Ménière’s disease is a complicated and very frustrating disease for everyone who suffers from it. It is a problem that affects the daily life of those who suffer from it, and in addition, its crises appear suddenly and its symptoms manage to totally incapacitate the patient.
But what is Ménière’s disease and what does it really consist of? Ménière’s disease is a chronic disease that affects the inner ear and presents crises or severe variants in which the symptoms are accentuated and can last several hours.
The symptoms of Ménière’s disease are caused by the accumulation of endolymphatic fluid in the inner ear, which interferes with hearing and balance signals to the brain. This irregularity causes vertigo and other symptoms of this disease.
What are the symptoms of Ménière’s disease?
It is estimated that today there are about 615,000 people diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, and 45,500 cases are diagnosed annually. The main symptoms of this disease are mainly defined by the following:
- Hearing loss: usually affects only one ear. People suffering from this disease lose hearing, mainly in low frequencies.
- Intense vertigo: this is the symptom that most affects and generates most concern among patients with Ménière’s disease.
- Noise in the ear, tinnitus: these are internal noises in the ear, the discomfort of which prevents people from going about their daily lives normally.
Although the symptoms disappear when the crises disappear, small sequelae usually remain, and possibly will not be heard again with the same clarity, and due to the intense dizziness, in the patient will prevail a certain feeling of insecurity and instability.
The main problem of this disease is that it is chronic, so that with the passage of time the crises will be repeated and the sequels will accumulate, so that the patient will feel more and more sensations of deafness and instability.
How is Mèniére’s disease treated?
Nowadays there is no treatment capable of curing and eradicating Mèniére’s disease, although there are treatments capable of minimizing the number of crises, spacing them out and improving their symptoms.
Thus, there is an option to treat this problem through medication, to make the fluid accumulated in the inner ear -where the balance receptors are located- come out. It should be noted that the fundamental consequence that conditions the person who suffers from this problem is the alteration of stability, which causes vertigo and instability and insecurity that persists after the crisis. There are vestibular rehabilitation exercises that can help recovery.
For more information, consult a specialist in Otolaryngology.