Caloric testing

Caloric testing

Flushing warm and cold water into the ear stimulates the labyrinth and causes vertigo and nystagmus if all the nerve pathways are intact.

Mentioned in: Gulf War Syndrome

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caloric testing 

A neuro-ophthalmic technique in which cold and warm water is used to stimulate the vestibular system creating horizontal nystagmus (called caloric nystagmus or Barany's nystagmus). Cold water placed in the ear induces a fast-beating vestibular nystagmus with the fast phase moving away from the stimulated ear, while warm water causes the fast phase to move in the direction of the stimulated ear. The mnemonic COWS (cold-opposite, warm-same) is used to describe this effect. By placing the subject at a 30-degree upright position, heated or cooled water stimulates the now vertical horizontal semicircular canals.