preview

What is Menieres Disease and What Is the Best Way to Treat It?

Best Essays

The ear is made up of three parts, the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The ability to hear is dependent on these three parts of the ear working together, and a problem with any part can cause hearing loss (heaing loss education centre, 2012). The inner ear consists of the cochlea, the auditory hearing nerve and the brain. These are the organs of hearing and balance and convert sound waves into nerve signals. These signals are sent to the brain using a nerve called the vestibulocochlear nerve. Nerve deafness occurs if there is damage to the inner ear and although it is possible to regain some hearing through the help of a hearing device, nerve deafness is often permanent. (deaf websites, 2013)
Damage to the inner ear can be …show more content…

In severe attacks of vertigo it is possible to experience sweating diarrhoea and heart palpitations. (NHS, 2012)
Tinnitus ‘is a term that describes any sound a person can hear from inside their body rather than from an outside source’ (nhs, 2013). People usually hear sounds such as ringing, buzzing, humming or machine type noises. ‘Sometimes the noise pulsates at the same rate as your pulse’ (knott, 2012). The noises may vary in pitch and intensity and can come from either ear or both. The noise is more noticeable in a quiet place and people may find they are becoming more sensitive to normal everyday sounds.
Hearing loss can affect one or both ears. It may be difficult to hear particularly low sounds. Also due to the change in pressure of the endolymph fluid, patients may feel fullness or pressure deep in the ear. Eventually most people will experience long term hearing loss. Other symptoms may include feeling anxious, sensitive to noise or feeling sick and vomiting. Although the symptoms take place unexpectedly, Ménière’s is a progressive disease which occurs over three main stages of symptoms.
The Early stage: vertigo is usually the main symptom at this stage. Patients will experience sudden episodes of dizziness and spinning accompanied with vomiting or nausea. These episodes can last from 24 hours to days and during them the patient may have some hearing loss which returns to normal once it is over. The ear will feel sore and uncomfortable and slight

Get Access