Pianist Lucy Parham had severe labyrinthitis . Concert pianist Lucy Parham was recovering from a virus last Christmas when she was overcome by a violent wave of dizziness and nausea. 'I was watching a film at the cinema and suddenly the whole room was spinning around me,' recalls Lucy, 48, a professor at the Guildhall School of Music, London. 'I felt like I was standing on a ship, swaying on the deck - and that I was about to be ill. It only lasted about three minutes but I rushed home in a taxi as my legs still felt like jelly and I couldn't walk normally. I had no sense of balance.' When Lucy reached her home in Central London ten minutes later, she lay down, but still felt as if the room was spinning. 'It was like I was on the Titanic and my bed was going up and down violently in a sea swell,' she says. 'I found it frightening.' The next day, she went to her GP, who diagnosed her with severe labyrinthitis. This is a common ear infection where the labyrinth, the innermost part of the ear, becomes inflamed or damaged, typically as a result of a viral infection such as cold or flu. The labyrinth not only contains the cochlea, which relays sound to the brain, but also the vestibular system, a complex set of fluid-filled channels that sends messages to the brain to help with balance. Labyrinthitis is similar to vestibular neuritis, where an infection damages the vestibular nerve, causing faulty messages to be sent to the brain. Indeed, doctors often treat labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis as one condition, as the symptoms - and treatment - are largely the same (the only difference is that labyrinthitis may also causes hearing loss). The most common symptoms of both conditions are vertigo (an intense spinning sensation), as well as nausea, vomiting and a feeling of unsteadiness, explains Andrew McCombe, a consultant ENT surgeon at Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey. The classic pattern is acute vertigo for a few days, which then settles, but a sense of unsteadiness and dizziness can persist for a few weeks,' he says. 'This happens because the brain is receiving faulty signals from the damaged labyrinth and/or vestibular nerve in one ear and becomes confused as it is out of sync with signals coming from the other ear.' Scroll down for video . Those affected are often told to lie down until the acute symptoms ease after a few days. However, longer term, lying down may be the wrong thing to do . Treatment includes anti-sickness drugs such as prochlorperazine to reduce activity in the central nervous system or steroids to reduce inflammation. Those affected are often told to lie down until the acute symptoms ease after a few days. However, longer term, lying down may be the wrong thing to do, experts say. 'For both labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis GPs often prescribe rest and anti-travel sickness tablets, but while medication may help in the first day or two, when symptoms are more severe they will not help in the long term and may delay recovery,' says Linda Luxon, professor emeritus of audio-vestibular medicine at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. 'They stop the brain readjusting to the faulty signals the ear is sending. Patients need to keep moving so that their brain starts to recalibrate and ignore the faulty signals - staying indoors and not moving is the worst thing they can do.' And although most cases of both conditions will resolve completely within three to eight weeks, about 10 per cent will have permanent damage to the labyrinth or vestibular nerve, and dizziness persists. These patients should be referred for specialist assessment, says Professor Luxon. This may involve 'vestibular rehabilitation' or physiotherapy, learning special exercises that compensate for the faulty signals coming from the balance sensors. These exercises typically include eye and head movements - such as teaching the patient to focus their eyes on a fixed object while moving their head. They may also watch videos of people walking down busy streets so their brain can start to 'relearn' its balance in a safe, controlled environment. 'Physiotherapy is very effective and can be a great help,' adds Professor Luxon. However, patients who need it often don't get this specialist treatment. Patient stories on the labyrinthitis.org.uk website complain that GPs can seem reluctant to refer patients, with some waiting six months or more to see a specialist. The good news is that even if a patient has suffered severe dizziness for months they can benefit from specialist vestibular physiotherapy, says Nova Mullin, a physiotherapist in balance and dizziness at Aintree University Hospitals NHS Trust, Liverpool. 'I recently treated a patient who has been effectively housebound for three years because his balance was so bad. He improved dramatically within three months. 'Unfortunately, if patients don't get better within a few months they're often told by GPs there's nothing that can be done for them. It's not true. Vestibular rehabilitation is a very effective treatment, helpful in approximately 80 per cent of patients.' Lucy finally saw a specialist vestibular physiotherapist once a week for a month . Lucy's GP initially prescribed anti-nausea drugs and reassured her that the dizziness should clear up within weeks. 'My first thought was how it was going to affect my work as I had a series of concerts booked for the following month,' says Lucy, a former winner of Young Musician of the Year. 