Meniere’s disease is a disorder of the inner ear that can lead to dizzy spells, or vertigo, and hearing loss. In most cases, only one ear is affected by Meniere’s disease.
While there is no known cause of Meniere’s disease, audiologists have linked symptoms to an abnormal amount of fluid, or endolymph, in the inner ear. The cause of this is unclear, but factors that might contribute to Meniere’s disease include: improper fluid drainage, possibly because of a blockage or anatomic abnormality, an abnormal immune response, a viral infection, or a genetic disposition. Since no one cause has been identified, it’s likely that a combination of factors results in a diagnosis of Meniere’s disease.
Although no one cause has been linked to Meniere’s disease, there are specific signs and symptoms to watch out for, including:
- Episodes of vertigo. Vertigo is a spinning sensation that can start and stop spontaneously. An episode can transpire without warning and can last anywhere between 20 minutes to several hours. Severe cases of vertigo have been known to cause nausea.
- Tinnitus. Tinnitus is the sensation of a “ringing in the ears”, but can also manifest as other sounds, including a loud humming, buzzing, or whistling. Severity can range from person to person, varying from loud to soft, and low- or high-pitched sounds.
Other symptoms include:
- Hearing loss. Hearing loss may come and go in the early stages of the disease, but eventually most people diagnosed with Meniere’s disease experience some permanent hearing loss.
- A feeling of fullness in the ear. People diagnosed with Meniere’s disease regularly feel pressure in the affected ear, often referred to as aural fullness.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, call Sonora Hearing Care, LLC, today, where we can evaluate and diagnose your symptoms, and provide therapies and management tools to help you take back control.
Unfortunately, no cure for Meniere’s disease exists, but there are a number of treatments that can reduce the severity of symptoms to provide you a better quality of life. While there are no treatments for hearing loss, we offer many services for those affected by tinnitus. There are many medications to manage vertigo, such as motion sickness medications, and anti-nausea aids.
Other non-invasive therapies and procedures include:
- Positive pressure therapy. For patients with difficult vertigo symptoms, this therapy consists of applying pressure to the middle ear to lessen fluid buildup. The treatment is applied by a device called a Meniett pulse generator and can be done at home.
- Rehabilitation. Vertigo can cause balance problems which vestibular rehabilitation therapy can help treat.
- Hearing aids. In order to treat hearing loss caused by Meniere’s disease, an audiologist might discuss the use of a hearing aid. If you would like to know more about our hearing aid services or cochlear implants, give us a call, or simply visit the clinic during our walk-in hours.
If symptoms of Meniere’s disease persist or worsen, an audiologist might recommend some more aggressive treatments, such as injections into the middle ear of a steroid or antibiotic. If vertigo attacks correlating to a diagnosis of Meniere’s disease are severe enough to be debilitating, and all other treatment options have been exhausted, surgery may be recommended.
Meniere’s disease can affect multiple facets of life, including productivity, social life, and overall quality. The abrupt episodes of the disease can interrupt your life, causing stress and fatigue, and the severity of the vertigo can increase your risk of falls and accidents. Because the signs and symptoms of Meniere’s disease can be caused by other illnesses, it’s important to get an accurate diagnosis as soon as you start experiencing them. With our help, you can learn to treat vertigo, overcome tinnitus and get back to your life!