Ménière's Disease

• vertigo (dizziness)

• loss of balance

• ringing or buzzing (tinnitus) in one or both ears

• hearing loss 

• a blocked, full feeling in your ear

• pressure, discomfort or pain deep inside your ear

• headaches

• nausea or vomiting

• sensitivity to sound

• distorted sound

You may experience symptoms differently as the disease progresses through its 3 stages:

Early stage: you’ll often have all 4 of the classic symptoms, as well as any others, during an attack. The dizziness may last from 15 minutes to 24 hours. Tinnitus or changes in your hearing usually go away after 24 to 48 hours.

Middle stage: you’ll still get dizziness episodes. Your hearing may be reduced, with tinnitus coming and going before the vertigo.

Late stage: your dizziness episodes often become milder or may even stop. You may have balance problems, more hearing loss and possibly longer periods or permanent tinnitus.

The exact cause of Ménière's disease is not yet known. So far, scientists think the symptoms are caused by excess fluid in your inner ear. It’s not clear what causes this fluid to build up. Around 10% of people have a family history of Ménière’s disease, so there may be a genetic link.

Other potential risk factors include:

• an autoimmune condition

• a viral infection such as meningitis

• allergies

• migraine

• a head injury

• being female – the condition is slightly more common in women

How is Ménière's disease diagnosed?

Diagnosing Ménière's disease usually involves an initial consultation where our ear, nose and throat specialist will:  

1. Take a medical history to understand your health.

2. Get a full understanding of your symptoms and how they affect you – for example, what are they, what makes them worse or better, and how they affect your daily life, such as sleeping and working.

3. Examine your ears, head, and neck.

4. Review any previous notes or scans.

5. Talk through their initial findings and what will happen next.

6. They may recommend blood tests, an ear exam to check damage to the sensitive hair cells inside your inner ear, hearing and balance tests, or scans such as an MRI to rule out other potential conditions such as migraine, ear infections, or labyrinthitis.

7. Your consultant can diagnose Ménière's disease if you have the 4 classic symptoms of dizziness (vertigo), hearing loss in the affected ear, tinnitus and a full, blocked feeling in your ear – as long as other conditions have been ruled out. However, they may need to monitor you over a longer time period to make the diagnosis.

How to prevent Ménière's disease

As this condition appears suddenly and seems to be linked to a family history or other health conditions, it is unlikely that anything can be done to prevent it.

Over time, you’re likely to experience fewer attacks of severe vertigo. However, Ménière's disease can lead to worsening symptoms such as:

• hearing loss that worsens over the years and may eventually need a hearing aid for the single ear that’s usually affected, but in 10 to 30% of patients, it can spread to both ears

• tinnitus becomes a permanent symptom, which can be a difficult condition to cope with

• balance being unsteady, so you may be more likely to have a fall

Our consultants will work with you to tailor your treatment plan to your symptoms and health history. There are a variety of treatment options available.

1. Around 80% of patients respond to treatment with medications that can reduce the chance of an attack. Symptom-easing medications can also help reduce feelings of dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

2. A course of corticosteroid injections to calm down the active inner ear is the next step if the medications don’t work well for you. This is usually 3 eardrum injections, done under local anaesthetic.

3. There are also surgical options – to help reduce excess fluid in the ear (such as endolymphatic sac decompression), prevent vertigo attacks (vestibular nerve section), or manage balance, but only after hearing loss (such as a labyrinthectomy).

4. Exercises to help with your balance (vestibular rehabilitation exercises) can be useful when your dizziness episodes are happening less often.

5. Digital hearing aids, hearing therapy, and tinnitus management methods are also available.

At Welbeck, our ear, nose and throat specialists are experts in their field and are dedicated to providing world-class care to every patient.

With access to colleagues across other specialties, our consultants are also able to refer within the Welbeck ecosystem if required to ensure you receive the treatment you need as quickly as possible, all under one roof.  

All appointments, testing, treatment, and follow-up appointments take place within our state-of-the-art facilities, enabling us to deliver accurate diagnostics and advanced treatments.

Your health is important to us, so we strive to offer same-day appointments whenever possible.

Our consultants are recognised by the major health insurance companies. If you have private health insurance, your treatment at Welbeck can begin once you have obtained authorisation. We also provide care to self-paying patients. Learn more about the different payment options at Welbeck.

Get in touch today to book an appointment.