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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
- Treated online: Partly. A doctor can assess labyrinthitis by video, ease the symptoms and plan recovery; hearing tests, the balance examination and balance therapy are in person.
- What it is: inflammation of the inner ear (labyrinthitis) or of the balance nerve (vestibular neuritis), usually after a virus such as a cold or flu.
- The difference: both cause spinning dizziness, unsteadiness and sickness; labyrinthitis also affects hearing and can cause ringing.
- How long it lasts: symptoms often ease after a few days, and balance usually returns over 2 to 6 weeks, sometimes longer.
- Emergency: call 112 for dizziness with facial drooping, weakness, numbness or tingling in an arm or leg, trouble speaking, double vision or loss of vision.
Do not book a video appointment if your dizziness comes with facial drooping, weakness, numbness or tingling in an arm or leg, trouble speaking, double vision or loss of vision, a sudden severe headache, or if you suddenly cannot stand or walk: call 112 or go to an emergency department, and do not drive yourself. Sudden hearing loss in one ear also needs urgent assessment: get medical advice the same day.
Can an online doctor treat labyrinthitis?
Partly. Labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis are usually recognised from the story, sudden spinning that started after a cold or flu, and they usually get better on their own over a few weeks. A doctor can assess them by video, check for the signs of a stroke and of sudden hearing loss, prescribe medicine for the sickness and spinning for a few days, and guide your recovery. Hearing tests, the examination of eye movements and balance, and balance therapy with a physiotherapist or audiologist are in person, and spinning with any stroke sign is an emergency.
How an online consultation helps with labyrinthitis
- Emergencies ruled out first: Stroke signs and sudden hearing loss are checked before anything else, because both need care in person.
- Inner ear, or something else?: BPPV, Ménière’s disease and vestibular migraine also cause spinning, and the pattern tells them apart.
- Relief for the first days: Medicine for the sickness and spinning, used for a few days only so that it does not slow recovery.
- A plan to get your balance back: When to start moving, balance exercises, driving and work.
What the doctor checks in an online labyrinthitis consultation
The doctor asks about the signs of a stroke first, because a stroke can also cause sudden dizziness. The doctor asks about:
- Warning signs: facial drooping, weakness or numbness, trouble speaking, double vision, a sudden severe headache, or being unable to stand or walk.
- The dizziness: when it started, whether it is constant or comes in short spells with head movement, and whether it is easing.
- Your hearing: hearing loss or ringing in one ear, and whether it came on suddenly.
- What came before: a cold, flu or ear infection, a head injury, or a new medicine.
- Sickness and fluids: vomiting, and whether you can keep fluids down.
- Your health: heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, migraine, pregnancy, and your medicines.
If someone is with you, ask them to help during the call. The doctor may ask you to move your head or your eyes while the camera is on you, if you can do so safely while sitting down.
What is labyrinthitis, and how is it different from vestibular neuritis?
Both are inner ear problems that affect balance, usually caused by a virus such as a cold or flu, and both usually get better on their own within a few weeks. The difference is which part of the inner ear is inflamed:
Swipe sideways to compare →
| Labyrinthitis | Vestibular neuritis | |
|---|---|---|
| What is inflamed | The labyrinth, a fluid-filled maze in the inner ear | The vestibular nerve, which carries balance signals to the brain |
| Dizziness and spinning | Yes | Yes |
| Unsteadiness, feeling or being sick | Yes | Yes |
| Hearing loss | Yes | No |
| Ringing in the ear (tinnitus) | Yes | No |
| Usual cause | A virus; sometimes bacteria | A virus |
If your hearing is affected, it is labyrinthitis rather than vestibular neuritis. Labyrinthitis is sometimes called an inner ear infection, which is different from a middle ear infection, the kind that follows a cold and causes earache.
What are the symptoms of labyrinthitis?
