Mark Cuban seems invincible. He is admired worldwide for his business savvy, innovative ideas and entrepreneurial mind. But in 2015 Mark was sidelined by an inner ear disorder, leaving him with dizziness, brain fog, and an unnerving feeling that something was wrong inside his head.
In May, 2015 Mark was visiting New York City. After a walk he returned to his apartment with a headache. The next morning he woke up dizzy. He had experienced vertigo in the past, so he figured this was a similar situation and tried some head movement exercises a doctor had taught him, but they didn’t help.
Mark returned to Dallas. He was still dizzy, so he began looking for answers to his unexplained symptoms. He met with numerous doctors and went through several forms of testing which turned up nothing. He was asked to try various medications, including some that made things worse. Some doctors pointed towards stress as the root cause of his symptoms, and even suggested seeing a psychiatrist.
“Every terrible possibility I could conjure in my head as a problem, I did. I read everything and anything that I could about dizziness. Unfortunately, dizziness is a symptom for almost everything. I found nothing.”
The breakthrough came in August, 2015 when Mark found Dr. Howard Mango in Southern California. Dr. Mango took Mark through five hours of tests and discovered that he was suffering from a damaged otolith in his inner ear.
“I was dizzy because my eyes…my vestibular system and my brain were out of whack. My damaged otolith was telling my brain I was falling or off balance, but my eyes were saying everything was normal. So my brain was confused and working overtime, resulting in all the problems I was experiencing.”
Dr. Mango’s team began working with Mark using a protocol of videos projected on the wall while he sat in a rotating chair. As he watched the videos his eye movements were recorded. Sometimes the chair would move and sometimes it would remain still. Mark spent an hour in the chair every day for several weeks. He felt his brain benefiting from the daily treatment.
Mark looked for options to continuing his treatment back home, but the equipment Dr. Mango was using was not available in Dallas. Then Mark got an idea. “Why not put the videos on my phone and look at them in on (my) Samsung VR (virtual reality) set?” It worked. He started using Dr. Mango’s protocol with his VR glasses every day and night. By February, 2016 Mark was having days when he felt completely normal. Today, he still uses his goggles for maintenance every couple of weeks.
Mark is working with Dr. Mango on patenting his protocol with a VR delivery system. They hope that eventually the tool can be made more widely available and have a similar impact on other patients with otolith damage.
See complete article at https://vestibular.org/news/12-12-2018/mark-cubans-dizzying-experience.
About Vestibular Disorders Association
For almost 30 years, VeDA has been a highly respected source of scientifically credible information on vestibular disorders. Through our publications and online community, VeDA has reached millions of vestibular patients with critical information and support. We provide education and emotional support to patients with dizziness and imbalance. We connect patients with medical specialists through our provider directory of clinics that specialize in diagnosing and treating vestibular disorders. We advocate on behalf of all who are impacted by vestibular disorders.
