Dizziness Depot

Feb. 03, 2015

Vestibular Compensation and Aging

Alan Desmond
There has been a lot of talk lately about football and deflated balls. Only in the world of vestibular geekology could one find a connection between these events and vestibular compensation. But, you have to find your inspiration where you can, so here goes: I will use the analogy of an old football injury and generalized deflation to discuss how
Jan. 20, 2015

New Treatment for Rare Mal de Debarquement Syndrome

Alan Desmond
Mal de Debarquement (MDD) is a rare, and usually self-limiting syndrome in which people feel off balance, disoriented or experience a false sensation of movement for a period of time after exposure to movement such as sailing on a boat or riding in a car. It usually goes away in a matter of days, but for some patients it can
Jan. 13, 2015

Do Hearing Aids Improve Balance?

Alan Desmond
A couple of years ago, I published a post on this blog about a study connecting hearing loss with increased risk of falls. My angle in the post was “Maybe there is a connection, maybe there isn’t, but what should we do with this information?” Researchers at Washington University of St. Louis decided to investigate whether balance could be improved
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Jan. 08, 2015

Managing a Meniere’s Attack

Alan Desmond
If you have the flu or a bad cold, the natural response would be to drink fluids and to go to bed until you are feeling better. If you have a bad migraine, lying down in a dark room often provides some relief. Of course, due to the contrarian nature of Meniere’s disease, these activities will most likely make you
Dec. 30, 2014

Meniere’s disease and CATS

Alan Desmond
After a short holiday break and a rerun of an article about BPPV, we return to the subject of Meniere’s disease (MD). We have discussed the problems associated with diagnosing and treating MD, but undoubtedly the most difficult aspect of MD is living with it. There is an old axiom regarding living with MD, and that is that people with
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Dec. 23, 2014

Reader’s Choice 2014: Epley Maneuver – Observations

Alan Desmond
Dear Readers: During this holiday season, the editors at Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) are taking some time off. However, we are not leaving you without anything to read on our blog this week. Instead, we are publishing a special holiday edition filled with what we call our Readers’ Choices. HHTM has had more than half a million page
Dec. 17, 2014

Mystery of Meniere’s –Part II

Alan Desmond
When the Research Studies Disagree Last week’s post about the difficulty inherent in making the diagnosis of Meniere’s disease is only further complicated by two recent studies, both from some of the best researchers in the business. As vestibular testing technology improves, researchers are working to apply those tests to various diseases, and see if any test patterns may solidify a
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Dec. 10, 2014

Mystery of Meniere’s

Alan Desmond
If you break your arm on Tuesday, it will still be broken on Wednesday when you get in to see your doctor. And it will still be broken when you are sent for an X-ray, and there will be a clear picture of the break. All in all, this is a relatively straightforward and easy diagnosis. Meniere’s disease, on the
Dec. 02, 2014

Treatment Ladder for Meniere’s

Alan Desmond
I mentioned last week that some patients respond to one of the several different treatment options for Meniere’s disease, but there is no one treatment that is right for every patient. That is why there are so many different treatments for Meniere’s. Physicians often employ a “treatment ladder” in an attempt to find an effective treatment for each patient. Click on
Nov. 25, 2014

Meniett: Helpful?

Alan Desmond
Last week we posted an anecdotal report specific to the potential benefits of a low-salt diet for a diagnosis of Ménière’s disease. A couple of years ago, I reviewed several proposed treatments for Ménière’s disease, but did not cover the Meniett device. The manufacturer, Medtronic, describes the Meniett as a “Low-Pressure Pulse Generator device.” The idea behind the Meniett is that pressure