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What Causes A Feeling Of Imbalance And Involuntary Movements While Lying Down?

Posted on Tue, 22 Mar 2016

Question: My daughter is 10 years old. Last week she told me she felt weird when she lied on her left side. she felt her body was moving while she wasn't or sometimes she described it as things were tilted. This week, she felt it was more like her head is 'bigger' when she lied on her left side. It doesn't seem to happen every day though. Sometimes she said she didn't feel anything. I am very worried. It is hard to get an exact timeline when this started to happen. It could be last August, she said but she wasn't sure. She mentioned it to me because it was more noticeable. I took her to her primary doctor, doctor suggested to observe first before we do further tests. What could have caused it? I hate to think the scary things. She goes to swimming regularly. The three times she told me was on days she went to swimming. But the doctor checked her ears and her ears are totally fine.

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (25 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
The problem seems to be in the left inner ear

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

I have gone very carefully through your query. Our ear has three parts, the outer ear and the ear canal till the ear drum, the middle ear having connection to the inner throat, and the inner ear containing the vestibulocochlear apparatus. This vestibulocochlear apparatus of our inner ear is responsible for both hearing and balance and I feel that the key to the problem lies here. I understand that you have taken her to a doctor and an examination of the ear has not revealed any damage to the ear drum. But still the inner ear could somehow been getting disturbed. It could be vaguely related to the swimming. It could be that it is simply an allergic reaction that is blocking the connection between the middle ear and the throat and the resultant difference in pressure is messing with her sense of balance.

I do not think that something scary is going on. Wait and observe. If necessary you might need to get an audiometry done.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Diptanshu Das (26 minutes later)

Thank you so much for your detailed answer. Much much appreciated!!! I was thinking about inner ear as well since one of our adult friends had an inner ear problem but it was much more severe. Your answer just helped a great deal so I am not thinking about this constantly! I will set up a follow up visit some time later with her primary doctor to see if we need to do an audiometry. Thank you!!!

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Glad to be of service

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for writing back. Glad to know that it helped. Feel free to write back directly to me if you ever have any other health related query in the future.

Regards

Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar