Meniere’s Disease: A Rough Roller Coaster Ride

The Meniere’s disease also called Meniere’s syndrome is an unpleasant condition which can bother you and affect your day to day activities. You should not overlook Meniere’s disease symptoms and get prompt help as adequate Meniere’s disease treatment sets your life in place. Let’s review Meniere’s disease here:

What Is Meniere’s Disease?

Meniere’s Disease has been named after the French physician, Prosper Meniere who recognized inner ear as the source of vertigo in the 1860s. Primary diopathic endolymphatic hydrops, which basically means abnormal fluid in the inner ear, is another name of the Meniere’s Disease. Meniere's disease is an inner ear disease which particularly affects the single ear and can cause pressure or pain in the ear, dizziness or vertigo, hearing loss, and a ringing noise called tinnitus.

Incidence Of Meniere’s Disease

Meniere’s Disease affects people of all ages; however, the most common age group is 40-50 years of age. It also differs in its prevalence in various geographic locations and ethnicities, appearing more frequently in people of European descent than in those with other backgrounds.                                                          

Causes Of Meniere’s Disease

The Meniere’s Disease is most likely an outcome of both the environmental and genetic factors, even though the exact cause of Meniere’s disease symptoms is not known.                                                                                                                         

• Environmental factors include viral infections, injury to your inner ear, noise pollution, allergies, abnormal responses of your immune system, and migraines.                                                                                                                   
• Genetic factors include involvement of genes as shown by research that modification in greater than 12 genes might have a minor role in the causation of this condition. A tiny percentage of total cases have been known to pass from one generation to other in families and the majority of the cases are sporadic (cases originate in people without any family history of the disorder).

Symptoms Of Meniere’s Disease

The Meniere’s Disease symptoms generally start with the feeling of pressure in your ear. Subsequently, tinnitus, hearing loss, and vertigo develop.

• Vertigo: Repeated episodes of spinning sensation occur which begin and end-all of a sudden. The intensity of vertigo can increase to the extent that you can get nausea.
• Hearing loss: In the beginning, hearing loss in Meniere's disease is off and on. Ultimately, most people have some permanent hearing loss.
• Tinnitus: Tinnitus is the feeling of a ringing, roaring, whistling, buzzing or hissing sound in your ear.

These episodes will last anywhere from 20 minutes to four hours. You tend to have episodes in groups with periods of no symptoms. When you experience an episode of Meniere's disease, it is best to lie down. Taking a nap might provide relief.

Stages Of Meniere's disease

Meniere's disease symptoms form over a period of time and generally people are affected in various stages:

• Early stage: Initially, you will experience episodes of vertigo which occur all of a sudden and can last anywhere from 20 minutes to the whole day along with fullness or pressure in the ear and some hearing loss, which particularly disappears after the episode. You can also feel ringing or tinnitus in your ear.
• Middle stage: Your hearing loss and tinnitus rise in severity, whereas the symptoms of vertigo decrease during this stage. A symptom-free period can also occur in this stage.
• Late stage: You will not have vertigo as frequently; however, tinnitus and hearing loss will possibly become worse and you have issues with balance.

Meniere’s disease symptoms are accompanied by an impact on your emotional well-being. You tend to feel depressed and anxious as a result of the fluctuating nature of symptoms.

Diagnosis Of Meniere’s Disease

You must be assessed by an ENT specialist to establish the diagnosis of Meniere’s syndrome as the symptoms are shared by other medical conditions. Your symptoms and medical history will be reviewed thoroughly by the physician and several diagnostic tests will be used to assess hearing and balance. The following criteria must be met for the diagnosis of Meniere’s disease:

Symptoms

• Two episodes of vertigo, each for 20 minutes or longer but not greater than 12 hours                                                                                                   
• Hearing loss verified by a hearing test                                                           
• Fullness or tinnitus in your ear                                                                       
• Exclusion of other symptoms 

Diagnostic Tests

• Hearing assessment: The hearing test or audiometry in Meniere’s disease shows that you have difficulty hearing low frequencies or mixed high and low frequencies with normal hearing in the midrange frequencies.
• Balance assessment: You might have some ongoing balance difficulties, though the sense of balance comes back to normal in between the episodes for many people. The various tests used are Videonystagmography (VNG), Vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) testing, Posturography, Electrocochleography (ECoG).
• Tests to rule out other conditions: Blood tests and imaging scans such as an MRI may be used to rule out disorders that can cause issues resembling those of Meniere's disease.

Treatment Of Meniere’s disease

Your physician will recommend Meniere’s disease treatment according to your symptoms, medical history, and lifestyle. These can be medicines, non-invasive therapy or procedures, surgery, and lifestyle changes.

• Medications: Your physician will prescribe medicines to reduce dizziness, nausea and the amount of fluid in the inner ear. In severe cases of vertigo, injections are used.
• Non-invasive therapy or procedures:
• Hearing aids: Hearing aids are an effective way to address your hearing loss due to Meniere’s disease.
• Balance therapy: Exercises are used to support you in balance problems in Balance therapy, also called Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT).
• Pressure pulse treatment: Pressure pulse treatment is created to make the fluid flow through the ear better with the use of applied pressure
• Surgical procedures: Surgical procedures are particularly used in severe cases.
• Lifestyle changes: It is essential to manage your life to control your Meniere’s disease symptoms. Lifestyle changes include regular exercise, reduction of stress levels, following a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and avoiding stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine. 

It is essential for you to get assessed from a physician to rule out other probable underlying causes of the symptoms and to seek evidence-based treatment for Meniere’s syndrome. Our team is ready to provide you assistance in choosing a hearing aid from our vast collection of products, in case you require help to hear better.