Life Insurance With Labyrinthitis
Labyrinthitis is unpleasant out of all proportion to its long-term significance for most people.
It typically arrives suddenly, is severe enough to put somebody in bed for days, and then improves over weeks as the brain compensates.
On a form the important thing is that it is usually finished, and saying so clearly is the whole answer.
The short answer
Labyrinthitis is inflammation of the inner ear, usually viral, which causes days of severe vertigo followed by weeks of gradual recovery. For most people it happens once and resolves, which makes it a dated episode rather than an ongoing condition. The useful detail is whether it fully settled and whether any hearing was affected.
What it is
Labyrinthitis is inflammation of the labyrinth of the inner ear, which contains both the balance organs and the hearing organ. It is most often viral, frequently following a cold.
The typical course is sudden severe vertigo with nausea lasting a few days, then gradual improvement over several weeks as the balance system adapts. Where hearing is affected as well as balance it is called labyrinthitis; where balance alone is affected it is usually called vestibular neuritis. Treatment is supportive, sometimes with medication for the nausea, and vestibular rehabilitation exercises help some people.
Why it comes up on an application
- It is normally a single episode with a start and a finish, so the dates and whether it fully resolved are the useful answer.
- Whether hearing was affected is the distinction worth making, because that is what separates labyrinthitis from vestibular neuritis and it is the part that can be permanent.
- Severe sudden vertigo is sometimes investigated in hospital to exclude a stroke, particularly in older people or where there are other neurological symptoms. If that happened, the investigation is a real entry.
- A minority of people have lasting unsteadiness or recurrent dizziness afterwards, which is a continuing issue rather than a finished episode.
- Hearing tests are common afterwards and the result is worth knowing.
- Time off work during the acute phase is usual and is a fair answer to a question about absence.
What we would ask you
- Roughly when it happened, and how long the acute phase lasted
- Whether it has fully resolved or left any unsteadiness
- Whether your hearing was affected, and whether you had a hearing test
- Whether you were assessed in hospital at the time
- Whether it has ever happened again
- Whether you are currently off work or working reduced hours because of an accident, injury or illness
- Whether you are waiting on any medical tests, appointments or treatment
- Whether you have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer in the last five years
- Whether a parent, brother or sister was diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or a stroke before 65
- Any medication you take
- Whether you smoke, and your date of birth
Say Whether It Finished
This is the whole of what makes a labyrinthitis answer useful, and it is one sentence.
For most people the honest answer is that it happened once, was awful for a week, took a month or two to settle fully, and has never returned. That describes a dated episode with nothing continuing, which is exactly what an application wants to know.
The minority answer is different: still unsteady on uneven ground, or dizzy in busy visual environments, or it has happened more than once. If that is you, say so plainly, because a continuing balance problem is a different entry from a virus you had in 2019.
Hearing Is The Part That Can Be Permanent
This is the distinction between the two names, and it matters because the balance usually recovers and the hearing may not.
The inner ear houses both systems. Where only balance is affected, the condition is usually called vestibular neuritis and recovery is the norm. Where hearing is affected too, it is labyrinthitis, and any hearing loss can be lasting.
So if your hearing changed, that is the substantive entry and it is worth saying specifically, along with any hearing test result. It is also worth knowing that sudden hearing loss is treated as urgent medically, so if it happened you may have been seen quickly, and that attendance is part of the record.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point. A single resolved episode is a tidy entry; lasting unsteadiness or hearing loss sits in the picture more prominently.
Genuinely relevant, because the acute phase stops people working for days to weeks, and anybody driving, working at height or using machinery cannot do so safely during it.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and this is not one, though permanent hearing loss features on many policies. Read the definitions.
Common questions
Do I need to declare labyrinthitis from years ago?+
Answer what you are asked, and the useful version is short: roughly when, how long it lasted, and that it fully resolved if it did. A single episode that finished is a dated entry with nothing continuing.
What is the difference between labyrinthitis and vestibular neuritis?+
Where only balance is affected it is usually called vestibular neuritis; where hearing is affected as well it is labyrinthitis. The distinction matters because balance generally recovers and hearing loss can be lasting.
I still feel unsteady sometimes. Does that change things?+
Yes, and it is worth saying plainly. Lasting unsteadiness or recurrent dizziness is a continuing issue rather than a finished episode, and it is a different entry from a virus you had years ago.
I was checked in hospital at the time. Should I mention it?+
Yes. Severe sudden vertigo is sometimes assessed in hospital to exclude a stroke, and that assessment is a real investigation. A question about tests or hospital attendances is asking about it whatever the conclusion was.
Will it affect my income protection?+
Worth asking rather than assuming. The honest point is that the acute phase genuinely stops people working for days to weeks, and anybody driving or working at height cannot do so safely during it, so it is a realistic consideration rather than a theoretical one.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.