10 Symptoms of Meniere’s Disease and Where to Find Help

Ever wondered about the common symptoms of Meniere’s disease? How do you know you have it? More importantly, what do you to find relief. Today, we’ll be learning more about this condition and how you seeing an upper cervical chiropractic practitioner can help. 

What is Meniere’s disease?

Meniere’s has also been called endolymphatic hydrops and is a condition that affects the inner ear. It hinders your ability to hear and your body’s balance system. The symptoms vary from one person to another, and it is a chronic episodic condition. In some cases, lifestyle modifications can be helpful for reducing the severity of this disease. Upper cervical chiropractic care has been proven to be an effective relief, and we will discuss this later in the article. First, let’s look at some ways to know whether or not you are suffering from Meniere’s disease.

10 Symptoms of Meniere’s Disease

1. Vertigo: Vertigo is one of the most commonly discussed signs of Meniere’s disease. Vertigo is a spinning sensation and feeling off balance. It may be moderate to severe and can last anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours. Vertigo often comes on unexpectedly with no warning. This can cause you to become injured because you can fall when the dizziness hits.
2. Hearing loss: Meniere’s is known to cause hearing loss, particularly of the lower sound tones. This sets it apart from a number of other conditions, such as noise-induced hearing loss or age-related hearing loss. With Meniere’s, vertigo and hearing loss often happen together, and it may be intermittent. However, as the disease progresses, hearing loss becomes more pronounced and can become permanent in some cases if it is not cared for properly.
3. A feeling of fullness or congestion in the ears: Those who have Meniere’s often complain of feeling an odd sensation of fullness in the affected ear. They describe it as being similar to having earplugs in. This happens due to the changes in pressure of the fluid in the inner ear and can come on randomly — before, during, or after an episode of Meniere’s disease.
4. Tinnitus: When we talk about tinnitus, we are referring to a noise in the ears. It may be a ringing, buzzing, or roaring sound. It is not something pleasant to experience because it comes and goes at random and can be truly uncomfortable. The sound is coming from within the ear and only the person suffering from Meniere’s disease can hear it. It can be very distracting and cause you to miss out on your rest and sleep. Concentration can also be extremely difficult.
5. Drop attacks: These occur when you fall down abruptly without cause and do not lose your consciousness. You may even feel like you have been pushed from behind. Generally, you can get up again with no lingering consequences. This is mostly experienced by people in the advanced stages of Meniere’s disease. As few as 10 percent of people have drop attacks.
6. Migraines: Studies have reported that as many as one-third of all patients with Meniere’s disease have migraines as well. It is unclear why these two are connected, but it is highly likely that there is a pathophysiologic continuum between Meniere’s and a vestibular migraine.
7. Nausea and vomiting: Nausea may occur if you are having a vertigo attack that is particularly severe or long in duration. Constantly feeling dizzy can interfere with your digestion and cause you to feel as if you want to vomit. Not all with Meniere’s have this sensation because it is due to vertigo, not the inner ear problem. Therefore, if you are not having vertigo, you probably will not feel nauseated.
8. Sweating: Another symptom that comes on due to vertigo, sweating can be excessive. You may find yourself sweating profusely during a vertigo attack. It is due to a typical hormonal tendency and will often go away as soon as the vertigo episode subsides.
9. Irregular heartbeat: During a vertigo attack induced by Meniere’s disease, you may have an irregular heartbeat and palpitations. It is unknown exactly why it occurs. It is quite rare and only occurs in the advanced stages of Meniere’s disease. Your heartbeat will return to normal when the attack of vertigo subsides.
10. Sensitivity to sound: Some people with Meniere’s disease also have a sensitivity to sound. Certain noises can almost be painful to them. This is usually high-frequency sounds, but can also be soft noises of a particular pitch. This is one of the more commonly occurring symptoms of this condition and should be a warning sign if Meniere’s has not yet been diagnosed.

Natural Relief for Meniere’s Disease

A case study was done that sheds some interesting light on Meniere’s disease and what may be the underlying cause. All of the people in the study reported having some kind of trauma or injury to their head or neck in the past, some as long as 10 to 15 years previously. Yes, it can take that long for problems to show up. That is why a patient’s history needs to be taken into consideration. Head or neck trauma can lead to a misaligned bone in the top part of the spinal column. A misalignment here has been seen to put the brainstem under pressure and lead to a variety of health problems, such as Meniere’s disease.

Here at Upper Cervical Chiropractic San Diego in San Diego, California, we use a gentle method to help realign the bones of the neck that are out of alignment. We do this without the need to crack or pop the neck or back. Rather, we encourage the bones to naturally realign themselves. This is safe and effective, and many patients, including those in the case study mentioned above, have seen their Meniere’s symptoms improve or even go away.

To schedule a consultation with Upper Cervical Chiropractic San Diego, call 858-434-5926 or just click the button below.

If you are outside of the local area you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.