made me pay close attention, what is it specifically that preceded you regaining height?

[LAJ12345]

I had been doing my myofascial release exercises for about a year (see my earlier posts for exercises). The kids measured my height a few years ago so they could gloat over how much taller they are than me now and marked it on the door frame. Recently they remeasured me and we were all surprised to see I had grown! The new height was what my height used to be when I was a lot younger so I hadn’t actually grown but my spine has been straightened up.I think years of slouching over the iPad, books, computes etc had put a noticeable hump in the top of my back and slowly it has straightened back up. Each time I do my stretches I can feel what seems like little rubber bands pinging as they snap all over my body. Must be the myofascial tissue fibres I think. When I went to a Chinese traditional doctor she did cupping on the top of my back and I think that broke up a lot of that tissue. Bruised a lot! Then she did a diaphragm release which was pressing on trigger points and pulling my arms backwards to open out my chest. I could breathe a lot deeper than before and the tight sensation of fluid I had in the back of my head has gone away but my lungs feel like they have pockets of fluid now. Doctors look at me like I’m nuts when I try and explain and give me anxiety meds which I decline as it’s not anxiety. It clearly is some physical thing.

I lost a lot of weight on hubby’s new diet so there must be a lot of baggy and waste tissue around where my fat used to be. I have had this annoying sensation of fluid in my head and chest so I am wondering if where the fat was now there is empty pockets of myofascial tissue that collects lymph fluid pockets. Not at all sure of the anatomy of all this🤣

Another interesting find is I had my mycotoxins checked. Hubby’s ones came back quite high in ochratoxin so I thought I would check mine too to eliminate food as a cause and my ochratoxin levels are way off the charts, much higher than his. No idea where it’s coming from. We don’t have a mouldy or water damaged home. Perhaps it is the cause of all my fluids feelings in my head. My natural practitioner still thinks I could have mercury poisoning from getting some amalgam fillings replaced 2 years ago so am getting that checked next. Christmas first.