Antelope Valley Today

Lizzy Yarnold has struggled with infection and inner ear problems at various points in her life. This nearly prevented her from winning gold at the 2018 Olympics. 

Prior to that she never believed that common cold issues might have a chance at stopping her. Her problems were created by a vestibular disorder impacting the inner ear. She also revealed struggling to breathe in a colder climate during the games and having vertigo and sinus headaches without congestion.

"Unfortunately, it does not resolve very quickly for some people, and a lot of people who have chronic sinusitis and allergies have this as a chronic problem" Dr. Matt D Hershcovitch of SoCal Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers said.

Yarnold went professional in 2010 and won gold medals in 2014 and 2018.  At the 2018 Olympics, she had a chest infection which gave her trouble speaking or breathing. Vestibular disorders affecting the inner ear are sometimes called Labrynthitis. 

Labrynthitis is created by inflammation of part of the inner ear called the labyrinth. The inflammation is created by an infection, usually bacterial or in some cases viral. Yarnold tried home remedies to combat this and eventually won gold after slipping into third place. 

Bacterial infections usually clear up within 10 days and are most often caused by a common cold. You should see a sinus inflammation specialist when things do not clear up after that, it will only get worse get worse if you have a history of recurrent or chronic sinusitis and sinus headache.