What Are The Options For Meniere’s Disease Treatment?

You may know about Meniere’s disease but not know the name of it.  It causes vertigo, or dizziness and loss of balance.  It also causes pressure and fullness in the ear, along with tinnitus, which includes ringing in the ears and other ear noises.  It can even cause temporary fluctuating hearing loss or lead to permanent hearing loss.  There are many options for Meniere’s disease treatment at the present time.

One long-standing method of treatment for Meniere’s disease is changing diet and personal habits.  Because in the condition there is a problem with the mixing of sodium and potassium when a membrane in the inner ear bursts, sodium levels have an affect on the disorder.  Limiting salt intake drastically and making sure to drink plenty of water will help with Meniere’s disease treatment.

Some suggest limiting caffeine, chocolate, and alcohol usage.  Others say this course of action has not been proven to have any affect at all.  MSG should also be avoided.  Quitting smoking is recommended because smoking tends to constrict blood flow to structures in the inner ear.  Exercise, on the other hand, is said to provide a good amount of stimulation to those structures.  These changes in habits may all be used in Meniere’s disease treatment.

There are a variety of medications used in the treatment of Meniere’s disease.  Diuretics have long been used to help maintain a low sodium level in the body and thus in the inner ear.  Anti-emetics, anti-anxiety, and anti-vertigo medications have all been used with varying success.

More controversial in Meniere’s disease treatment are other medications.  These include steroids and anti-histamines.  The anti-histamines often don’t work and may have many side effects.  Steroids are given, some through an injection into the middle ear space, partly because Meniere’s disease may be an autoimmune disorder.  However, steroids have many side effects as well.

There are surgical treatments for Meniere’s disease, too.  One involves insertion of tymponostomy tubes through the eardrum.  Believe it or not, this is the same surgery as when a child has a lot of ear infections and has tubes put in their ears.  It’s the same procedure.  A labyrinthectomy is where the balance organ of the inner ear is removed so that an ear that is functioning normally will not be overcome by one that is not.  In vestibular nerve section, the nerve from the vestibular, or balancing, part of the ear is cut while leaving the hearing intact. 

There are so many ways to go when treating Meniere’s disease.  They go from the simple changing of habits to drastic surgery.  Much of the decision depends on how severe the symptoms are, and on how far you are willing to go.  Meniere’s disease treatment covers a wide range of options already.  The interesting thing is that more is being learned every day.