Abstract
The essential difference between cochlear damage and vestibular damage is discussed on the basis of the author's clinical experiences and animal experiments.
i) Cochlear symptoms originate from the cochlea on the affected side. However, vestibular symptoms are caused by an functional imbalance of the vestibular organs on the affected side and the sound side.
ii) In the disturbed process of the vestibular organ on the affected side, two different states could be observed: first, an irritative state, then a paralytic state. On the other hand, in cochlear damage there was only a paralytic state without any sign of initial irritation.
Investigation of the differences above mentioned is very important to clarify the discrepancy of vestibulo-cochlear symptoms and inner ear pathology.
