Balance, Vertigo, and Tinnitus: Phantom Sensations From Missing Sensory Input

By Dr. Jennifer J. Gans

MindfulTinnitusRelief.com

Balance is a sensory system, just like hearing. Beyond the traditional five senses, the brain relies on the vestibular system—our sense of balance, motion, and spatial orientation—to understand where we are in space. Like hearing, this system lives in the inner ear and sends constant information to the brain.

When vestibular input is clear and symmetrical, we feel stable without ever thinking about it. When that input is reduced, distorted, or asymmetric—due to infection, migraine, concussion, inflammation, or aging—the brain loses part of the information it expects to receive.

Just as with hearing loss, the brain does not remain silent.

Vertigo and imbalance can be understood as phantom motion sensations, much like tinnitus is a phantom sound. When auditory input is reduced, the brain may generate tinnitus. When balance input is reduced or distorted, the brain may generate sensations of spinning, rocking, swaying, floating, or visual instability.

Neither tinnitus nor vertigo means the brain is broken. Both reflect a brain attempting to recalibrate in the face of missing sensory information.

Fear and attention play a powerful role in both experiences. When the brain interprets a sensation as dangerous, it elevates that signal within its internal triage system. Attention narrows, monitoring increases, and the symptom becomes more intense or persistent—not because it is worsening, but because it has been tagged as important.

This is why vertigo and tinnitus often co-occur with anxiety. Both disrupt core survival systems—auditory certainty and spatial orientation—causing the brain to remain on high alert.

Relief follows the same principles for both conditions. Accurate education, repeated experiences of safety, nervous system regulation, and structured rehabilitation help the brain relearn that the signal is not a threat. As fear and frustration decreases, the brain stops prioritizing the sensation, allowing it to fade into the background.

In simple terms: when you lose hearing input, the brain may create sound. When you lose balance input, the brain may create motion. In both cases, the symptom reflects a brain doing its best with incomplete information.