The main symptom is dizziness or vertigo, a feeling that you or everything around you is spinning. Other symptoms are:
- feeling unsteady or off balance
- feeling sick or being sick
- hearing loss in the affected ear, in labyrinthitis
- ringing or buzzing in the ear (tinnitus), in labyrinthitis
Symptoms usually start suddenly, may be there when you wake up, and often get worse during the day. They often ease after a few days.
Can labyrinthitis come and go?
The severe spinning usually comes once and fades, but unsteadiness can linger for weeks, and some people have balance problems for many months. Spinning that comes back with particular head movements points to BPPV, and attacks that keep coming back with ringing and fullness in one ear point to Ménière’s disease.
How long does labyrinthitis last?
Symptoms often ease after a few days, and balance usually returns over 2 to 6 weeks, although it can take longer. In some people, balance problems last many months or years, and that is when balance therapy matters most.
Swipe sideways to compare →
| When | What usually happens | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| The first few days | Severe spinning and sickness, often worst during the day | Rest, fluids, and medicine for the sickness for up to 3 days |
| After the first few days | The spinning eases, although you may still feel unsteady | Getting up and walking as soon as you can |
| 2 to 6 weeks | Balance usually returns to normal | Keeping active, balance exercises |
| Beyond 6 weeks | Some people still feel unsteady or dizzy with movement | Vestibular rehabilitation with a physiotherapist or audiologist |
See a doctor if your symptoms have not started to improve after a few days or are getting worse, or have not improved within a week of starting treatment.
Labyrinthitis or something else?
Vertigo is a symptom, and inner ear problems are its most common cause. The way the dizziness behaves is the best clue, but only an examination in person can rule out a stroke with certainty:
Swipe sideways to compare →
| Condition | What points to it | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Labyrinthitis or vestibular neuritis | Sudden, constant spinning after a cold or flu, easing over days | This page |
| BPPV | Spinning brought on by particular head movements | BPPV |
| Ménière’s disease | Repeated attacks of 20 minutes to 12 hours, with ringing, fullness and hearing loss | Ménière’s disease |
| Vestibular migraine | Dizziness in someone who gets migraines | Vestibular migraine |
| Sudden hearing loss | Hearing that drops all at once or over a few days, sometimes with dizziness | Hearing loss: urgent |
| Stroke | Dizziness with facial drooping, weakness, numbness, trouble speaking, or double or lost vision | Call 112 |
Some medicines list dizziness or vertigo as a side effect, so check the leaflet of anything you started recently.
Which labyrinthitis treatment might the doctor recommend?
Treatment depends on how severe the symptoms are, whether hearing is affected, and how long it has lasted. This is the framework the doctors use:
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| What you have | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spinning with any stroke sign, a sudden severe headache, or being unable to stand | Emergency care | No | Call 112 now |
| Spinning with sudden hearing loss in one ear | Urgent assessment and a hearing test | Only to assess | Urgently: get medical advice the same day |
| Sudden spinning after a cold, hearing normal, able to walk with help | Rest, fluids, and medicine for the sickness for up to 3 days | Yes | If it is not improving after a few days, or getting worse |
| Being sick so often that you cannot keep fluids down | Assessment for dehydration | Yes, to assess | If you cannot keep fluids down |
| Unsteadiness that has lasted more than a few weeks | Balance exercises and a referral for vestibular rehabilitation | Partly | For vestibular rehabilitation and balance tests |
| Signs of a bacterial infection, such as a middle ear infection with discharge | Antibiotics may be needed | Yes, to assess | If the ear needs examining |
Dizzy since your cold? A doctor can tell you in one consultation whether it is safe to manage at home.
See available times →Treatment options for labyrinthitis
What you can do yourself
- If you are very dizzy, lie still in a quiet, dark room.
- Sip fluids often if you are being sick.
- Avoid noise and bright lights, and get enough sleep.
- Start going outside for walks as soon as you can, with someone nearby at first.
- Keep your eyes on a fixed point when you move around, and get up slowly.
- Do not drive, cycle, or use tools or machinery while you are dizzy.
- Avoid alcohol, which can make symptoms worse.
