The Medical Consumer's Advocate
Wind and balance
Q:
Why is it that on very windy
days I seem to have trouble with my balance? I don't fall
down or anything; it's just a feeling of not being quite
steady. I have associated it with very windy days on more
than 5 occasions.
A: Here are a few thoughts on your
observation. First, do you have a hole in either ear drum? If
you do, the wind could be irritating enough to create a
variety of ear symptoms: imbalance, certainly, but also
decreased hearing, tinnitus, pain, itching, etc.
Here's another possibility: the wind could be causing your ears and
scalp to cool rapidly. Some of this temperature change is
being transferred to your inner ear. The temperature change
causes convection currents in the fluids of your inner ear.
(Have you ever seen the tiny curly lines that are present in
a glass of hot water? These are convection currents.) This
movement of fluid stimulates the inner ear artifactually-- in
other words, your vestibular system (balance system) thinks
that your head is moving in a particular way, but it is not.
It is simply being fooled by the convection currents. That
mismatch between what your inner ear is reporting to your
brain and what your eyes are reporting to your brain -- that
is a very confusing thing for the brain to deal with. The end
result is the sensation of lightheadedness, or vertigo, or
imbalance, or dizziness ... call it what you will.
Few people become dizzy when out in the cold, so why should this happen
to you? I don't know -- that's a big flaw with that second possibility.
Perhaps you're unusually sensitive to such temperature changes. Does it ever
happen in the shower? (Warmth should have much the same effect as cold.)
See if wearing a hat, especially
one which protects your ears and the sides of your head,
prevents the imbalance on windy days. If the second possibility is correct,
then this should do the trick.