Your ear is a sensitive organ. What many people don’t know is that in addition to hearing, it is crucial to maintaining your body’s balance. The body’s balance or vestibular system relies on the healthy functioning of the inner ear, skull base, and communication with the brain. Your ears send information about the position of the head, rotations, and required eye movements when you turn your head to maintain your line of sight and balance. Symptoms such as ear ringing and dizziness are early signs of an ailment of the vestibular system. Neuro-otology doctors assess, diagnose, and treat the issues related to the inner ear and its coordination with the central nervous system.

The highly experienced Neurootologists at Narayana Health understand the complex pathways that govern hearing balance, and facial functions. Neurology is one of the most intricate systems of the body. We have a highly specialised team of doctors to ensure that the patient gets world-class care and treatment. They use the latest techniques and diagnostic machinery to diagnose and manage diverse conditions. Our neuro-otologists understand that neurological conditions can be overwhelming and often isolating. Therefore, they prioritise the patient’s comfort and go beyond diagnosis and treatment to provide the moral support you need through an empathetic approach.

Conditions Treated by Neuro-Otologists at Narayana Health

Experts at the Neuro-otology Department of Narayana Health diagnose and manage a wide range of conditions:

Hearing Loss

Losing one of the 5 senses can crush anyone’s self-confidence. Our doctors, therefore, not only help you manage the condition but provide necessary counselling and advice to live independent lives. Loss of hearing is a spectrum of conditions ranging from mild to profound. It impacts the free flow of communication and social interaction. Our Neurotologists will comprehensively evaluate the severity, root cause, and accompanying problems through necessary manual and machine-assisted diagnostic examinations. Depending on each case, they may advise treatment options tailored to your needs, including hearing aids, cochlear implants, and auditory rehabilitation therapy. They guide you through the advantages and longevity of each to help you make an informed decision based on your preferences, life conditions, and financial capacity.

Tinnitus

The constant ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears is an exhausting condition. It may severely impact sleep and concentration, which lowers the overall quality of your life. Our Neurotologists will work with you to identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus and develop a personalized treatment plan to manage the symptoms. While in certain conditions, this is untreatable, our neurotology doctors help you through the process of training to find peace and regain control while living with tinnitus.

Dizziness & Vertigo

Our doctors understand that feeling disoriented or off-balance suddenly or perpetually is frightening. It can even be risky when in public settings or doing some hazardous work. These symptoms arise from many Neurotological conditions. Narayana Health doctors pinpoint the cause of your dizziness or vertigo through comprehensive diagnostic tests for balance and skull-base communication. Based on the diagnosis, they develop an effective treatment plan that might involve medication, physical therapy, vestibular rehabilitation exercises, or surgery to restore your balance. Our specialists offer treatment for many forms of vertigo, including labyrinthitis disease (inflammation of the inner year or internal nerves), Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo or BPPV (the condition where changing head positions triggers vertigo and vomiting), etc.

Facial Nerve Disorders

While it is easy to say that looks don’t matter, one’s presentation is often the root of their happiness and self-confidence. Conditions like Bell's palsy can affect the nerves responsible for facial movement. It weakens the muscles and in severe conditions, it may result in paralysis on one side of the face. This causes physical discomfort and affects self-esteem and social interaction. Our Neurotologists offer treatment options to restore facial function, improve the patient’s appearance, and advise therapy to help them regain confidence.

Meniere's Disease

Meniere's Disease is an inner ear disorder that shows up as episodes of vertigo, tinnitus, and hearing loss. While the cause of Meniere's disease is unknown, it is often due to a combination of genetic and neural problems. Our Neurotologists develop a customised treatment plan to manage symptoms and potentially prevent future episodes. They work with you to offer you a chance to live as normal a life as possible without being weighed down by the condition. The treatment may involve therapies, medication, and surgery to release the pressure or excise a tumour from the base of the skull.

Acoustic Neuroma

This is a non-cancerous tumour that develops on the base of the skull. It is most commonly found on the nerve connecting the ear to the brain and affects your balance. Our team of neurotology doctors consists of neurosurgeons (brain surgeons), otolaryngologists (ear surgeons), and other doctors to carefully remove the acoustic neuroma tumour and restore normal hearing and balance. Our doctors assess the patient thoroughly to identify the type of neuroma, for instance, vestibular schwannoma (tumour in the balance nerve).

Perilymph Fistula

This is a defect of the ear membranes in which the separation between the air-filled middle ear and fluid-filled inner ear gets breached. The condition appears as slow hearing loss, fluid discharge from the ear, and otalgia (commonly known as ear pain or earache).

Superior Semi-circular Canal Dehiscence (SSCD)

In SSCD, the bone between the inner ear and the brain has a hole or completely disintegrates. You may observe symptoms similar to vertigo, ear fullness, progressive hearing loss, or Tullio’s phenomenon (sound-induced vertigo). While this is a difficult condition to diagnose, our specialists ensure that they conduct thorough examinations to ensure that the condition is not misdiagnosed as any other. The only treatment for SSCD is surgical repair of the bone, which has a high rate of symptom elimination.

Diverse Treatment Approaches

Ear and balance doctors at Narayana Health use a combination of approaches tailored to the patient’s condition to offer optimal care and facilitate fast recovery.

Medication
Surgical Intervention
Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy
Medication Management
Hearing Preservation
Hearing Restoration Therapy
Lifestyle Modifications

Expert Care in Neurotology

Narayana Health offers a complete range of neuro and ENT services that include:

Diagnostic Testing and Neurological Consultation

Comprehensive testing to evaluate hearing loss, balance disorders, and other neuro-otological conditions. They identify the underlying neurological conditions that affect the ear and balance systems to create tailored treatment plans.

Vestibular Rehabilitation

These are exercise-based programs to improve balance and reduce dizziness that our doctors customize to the patient’s needs.

Hearing Restoration

Our doctors may recommend surgical or non-surgical options to restore hearing, including cochlear implants and hearing aids.

Lifestyle Management

This includes comprehensive care for patients with Meniere's Disease and other chronic conditions. Our doctors may suggest lifestyle modifications, exercises, and medication management.

Skull Base Surgery

Our experienced neurotology surgeons use advanced techniques to treat tumours and other conditions affecting the skull base and inner ear. They choose the least invasive approach to ensure your faster recovery.

Our Neurotology department has one of the top ear and brain disease management teams. They are equipped with best-in-class equipment and a highly qualified and experienced team of doctors. Neurotology is a complex field. Doctors at Narayana Heath prescribe the required tests to prevent any chances of misdiagnoses. It is true and disheartening that misdiagnosis is common in ear and brain conditions when a thorough assessment of the symptoms is not conducted. Our specialists aim to understand your condition precisely and administer the most suitable treatment. Depending on the condition and the cure required, they may advise an in-patient or an out-patient treatment plan. Our advisors consider and guide you to manage other aspects of the treatment, such as finances and your life responsibilities while getting treated.

Neuro Otology