Upper Cervical Chiropractic & Meniere’s Disease Recovery

Upper Cervical Chiropractic & Meniere’s Disease Recovery

Vestibular diseases have been a demanding section of body disorders that need accurate diagnosis and recognition. These diseases involve the mechanism which controls the equilibrium of body and auditory sensation.

Initially, when a patient consults a physician about the occurring sign and symptoms, it is difficult for them to reach to exact diagnosis because the symptoms suggest mild vertigo or a problem in the inner ear, which are handled using some medicines.

Surprisingly, vestibular diseases need much more attention than merely prescribing medicines, which don’t prove to be effective in certain cases. 

Meniere’s disease is one of the vestibular diseases which was first described by the French physician, Prosper Meniere, in the late 1800s. In those times, it was believed that vertigo, tinnitus, and impaired hearing are concerned with a problem in the brain.

However, Prosper Meniere presented the notion that ringing of ears (tinnitus), loss of balance and equilibrium (vertigo) and hearing loss are concerned associated with the inner ear rather than the brain.

Once this theory was accepted, Meniere’s disease recovery was looked into greater detail to bring forward newly formulated and advanced treatment plans into practice.

Before moving towards Meniere’s disease recovery it is important to thoroughly understand the disease. According to the Committee on Hearing and Equilibrium of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Meniere’s disease is a chronic vestibular disorder that is considered incurable.

It is an idiopathic disorder caused by the unnecessary accumulation of endolymph in the inner ear. In order to have a clearer picture, you must know the basic anatomy of the inner ear. The inner ear consists of the membranous and osseous labyrinth.

The former contains a fluid called endolymph while the space between osseous and membranous labyrinth contains perilymph. When the number of endolymph increases in the membranous labyrinth it leads to Meniere’s disease.

Once this is disturbed the structures present in membranous labyrinth work improperly thus, presenting the respective signs. Although medical science has reached new heights of progress yet there are certain diseases that have unknown causes. There are several theories that discuss the possible causes of Meniere’s disease yet none of them is confirmed. 

Patients of Meniere’s disease appear with symptoms which are easy and difficult to categorize at the same time. In this disease, patients complain of attacks. The disease does not show symptoms 24/7. In the initial stage, they experience violent vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss and aural fullness for a minimum of 20 minutes to a maximum of 24 hours.

In late stages, the symptoms are accompanied by difficulty walking at night, complicated visual and hearing problems and Tumarkin’s otolithic crisis in which the patient falls to the ground by losing control on posture.

Meniere’s disease affects thousands of people around the world. Due to improper diagnosis and absence of the official registration system of victims, the exact number can’t be concluded. However, surveys claim that the age of most of the victims ranges from 40 to 60. In the elderly, the occurrence of this vestibular disease increases. 

As far as the cure of Meniere’s disease is concerned it is considered incurable. To conclude a cure for any disease it is necessary to first know the root cause. Without knowing the root cause all treatment plans are always experimental.

There are several treatment approaches proposed for Meniere’s disease recovery but none of them promises complete cure of disease. Physicians suggest using drugs and cut down sodium use to reduce the fluid in membranous labyrinth. Another way to manage the condition is Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) in which the patient is helped to control and gain control of their posture. 

Among all the proposed treatment ideas the best—known is Upper Cervical Chiropractic. Expert chiropractors claim that Meniere’s disease recovery is concerned with spinal cord involvement. The spinal cord is the part of the Central Nervous System (CNS) which connects the body with the brain.

The spinal cord being the most crucial part of the body’s neural communication system can be responsible for Meniere’s disease. Chiropractors believe that due to misalignment of the spinal cord there is a possibility of exerting pressure on the brainstem which ultimately causes symptoms to occur.

The misalignment occurs due to improper sleeping or sitting patterns, accidents, trauma to the spinal cord or pathological interference. In the misalignment of the spinal cord, the first vertebrae called Atlas (C1) and second vertebrae called Axis (C2) are affected. Being the first and second vertebrae they are closest in relation to the brainstem therefore they directly impair the normal functioning of the brainstem.

The fifth cranial nerve called Trigeminal nerve is affected which innervates the Eustachian tube in the ear. This impairment produces a feeling of ear fullness. 

Several types of research have been conducted in which victims of Meniere’s disease are provided chiropractic to align their spinal cord. First, their spinal X-Rays were taken to confirm any deformity at the level of C1 and C2.

After a few sessions of chiropractic, their symptoms were observed. It was found that their symptoms have either alleviated or completely vanished. Most of the chiropractors reveal that most of the patients of Meniere’s disease have a head or spinal injury in the past 10-15 years. Usually, they neglect the injury after treatment but the injury turns out to have a worse effect on the ability of the body to maintain posture and equilibrium. 

Therefore, chiropractors perform Upper Cervical Chiropractic upon patients in a few sessions. By the end of each session, the patient feels better. In this alternate medical technique, the patient experiences minimum pain. 

Briefly, we can conclude that Meniere’s disease is a vestibular disorder that is associated which three characteristic symptoms; tinnitus, vertigo and hearing loss. According to medical science, it is an idiopathic disease in which endolymph accumulates in the inner ear.

On the other hand, chiropractors firmly believe that it is due to a trauma that causes misalignment of the first two vertebrae, Atlas and Axis, of the spinal cord. The misalignment causes disturbance in the working of the brainstem. Chiropractors believe that Upper Cervical Chiropractic is the most efficient management for Meniere’s disease recovery.