'But I accepted my GP's advice to rest and take a low dose of prochlorperazine. However, after two months her symptoms hadn't improved and reluctantly she had to cancel three concerts last February. Daily life was also proving difficult. 'I couldn't shop or drive or use public transport as I still felt so dizzy,' she says. 'One day I tried to walk and I was clutching at the railings to keep upright - I must have looked like I was drunk. 'I started to seriously worry about how this was going to affect my career. I could still play the piano - it seemed like when I was performing I just got a massive dose of concentration that seemed to override everything else. 'But as soon as I stopped playing the dizziness would return.' By March, Lucy had recovered enough to perform again, but still had to be driven to recitals. 'I felt a general dizziness most of the time punctuated with more violent spinning vertigo attacks - it was so unpredictable it wouldn't have been safe to drive. 'I was just existing - I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I started to worry I may have something more seriously wrong, such as a brain tumour.' Lucy went back to her GP in March. She was sent for an MRI scan but the results were clear. Other causes of dizziness include neurological conditions, stroke and multiple sclerosis, and it is important these are ruled out. By April, she was so desperate, Lucy used her private medical insurance to see a vestibular medicine specialist at the London Hearing and Balance Centre. 'One test involved trickling water into my right ear - it measures the difference in function between the two ears and from that my specialist was able to diagnose vestibular neuritis. 'She explained the vestibular nerve was sending faulty signals and that my brain needed help to learn how to recalibrate and ignore these signals,' says Lucy. She then saw a specialist vestibular physiotherapist once a week for a month. 'She taught me exercises to practise twice a day,' says Lucy. 'These included standing on a huge pile of sofa cushions with my eyes shut and trying to balance. I also had to walk backwards and forwards, looking up and down and from right to left. 'Within a month my symptoms had improved by 50 per cent and I felt much more able to get on with normal life. It's a huge relief.' Lucy is now feeling fine and is able to work and drive again. 'I want to let people know labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis don't always go away on their own - and there is specialist help available.' lucyparham.com, labyrinthitis.org.uk .
Concert pianist Lucy Parham, 48, from London was overcome by dizziness .
Her GP diagnosed her with severe labyrinthitis, a common ear infection .
Treatment includes anti-sickness drugs or steroids .
Longer term, lying down may be the wrong thing to do .
Pianist Lucy Parham had severe labyrinthitis . Concert pianist Lucy Parham was recovering from a virus last Christmas when she was overcome by a violent wave of dizziness and nausea. 'I was watching a film at the cinema and suddenly the whole room was spinning around me,' recalls Lucy, 48, a professor at the Guildhall School of Music, London. 'I felt like I was standing on a ship, swaying on the deck - and that I was about to be ill. It only lasted about three minutes but I rushed home in a taxi as my legs still felt like jelly and I couldn't walk normally. I had no sense of balance.' When Lucy reached her home in Central London ten minutes later, she lay down, but still felt as if the room was spinning. 'It was like I was on the Titanic and my bed was going up and down violently in a sea swell,' she says. 'I found it frightening.' The next day, she went to her GP, who diagnosed her with severe labyrinthitis. This is a common ear infection where the labyrinth, the innermost part of the ear, becomes inflamed or damaged, typically as a result of a viral infection such as cold or flu. The labyrinth not only contains the cochlea, which relays sound to the brain, but also the vestibular system, a complex set of fluid-filled channels that sends messages to the brain to help with balance. Labyrinthitis is similar to vestibular neuritis, where an infection damages the vestibular nerve, causing faulty messages to be sent to the brain. Indeed, doctors often treat labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis as one condition, as the symptoms - and treatment - are largely the same (the only difference is that labyrinthitis may also causes hearing loss). The most common symptoms of both conditions are vertigo (an intense spinning sensation), as well as nausea, vomiting and a feeling of unsteadiness, explains Andrew McCombe, a consultant ENT surgeon at Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey. The classic pattern is acute vertigo for a few days, which then settles, but a sense of unsteadiness and dizziness can persist for a few weeks,' he says. 'This happens because the brain is receiving faulty signals from the damaged labyrinth and/or vestibular nerve in one ear and becomes confused as it is out of sync with signals coming from the other ear.' Scroll down for video . Those affected are often told to lie down until the acute symptoms ease after a few days. However, longer term, lying down may be the wrong thing to do . Treatment includes anti-sickness drugs such as prochlorperazine to reduce activity in the central nervous system or steroids to reduce inflammation. Those affected are often told to lie down until the acute symptoms ease after a few days. However, longer term, lying down may be the wrong thing to do, experts say. 