A reader asks about wearing hearing aids while
suffering from long-term Meniere's symptoms. It’s
Your Hearing Health
by
Max S. Chartrand, M.A.,
DigiCare Hearing Research & Rehabilitation
Q: It’s been 8 years since I was diagnosed with
Meniere’s disease. I was told that a hearing aid
would not help my severe hearing loss, but it so
hard on me and my relationships with family and
friends that I am curious as to what harm getting a
hearing aid could cause. Are Meniere’s cases never
recommended hearing aids? --- Mr. R. M.
Dear Mr. R.M.: You asked an important question, one
that can benefit many Meniere’s sufferers out there.
Meniere’s, as you know, is a condition where the
three symptoms of hearing loss, vertigo, and
tinnitus (ringing in the ears) occur simultaneously.
It is caused by an overproduction of one of the
inner ear fluids (endolymph) or a lack of resorption.
It is usually episodic and can come and go without
warning.
Rarely is it ongoing, but when it is it can mean
complete deafness, incessant ringing of the ears,
and permanent damage to one’s balance organs. It is
no longer the mystery it once was, as most appear to
be caused by ingestion of food containing MSG,
aspertame, certain artificial additives, or high
salt/high sugar diets. One prominent study
implicates food allergy to be a common factor.
Tobacco, caffeine, and alcohol also have been
identified.
As a side note, it is amazing how many cases of
Meniere’s are treated medically without addressing
these and other causal factors. Without avoidance of
these substances, no treatment can be truly
effective.
But back to your question: There is virtually no
harm in being fitted with hearing aids, especially
in cases of severe loss, whether the loss is
unilateral or bilateral. Of course, loudness growth,
loudness discomfort, and critical bandwidth
distortion issues must be addressed in programming
of any hearing aids fitted in Meniere’s cases. For
that reason, I recommend digital or/and programmable
hearing aids, though there are some excellent
advanced analogues with active filters available at
a much lower cost that may be appropriate.
In the final analysis, you may find that adjustments
will have to be made from time to time to
accommodate changes of hearing sensitivity. Other
than that there is no earthly reason, other than
misunderstanding among some health professionals,
why Meniere’s patients who suffer a significant loss
of hearing should not receive properly fitted
hearing aids.
Another related issue is when only one ear is
affected, and the other ear remains “normal”. It is
a little known fact among the health professions
that one ear cannot provide the essential auditory
processing functions that one needs to lead a
healthy lifestyle.
Two ears provide spatial, summation, attentional and
squelch, plus distance hearing that are missed when
one ear is out of commission. Add to this, increased
speech discrimination in noise and balance
difficulties, and there are compelling reasons one
should seek help with their unilateral hearing loss,
even when the other ear is “normal”.
The fact of the matter is that there is no such
thing as a “normal” ear when it is left to do the
job of two.
.
M.S. Chartrand is Director of Research at DigiCare®
Hearing Research & Rehabilitation, P.O. Box 706,
Rye, CO 81069. Questions may be submitted to
www.digicare.org for personalized response. Replies
are for educational purposes only, and are not to be
construed as medical advice or opinion.
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