Meniere’s Disease or Acoustic Neuroma

If all else fails and medication, dietary changes and supplementation for Meniere’s Disease just don’t seem to help, you may want to get checked for an Acoustic neuroma. This may have already been considered and discounted when you had your MRI when first suspicions of Meniere’s arose.

This is the Medline Plus definition below: Notice the very similar symptoms as Menieres:

Acoustic Neuroma

Also called: Acoustic neurilemmoma, Acoustic neurinoma, Auditory tumor, Vestibular schwannoma
Acoustic neuroma is a non-cancerous tumor that develops on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain.

The tumor usually grows slowly. As it grows, it presses against the hearing and balance nerves. At first, you may have no symptoms or mild symptoms. They can include:

Loss of hearing on one side
Ringing in ears
Dizziness and balance problems

Acoustic neuroma can be difficult to diagnose, because the symptoms are similar to those of middle ear problems. Ear exams, hearing tests and scans can show if you have it.
If the tumor stays small, you may only need to have it checked regularly. If you do need treatment, surgery and radiation are options. If the tumors affect both hearing nerves, it is often because of a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis. The tumor can also eventually cause numbness or paralysis of the face. If it grows large enough, it can press against the brain, becoming life-threatening.