Prescription treatment
A prescription is never issued without a consultation. For the first days, the doctor may prescribe an antihistamine, a motion sickness tablet or an anti-sickness medicine, for no more than 3 days, because taking them for longer can slow your recovery. Labyrinthitis is usually caused by a virus, so antibiotics do not help unless the doctor suspects a bacterial infection. Steroid tablets are sometimes considered for vestibular neuritis, but a Cochrane review found too little evidence that they help symptoms recover. Benzodiazepines and other controlled medicines are never prescribed online. If the doctor prescribes, use the prescription at a pharmacy near you.
Vestibular rehabilitation: balance exercises
If dizziness or unsteadiness lasts, vestibular rehabilitation is the treatment with the strongest evidence. It is a series of balance exercises, ideally supervised by a physiotherapist or audiologist, that can help dizziness, sickness and anxiety; many physiotherapists accept self-referral. A Cochrane review of 39 trials with 2,441 adults found that it reduced dizziness more than no treatment or a sham, made daily life less affected by dizziness, caused no reported harm, and that the benefits lasted 3 to 12 months.
What does not help
Taking anti-sickness or antihistamine tablets for more than 3 days. Staying in bed once the worst has passed: getting up and walking as soon as you can is part of recovery. Antibiotics for a viral infection. Driving before the dizziness has settled.
Special situations
Driving and work
Do not drive, cycle or use machinery while you are dizzy. If you drive, tell the authority that issued your licence about vertigo that affects your driving, as the DVLA requires in the UK. When you can go back to work depends on your job: work at heights, driving and machinery need your balance to have recovered fully.
Over 65, or heart disease and diabetes
New dizziness in older age, or with heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes, calls for a lower threshold for an in-person examination. Falls are a risk while you are unsteady: move slowly, turn on lights at night, and use a walking stick if you need one.
Pregnancy
Tell the doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, because it changes which medicines for sickness and dizziness are suitable.
Is labyrinthitis contagious?
Labyrinthitis itself is not passed from person to person, but it usually follows a cold or flu virus, and those viruses can spread. The cold and flu pages explain how long they are catching.
Labyrinthitis while travelling in Europe
Sudden spinning on holiday is frightening. If it comes with any stroke sign, call 112 wherever you are. If not, rest, drink, and do not drive until it has settled; a doctor by video can help wherever you are staying.
Children
Mobi Doctor consultations are for adults aged 18 and over. A child who is unwell needs a paediatrician or a local doctor in person, and emergency signs in a child mean 112.
When labyrinthitis is treated online, and when you need in-person care
Treated online: sudden spinning after a cold or flu with no warning signs, medicine for the sickness and spinning for a few days, recovery plans, balance exercises at home, and advice on driving and work.
In-person care: any stroke sign, sudden hearing loss, being unable to stand or walk, dehydration from vomiting, hearing and balance tests, and vestibular rehabilitation when dizziness lasts.
When to get in-person care
Call 112 or go to an emergency department now for:
- dizziness with facial drooping, or weakness, numbness or tingling in an arm or leg
- dizziness with trouble speaking, double vision or loss of vision
- a sudden, severe headache with dizziness
- suddenly being unable to stand or walk
- someone who cannot be woken up
Get medical advice the same day for:
- sudden hearing loss in one or both ears
- dizziness with a severe headache, being sick or feeling very sick, or a very high temperature
- being sick so often that you cannot keep fluids down
- dizziness after a head injury
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: daily 7am–11pm CEST. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. No subscription, and the exact price is shown before you pay.
- Speak to a licensed doctor about your dizziness: say when it started, whether it is constant or comes with head movement, and whether your hearing has changed, and sit down for the call.
- Leave with a plan: what to do, what to take and for how long, and which signs mean you should be seen in person. If the doctor prescribes, use the prescription at a pharmacy near you.
No sign-up needed
Not sure it’s labyrinthitis? Tick every symptom you have to see each condition page that mentions it. It finds the right page, not a diagnosis: a doctor gives you that on a video call.
