Ménière's Disease: What Happens

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What Happens

An attack of Ménière's disease causes symptoms of tinnitus (ringing in the ears), hearing loss, a feeling of pressure or fullness in the ear, and vertigo (spinning sensation).

The attacks are unpredictable and vary in frequency and severity. An attack can last from hours to days. Most people have repeated attacks over a period of years. Attacks usually increase in frequency during the first few years of the disease but then decrease in frequency.

Vertigo may be severe and result in nausea and vomiting. To reduce this feeling, try lying perfectly still until the attack subsides.

Sometimes, each additional attack damages the inner ear. Eventually the inner ear becomes so badly damaged that it may no longer function properly.¹ The attacks will then usually stop, but you may have:

• Poor balance.
• Permanent hearing loss.
• Residual roaring or hissing in the affected ear.

Ménière's disease normally occurs in only one ear at a time. In as many as half of the people affected, the disease eventually develops in the other ear.

A few people with Ménière's disease experience "drop attacks." A drop attack is a sudden fall while standing or walking. The falls occur without warning, and the attacks are described as suddenly being pushed to the ground. There is usually no loss of consciousness, and complete recovery occurs in seconds or minutes.

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Last updated:	November 07, 2006
Author:	Ralph Poore
Reviewed By:	Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine, Barrie J. Hurwitz, MD - Neurology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman