Vestibular System 1 Evaluation Methods

The human body is equipped with perfect functions. If these functions are healthy at birth, they are considered automatic and ordinary, but in the event of their loss, in the process of gaining/regaining, it becomes clear how important and complex they are. The same applies to hearing and balance functions. Trying to learn these functions is a long journey. Trying to gain them when they are lost at birth or later is the journey of patients, and trying to learn these functions in order to detect the loss and help the patient with the right approach is our journey.
My journey to learn these functions first started with hearing. I saw how difficult it is to gain these auditory functions acquired at birth and sometimes they cannot be gained at all. Then I continued my journey with the vestibular field, which is a different route of the same path. I got to know balance, one of the perfect functions present in humans. I saw that the information I acquired about hearing also benefited me a lot in the vestibular field. I benefited a lot from the studies of many scientists from different professions, from our country and many parts of the world, who turned to the same path, in order to make the path easier for those who come after them. On this path, I learned that vestibular functions are not actually fully understood, that it still requires a lot of effort, how important it is to share information, and how valuable it is to continue on this path with people from different professions. Then, my path crossed with my audiology undergraduate students who were also interested in the vestibular field. I saw that they could not benefit from most of the resources prepared for them because the written language was not Turkish. In order to facilitate the path of students who were very eager to continue on this path, the task of “combining the already existing information in this field with the experiences I have gained on this path, and helping students understandably, simply, concisely, and correctly convey this task” fell to me. We created this work by trying to fulfill this task in the best way possible with my valuable colleagues who are also on this path. We were aware that it was impossible to explain the vestibular system in one or a few books. Our aim was to make it easier for students to embark on this path.
In this work, we first tried to explain these topics with the idea that understanding the functions related to anatomy, physiology, and the vestibular area would also make it easier for students to continue on this path. Then, we explained the vestibular assessment methods one by one. Audiology is an important branch of science where we can evaluate both auditory and vestibular functions, shed light on medical diagnosis by interpreting the results, and manage the rehabilitation process. Learning the purpose of these tests, how they are performed, and how to correctly interpret their results is one of the most important steps that will facilitate this path. For this reason, we have tried to explain vestibular tests in detail in this work.
While we thought we were taking a short break in our own learning journey in order to create this work in the best possible way, we actually realized that this process was very educative for us and that continuing on this path was a part of learning. I hope that this work, which we have created with beautiful energy and team spirit, will be a beautiful resource that audiology students, our colleagues and those interested in this path from other professions will enjoy reading and benefit from. I would like to thank those
who guided me and facilitated my path from the very beginning in my own learning journey, whether they knew it or not,
My undergraduate students who helped speed up this process by voicing their needs
, My colleague Uzm. Ody. Semire Özdemir,
with whom I worked with pleasure from the very beginning during the creation of this work, My colleagues and graduate students Ody. Sümeyye Nu