Caloric stimulation is a procedure used to find damage to nerves in the ear. Although people commonly associate the term calorie with food, a calorie is fundamentally a unit of heat. During caloric stimulation, cold and warm water are placed into your ear canals and your reaction is monitored.
This test checks the function of your acoustic nerve, which is involved in hearing and balance. It also evaluates the function of brain areas involved in balance.
Caloric stimulation is used to evaluate:
– Hearing loss caused by antibiotic use
– Vertigo (dizziness)
– Psychological causes of vertigo
– Brain damage in comatose individuals
VEMP
Vestibular evoked Myogrnic potential (vemp) Testing is relatively new vestibular testing technique that determines vestibular function by applying a repetitive sound stimulus to one ear and then averaging the reaction of the muscle activity in response to each sound clicking
The purpose of the VEMP test is to determine if the saccule and the vestibular nerve are intact and working properly. When functioning correctly, the saccule and the inferior vestibular nerves work together to send signals to the muscles of the eyes through the nerves system in response to head movements.
VNG
Videonystagmography (VNG) is a test that measures a type of involuntary eye movement called nystagmus. These movements can be slow or fast, steady or jerky. Nystagmus causes your eyes to move from side to side or up and down, or both. It happens when the brain gets conflicting messages from your eyes and the balance system in the inner ear. These conflicting messages can cause dizziness.
VNG is used to find out if you have a disorder of the vestibular system (the balance structures in your inner ear) or in the part of the brain that controls balance.
The main symptom is dizziness, a general term for different symptoms of imbalance. These include vertigo, a feeling that you or your surroundings are spinning, staggering while walking, and lightheadedness, a feeling like you are going to faint.