'For both labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis GPs often prescribe rest and anti-travel sickness tablets, but while medication may help in the first day or two, when symptoms are more severe they will not help in the long term and may delay recovery,' says Linda Luxon, professor emeritus of audio-vestibular medicine at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. 'They stop the brain readjusting to the faulty signals the ear is sending. Patients need to keep moving so that their brain starts to recalibrate and ignore the faulty signals - staying indoors and not moving is the worst thing they can do.' And although most cases of both conditions will resolve completely within three to eight weeks, about 10 per cent will have permanent damage to the labyrinth or vestibular nerve, and dizziness persists. These patients should be referred for specialist assessment, says Professor Luxon. This may involve 'vestibular rehabilitation' or physiotherapy, learning special exercises that compensate for the faulty signals coming from the balance sensors. These exercises typically include eye and head movements - such as teaching the patient to focus their eyes on a fixed object while moving their head. They may also watch videos of people walking down busy streets so their brain can start to 'relearn' its balance in a safe, controlled environment. 'Physiotherapy is very effective and can be a great help,' adds Professor Luxon. However, patients who need it often don't get this specialist treatment. Patient stories on the labyrinthitis.org.uk website complain that GPs can seem reluctant to refer patients, with some waiting six months or more to see a specialist. The good news is that even if a patient has suffered severe dizziness for months they can benefit from specialist vestibular physiotherapy, says Nova Mullin, a physiotherapist in balance and dizziness at Aintree University Hospitals NHS Trust, Liverpool. 'I recently treated a patient who has been effectively housebound for three years because his balance was so bad. He improved dramatically within three months. 'Unfortunately, if patients don't get better within a few months they're often told by GPs there's nothing that can be done for them. It's not true. Vestibular rehabilitation is a very effective treatment, helpful in approximately 80 per cent of patients.' Lucy finally saw a specialist vestibular physiotherapist once a week for a month . Lucy's GP initially prescribed anti-nausea drugs and reassured her that the dizziness should clear up within weeks. 'My first thought was how it was going to affect my work as I had a series of concerts booked for the following month,' says Lucy, a former winner of Young Musician of the Year. 'But I accepted my GP's advice to rest and take a low dose of prochlorperazine. However, after two months her symptoms hadn't improved and reluctantly she had to cancel three concerts last February. Daily life was also proving difficult. 'I couldn't shop or drive or use public transport as I still felt so dizzy,' she says. 'One day I tried to walk and I was clutching at the railings to keep upright - I must have looked like I was drunk. 'I started to seriously worry about how this was going to affect my career. I could still play the piano - it seemed like when I was performing I just got a massive dose of concentration that seemed to override everything else. 'But as soon as I stopped playing the dizziness would return.' By March, Lucy had recovered enough to perform again, but still had to be driven to recitals. 'I felt a general dizziness most of the time punctuated with more violent spinning vertigo attacks - it was so unpredictable it wouldn't have been safe to drive. 'I was just existing - I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I started to worry I may have something more seriously wrong, such as a brain tumour.' Lucy went back to her GP in March. She was sent for an MRI scan but the results were clear. Other causes of dizziness include neurological conditions, stroke and multiple sclerosis, and it is important these are ruled out. By April, she was so desperate, Lucy used her private medical insurance to see a vestibular medicine specialist at the London Hearing and Balance Centre. 'One test involved trickling water into my right ear - it measures the difference in function between the two ears and from that my specialist was able to diagnose vestibular neuritis. 'She explained the vestibular nerve was sending faulty signals and that my brain needed help to learn how to recalibrate and ignore these signals,' says Lucy. She then saw a specialist vestibular physiotherapist once a week for a month. 'She taught me exercises to practise twice a day,' says Lucy. 'These included standing on a huge pile of sofa cushions with my eyes shut and trying to balance. I also had to walk backwards and forwards, looking up and down and from right to left. 'Within a month my symptoms had improved by 50 per cent and I felt much more able to get on with normal life. It's a huge relief.' Lucy is now feeling fine and is able to work and drive again. 'I want to let people know labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis don't always go away on their own - and there is specialist help available.' lucyparham.com, labyrinthitis.org.uk .
Concert pianist Lucy Parham was recovering from a went to her GP, who diagnosed her with severe labyrinthitis. This is a common ear infection wrong thing to do . Treatment includes term, lying down may be the wrong thing to do,