The treatment for labyrinthitis is generally focused on dealing with the symptoms since the illness tends to go away by itself. The main symptom doctors focus on is the dizziness, and for this, they often use medications like meclizine, which also has the benefit of helping with nausea. In some cases, doctors may also prescribe some specific anti-nausea drugs, along with antihistamines just in case the disorder is coming from an allergy. Antibiotics are very common as a precautionary treatment for labyrinthitis even though they aren't usually needed.
There is an organ deep inside the ear called the labyrinth that helps people keep their balance. Sometimes someone will develop an ear infection or some other problem that causes the labyrinth to swell up. When this happens, it’s called labyrinthitis.
The symptoms of labyrinthitis are often very mysterious to doctors. They may not immediately know what's going on because there are many different things that can cause vertigo, some of which are actually considered quite dangerous. Usually, a diagnosis of labyrinthitis simply comes down to the doctor eliminating all the other more dangerous possibilities that fit with the symptoms. The difficulty in diagnosing the disorder means that people don’t always get the proper treatment for labyrinthitis right away.
Other symptoms besides vertigo that are common to labyrinthitis include vomiting and problems controlling eye movement. Some people also have difficulty hearing in the affected ear, but this doesn’t always occur. The vomiting is really just a symptom of motion sickness caused by the vertigo. For some people, there can also be a great deal of difficulty maintaining balance during labyrinthitis, and they may find that they need help to walk from one place to another.
According to experts, the best way to prevent labyrinthitis is for someone to take care of infections more quickly. Any kind of ear infection or upper respiratory infection can potentially cause the labyrinth to become inflamed. Allergies are also a danger because they often make the body react in the same way as it does to an infection. It's more common for the disorder to come from a virus, but bacterial infections are also a possibility.
Some people may be tempted to ignore treatment for labyrinthitis since the body can recover without help. This could be a bad idea, because very dangerous and even potentially deadly things can cause the same symptoms. It is usually considered important to get diagnosis of any unexplained dizziness as a precaution.