Can Acupuncture help reduce the symptoms of Meniere’s disease?
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Can acupuncture for Meniere’s disease help? Yes if you find a good practitioner who understands this condition.
I personally used acupuncture with mixed results, and in my humble opinion it depends on the practitioner.
I tried several, most of whom didn’t help but two were excellent. They helped rid me of most of my Meniere’s disease symptoms temporarily but were ultimately fighting a losing battle at that time.
In my case it was worth it to get relief, even if it were only for a few weeks at a time. I would also add that I have used acupuncture successfully with other problems such as sports injuries and back pain.
In the case of Meniere’s, when treated by a good practitioner it can successfully relieve dizziness, tinnitus and nausea, as well as the accompanies this condition. It is debatable as to whether acupuncture helps hearing loss but Acupuncture can be very helpful in relieving most of the symptoms.
Acupuncture for Meniere’s disease – Studies
A paper on the NIH website cites the study:
The treatment of Meniere’s disease by acupuncture
“34 patients suffering from Meniere’s disease were treated by acupuncture. Prior to acupuncture most of them had been treated with various other medical means without satisfactory results. After acupuncture treatment their condition greatly improved.
The classic symptoms of Meniere’s disease are vertigo, tinnitus and deafness, but for all the treated patients vertigo was the most uncomfortable and distressing symptom.
In all our cases vertigo stopped after a few acupuncture courses; but in our opinion it is more important to follow and control hearing threshold, since if it remains stable the other symptoms of Meniere’s disease also do not persist.
All our patients were regularly followed by careful audiometric studies several years after acupuncture treatment. In most cases hearing level had not greatly varied, so the other symptoms of Meniere’s disease were not present in any large degree.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6660197/
Study suggest acupuncture can help hearing loss in Meniere’s
The Journal of Chinese Medicine cites a study that argues acupuncture actually can help hearing loss.
Assessment of results of Acupuncture for Meniere’s disease…
Marked improvement: dizziness disappeared and hearing
improved after treatment, with no relapse during a follow-up
of one year.
Improvement: dizziness disappeared but hearing was not
improved after 3 courses of treatment.
Failure: no improvement was noted or a slight improvement
with relapse during a follow-up of 6 months.
Results
Of the 72 cases, 36 were markedly improved(50.0%) after
2-3 courses of treatment, 17 improved (23.6%) and 19 failed
(26.4%). The treatment was more effective in cases of short
duration.
Discussion
Meniere’s disease is a non-fatal disorder, and it has not yet
been reproduced in experimental animals. Consequently,
material for histological study is difficult to obtain. It was
long suspected that endolymphatic hydrops in the inner ear
was associated with Meniere’s disease and this was confirmed
by Hallpike and Cairs in 1938.
Case example
A 31-year-old male teacher experienced severe dizziness,
deafness and tinnitus of the left ear after his classes. He also
complained of nausea and vomiting on movement of his
head. The tympanic membrane was normal. Audiometry
showed a sensorineural hearing loss of the left ear. Caloric
test revealed that the vestibular function of his left ear was
reduced. He had red eyes, a flushed complexion, dryness in
the throat and a red tongue with yellow coating. His pulse
was taut and rapid. The diagnosis was Meniere’s disease
due to hyperactivity of Liver-yang. Electro-acupuncture to
left Tinggong SI-19 or Yifeng SJ-17, and Xingjian LIV-2 or
Taichong LIV-3 was administered. After two courses of
treatment, the dizziness completely disappeared and his
hearing improved with no relapse over 2 years.
Click here to read Managing Meniere’s Disease
Click here to read The Need for Balance – Dealing with the Causes of Meniere’s
Help other sufferers. Have you used acupuncture for Meniere’s disease? Tell us all about it in the comments box below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com
