Meniere’s disease describes a set of symptoms including vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing sound in the ear), and a sensation of fullness in the ear. It typically relates to function of the inner ear and some of the common treatments for it include dietary changes, anti-vertigo medications, injections and surgery.
One of the factors that is not commonly addressed in the medical treatment of Meniere’s is the correlation with the upper cervical spine. When the upper cervical spine is out of alignment it can effect head tilt, the brains perception of movement and position, cerebral blood flow and spinal fluid flow, innervation to the inner ear and other cranial structures. This is a crucial component to inner ear function.
Ground Breaking Research
In a paper written by Dr. Michael Burcon, a chiropractor in the United States, he describes the elimination of vertigo in 291 out of 300 patients following upper cervical chiropractic care. He found that most of the patients had suffered a trauma to the head or neck, about half of them being vehicular trauma and the other half being head trauma. He also found that it took on average 15 years from the time of trauma until the onset of the Meniere’s symptoms.
When a correction was made to the upper cervical spine there was typically a steady decline in the vertigo, with the most significant changes happening in the first 6 weeks, but continuing to improve throughout the first and second year post correction.
Correcting function of the upper cervical spine with Chiropractic is an extremely safe procedure, and anyone suffering from Meniere’s disease should have their spine examined by an upper cervical chiropractor. At Moore Chiropractic we utilize the NUCCA technique, which is a very gentle technique to correct upper cervical alignment.