The Eyes Have It
It's finally happened! I finally had a chance to see my first vestibular assessment. I had seen one in class, but this was my first true vestib assessment.
For those who are not sure what in the world a vestibular assessment is or what it's for, let me share. It is what audiologists use to evaluate dizzy patients. Of course, I could give you the half-a-page definition, but for the purposes of this blog, the short description works just fine. In any case, I've always found it extremely interesting, because you have the chance to actually see the balance system at work.
There is a piece of the equipment that monitors one of the eyes while the patient is asked to follow points of light, as they move in various directions. This gives the audiologist a chance to visually spot if anything looks out of the ordinary. I really enjoy watching the caloric portion of the exam. Here, the audiologist blows hot and cold air or water in the patient's ear and then observes the nystagmus (the eyes jerking back and forth). You really get to see some patients' eyes move in crazy ways.
This week, our class was fortunate enough to have an audiologist from a local balance clinic present to our class on this very subject. Wow, did he have some weird things to show us! The strangest video, by far, was of a patient whose nystagmus was moving in both eyes, but in opposite directions from one another (I know; it sounds crazy, but just try to imagine that). Cool stuff! It was very refreshing to see that other side of the profession of audiology. Hmm... more and more, I think I'm starting to find my niche.