Tap the body — an area or a point — to browse symptoms anywhere
Similar symptoms, different condition? Ménière’s disease can start the same way. Compare them, or look up any other symptom in the full symptom checker.
Frequently asked questions about labyrinthitis
What is labyrinthitis?
Labyrinthitis is an inflammation of the labyrinth, the fluid-filled maze of the inner ear that controls balance and hearing, usually caused by a virus such as a cold or flu. It causes sudden spinning dizziness, unsteadiness, sickness, hearing loss and ringing in the ear.
What is the difference between labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis?
Vestibular neuritis affects only the balance nerve, so it causes dizziness, unsteadiness and sickness without hearing loss or ringing. If your hearing is affected, it is labyrinthitis.
How long does labyrinthitis last?
Labyrinthitis symptoms often ease after a few days, and balance usually returns over 2 to 6 weeks. Some people have balance problems for many months, which balance exercises can help.
What causes labyrinthitis?
Labyrinthitis is usually caused by a virus, such as a cold, flu or another respiratory infection, that spreads to the inner ear or sets off inflammation there; it can also follow a middle ear infection. Bacteria cause it less often, usually spreading from a middle ear infection or meningitis, and then antibiotics are needed.
Can labyrinthitis come and go?
In labyrinthitis the severe spinning usually comes once and fades, but unsteadiness can linger. Spinning that keeps coming back with head movements suggests BPPV, and repeated attacks with ringing and fullness suggest Ménière’s disease.
Is labyrinthitis contagious?
Labyrinthitis itself is not passed from person to person, but it usually follows a cold or flu virus, and those viruses can spread, so wash your hands, cover coughs and stay away from people who are vulnerable while you have the infection. Bacterial labyrinthitis is rare and is not contagious either.
Can labyrinthitis be prevented?
Not reliably, because labyrinthitis usually follows a common cold or flu virus, but you can lower the chances: wash your hands often, have the flu vaccine if it is offered to you, and get middle ear infections treated rather than leaving them, since bacteria can spread from there to the inner ear. If you have had labyrinthitis, keeping up balance exercises after recovery and avoiding alcohol and lack of sleep while you are still unsteady help the recovery.
What helps labyrinthitis go away faster?
With labyrinthitis, rest while the spinning is severe, sip fluids, then get up and walk as soon as you can, keeping your eyes on a fixed point. Take medicine for sickness for no more than 3 days, and if unsteadiness lasts, balance exercises speed recovery.
Do steroids help vestibular neuritis?
The evidence for steroids in vestibular neuritis is weak. A Cochrane review found too little evidence that steroid tablets help symptoms recover, although they may improve one balance test in the first month.
Can I drive with labyrinthitis?
Not while you are dizzy. With labyrinthitis, wait until the spinning and unsteadiness have fully settled before driving, because a sudden attack at the wheel is dangerous, and tell your licensing authority if vertigo affects your driving. Most people can drive again within a few weeks.
Is labyrinthitis a sign of a stroke?
Usually not: labyrinthitis is far more common, but a stroke can also cause sudden dizziness. Call 112 for dizziness with facial drooping, weakness, numbness, trouble speaking, double vision or loss of vision, or if you suddenly cannot stand or walk.
Can an online doctor treat labyrinthitis?
Partly. A doctor can assess labyrinthitis by video, rule out emergencies, prescribe medicine for the sickness and spinning for a few days, and plan your recovery. Hearing tests, the balance examination and balance therapy are in person.
- Labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 6 August 2026.
- Vertigo, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 2 May 2023.
- Vestibular rehabilitation for unilateral peripheral vestibular dysfunction, McDonnell MN, Hillier SL. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015.
- Corticosteroids for the treatment of idiopathic acute vestibular dysfunction (vestibular neuritis), Fishman JM, Burgess C, Waddell A. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2022.
- Ear infections, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 16 January 2025.
- Sudden deafness, NIDCD, US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, updated September 2018.
- Ménière’s disease, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed 11 September 2026.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor.
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