Meniere's Disease - Vertigo - Tinnitus - Dizziness - Endolymphatic Hydrops - Inner Ear Pressure - Labyrinthitis
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Meniere's Disease in Detail
Meniere’s Disease in Detail
Meniere's Disease, or Endolymphatic Hydrops, Is A Condition Affecting the Nerves of One or Both Inner Ears.
Normal Ear Function
Each inner ear has two nerves running side by side: the balance (vestibular) nerve and the hearing (acoustic) nerve. Normally the balance nerve will send and receive messages twenty four hours a day to keep your body in whatever position you choose to be in. Bending over, shifting your weight, turning your head, etc. And the acoustic or hearing nerve is there to receive and interpret sounds so they will have meaning for you. For instance, if you are exposed to loud noise, you will be able to do some correction because it feels so uncomfortable. And normally sound-wise, you have a lot of silence interspersed with ordinary noises or unusual tones. You can handle all this
nicely. If you are exposed to some balance problem, chances are you won't know about it, but the brain senses this imbalance and sends a message asking the inner ear's "vestibular" or balance nerve to correct it. Unless you are "hearing-impaired" you will have these nerves working properly, but you most likely take their activities for granted. And it's important to know that each ear and its parts functions fairly independently. Just as one hand can manage lots of activities, so can the ears.
Although it can be troublesome and often terrifying, Meniere's is not something that's contagious. Meniere's symptoms usually occur in only one ear. It affects both ears in only about 30% of people.
Signs & Symptoms of Meniere's Disease
The signs & symptoms that cause most of the difficulty are characterized by abnormal sensation of movement(vertigo), hearing loss, and noises or ringing (tinnitus) in one or both ears, and pressure or fullness in the ear. Vertigo is most easily explained as the sensation of a room spinning out of control, but there are different degrees of this spinning. For some people it's a very fast spin. For others, it gets to the point of dropping to the ground without any prior warning! And still for others, it's a gentle movement, still unpleasant, but the person can "live with it". For some, it's a dizziness that comes and goes, usually without warning. Tinnitus is noise: again different degrees of loudness or shrillness. Hearing fluctuation is the changes of the sounds: high or low pitches. And pressure or fullness in the ear is the sensation that there is "something" in the ear, a very frustrating and uncomfortable feeling. Our nerves automatically carry through with these messages or commands. It is our body's intention to be "in balance" at all times, so it adjusts for any differences.
Why Do Some People Get Meniere's?
This is seen as a degenerative condition. This is not part of the normal aging process (otherwise we would all be getting this). That means something has worn down or been damaged. Most people get some or all of these symptoms in different degrees or intervals at some point in their lives and think nothing of it. With Meniere's sufferers, these "normal" activities seem to be hindered, impaired, or completely incorrect. So messages are either not going to be received correctly or will it be misinterpreted and
returned with a false command, because the nerves that should be receiving the "information" are not healthy (for whatever reason). Your may not think very much about these symptoms until you have someone close to you do something very strange. But I would like to be just a bit clearer, so if you ever have an occasion to see this in real life, your reactions will be sympathetic, helpful, and resourceful. For instance, being able to hear someone speak (acoustic) to you one minute and not being able to hear them at all the next second, is rather unnerving and distressing. But standing upright one minute and finding yourself on the floor, cut over an eye, is entirely another shocker! This is not a conscious or chosen activity. The person simply has no control over the episode. Something at that point has disturbed the inner ear's balance nerve, in a very direct and severe way.
Causes of Meniere's Disease?
There are many theories, and none are definite. Some of the medical community feels this is the body working against itself (auto-immune), others feel it's a virus, and many just feel it's there because something has damaged the inner ear nerves or tissue. It's virtually impossible to take a direct look at the inner ear's working.
Who Can Get Meniere's Disease, and How Does it Happen?
Anyone can get this, male or female, and any age. We work with children as young as four and five and old as 88 & 92!
Treatments for Meniere's Disease.
Traditional treatment includes giving a diuretic: a drug that draws off excess fluid (feeling of fullness). It will most likely include a low salt diet...again to prevent fluid build-up. It will often include a drug to alleviate or prevent the vertigo or dizziness. And often it will include something to help the person relax or lessen their fears of facing the unpredictability of the symptoms. Because sufferers are willing to help each other in a somewhat hopeless situation, many "unusual" remedies are surfacing. One of the more hopeful ones includes a certain complete and balanced group of nutritional
supplements as recommended by medical doctors. They are achieving surprisingly good results. Essentially they are providing appropriate nutrients to the body to help itself.
Why does Meniere's Disease return after a long period of peace and confidence?
There is some thought, and ultimate hope, that an underlying inflammatory reaction is occurring to create pressure on one or both of these nerves. If this is real, then it follows that finding and dealing with this process could eliminate these very debilitating and unpredictable symptoms.
Why Does Meniere's Affect People Differently? Why is it More Severe in Some and Not In Everyone?
As mentioned previously, the symptoms can vary in intensity and severity. You have to realize that the human body is different for each person, so their reactions are completely "their own" No one CHOOSES to have these symptoms, and they cannot predict or prevent them.
How did Meniere's Disease gets this unusual name?
"Meniere" was a French physician who recognized the group of common symptoms and gave them his name. It is sometimes easier for the medical community to give things a name and then everyone can recognize the required treatment and follow through quickly without further testing.
Prognosis: what's in store for the Meniere's sufferer?
Most doctors, after exhausting their "traditional" medical treatments, will tell the person they "have to just live with it", an immensely difficult and depressing "treatment"! Often this is seen or discussed as "all being in your head" or having an over-active imagination! How wrong that is! These symptoms are as real as having appendicitis: yet it's not recognized the same way.
This condition has a negative affect on the entire family. Not only does the person have the attack and knows the very real loss of control and dignity, but they are also afraid to move in case any movement will set off even a more severe episode.
Frequently they are speaking to a person that can't hear them very well, in either one or both ears. That's very frustrating and tiring. They feel physically exhausted and mentally terrified. Each episode's onset is so completely out of their control and can come quickly without any warning. People who are not familiar with this condition tend to avoid Menieres sufferers, thinking they are drunk or dangerous. How sad and
incorrect a perception!
Having a life like this, with all it's unknowns and fears of the future does not give anyone a desirable quality of life. Many people will stop driving, as they feel unsafe. That limits or eliminates their freedom! They know how this affects their loved ones, but there is nothing they can do to make it better. So the family has to tiptoe around and be very quiet. You will hear people calling this "the beast". Can you imagine living with this degree of uncertainty every day? At the beginning of this article I hinted at a reason for updating this information. This condition has been a very real part of my life for almost ten years...fearful, unpredictable, and until a few years ago, hopeless. A round of tranquilizers, low salt diets, antidepressants, and little support from the medical community.
Luckily for us, all that has changed because the person who has it, decided to step out and find solutions rather than spend the rest of all our lives living from episode to episode. There is much to be learned and I want to encourage you to explore different avenues. There is hope and there may be a normal life in store for you, but you will need more information and a willingness to see beyond the traditional treatment. Once you understand the underlying body's responses to "invaders", you will find ways to deal with the challenge. But then the decision will be yours to make and the traditional treatment won't be so final and hopeless. Wouldn't it be good to realize you can have some control over your health?
Article courtesy of Karin Henderson from menieres-disease.ca
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