Expert: Dina Q Goldin, Ph.D. - 10/31/2008

Question
Hi!
About 2months ago I woke up with the room spinning and a roaring sound in my ear.  The doctor diagnosed it as viral Labyrinthitis seeing that I had a cold 2 few weeks before.  He gave me cortisone and antivert.  After two weeks the vertigo returned, but this time it was not only during the night (positional), but also while I was walking/sitting and combined with dizziness.  I still had tinnitus and a full feeling in my ears.
I did not take any medication and the dizziness passed, but this was replaced by a very stiff/sore neck.  Currently I'm slightly dizzy, have the roaring sound in my right ear only and the full/numb feeling in my right ear.
Could this be the Labarynthitis going on for so long?

Answer
Your combination of symptoms on (dizziness, roaring sound on the right, fullness and numbness on the right) might be something else other than Labirinthitus.  If the treatment for Labirinthitus does not seem to be working properly, other diagnoses must be considered, such as a tumor -- hopefully benign.  An MRI with gadolinium is the best test to determine whether a tumor is present, and where and how large it is. If your doctor feels that the MRI is too expensive to be warranted with your symptoms, you should at least have a BSER test (also known as an ABER).  It is simple, inexpensive, painless, and would determine whether or not your problems are due to a tumor -- in which case, an MRI will definitely be warranted.