Neck injuries

[N80]

Soundguy, what you probably had as a child was technically a middle ear problem rather than inner ear. The inner ear is composed of a series of tubes oriented in 3 dimensions. These tubes have fluid in them and are lined with little sensory hairs that detect movement of the fluid. This gives position sense to the brain. Sometimes little stones (otoliths) form in the fluid and disturb the hairs causing dizziness. The Epley manuever just repositions those stones.

The middle ear is the part of the ear right behind the ear drum and contains the little bones that transmit sound. The pressure in the middle ear is equalized by the eustachian tubes that go from the inner ear to the back of the nasopharynx. (That's why yawning or chewing gum will cause your ears to pop when changing altitudes.) In children whose eustachian tubes are narrow or easily clogged, pressure and fluid build up in the middle ear and lead to infections. Antibiotics are used but when this fails, Ear Nose & Throat specialists put a hole in the ear drum and insert a tiny pressure equilization tube ("tubes") to allow the pressure to equilize and fluid to drain.

 

[Soundguy]

Sounds like you pegged it.. I'll admit.. inner ear? middle ear? it all sounds the same to a little kid with an ear ache and vertigo, you are most probably correct on what I had.

They actually evaluated me for 'tubes' for a year, and during that year, my symptoms devreased enough to keep doing the 'waiting and watching'. Once I was a teenager, I went on some alergy meds.. and that, for the most part, kept everything cleaned up. Ear infections drastically taperd off to only a 'few' during teen years, and now in the last 15+years.. I can only recall a couple ear infections. ( however I did manage to still get periodic throat/sinus infections, which i also had as a child, .. the sinus infections always occoured around the time of the ear infection.. in fact.. if my sinus/throat infection was not attended to within about 3 days of onset of symptoms, after about another 2 days, the ear infection would kick in...)

Soundguy