How much vestibular system is responsive and also how symmetric the responses are, between left and right ears.
Caloric stimulation is a test that uses differences in temperature to diagnose damage to the acoustic nerve. This is the nerve that is involved in hearing and balance. One ear is tested at a time. When cold water enters the ear and the inner ear changes temperature, it should cause fast, side-to-side eye movements called nystagmus. The eyes should move away from the cold water and slowly back. Next, warm water is placed into the ear. When cold water or air enters your ear and the inner ear changes temperature, it should cause fast, side-to-side eye movements called nystagmus. The test is done in the following way: 1  Before the test, your ear, especially the eardrum, will be checked. 2  This is to make sure it is normal. 3  One ear is tested at a time. Caloric Stimulation. Caloric stimulation is used to find damage to nerves in the ear. First cold and then warm water is placed into your ears to test your reaction. A calorie is a unit of heat. Other names for caloric stimulation are caloric test, cold-water calorics, and warm water calorics. This is called bithermal caloric testing. This test will show the nerve damage by comparing responses from the water on either side-in normal ears each side responds with the same rapid side to side eye movements (nystagmus). When one side is damaged, the nystagmus / eye movements will differ, proving the damage. The caloric test is a part of the ENG. It is an attempt to discover the degree to which the vestibular system is responsive and also how symmetric the responses are, between left and right ears.
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003429.htm http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/caloric-stimulation/overview.html https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003429.htm http://www.healthline.com/health/caloric-stimulation http://www.mrlexy.co.uk/menieres-disease/diagnosis.html http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/testing/ENG/caloric_test.htm
what does caloric testing show