Sound Therapy and Meniere's/Vertigo

Meniere's disease, a combination of vertigo, hearing loss and tinnitus, may be one of the most debilitating conditions a person can suffer from. Sudden dizzy attacks, often severe enough to cause nausea and vomiting, come unexpectedly and can incapacitate the sufferer for weeks at a time. Sound Therapy has brought welcome and lasting relief to many Meniere's sufferers, and has been able to restore normal living to those who previously lived in horror of the unpredictable sense of spinning out of control which could be triggered by lifts, staircases, heights, and large gatherings.

Living with Meniere's

In 1861 Dr Prosper Meniere, who was in charge of the Imperial Institute for Deaf Mutes in Paris , identified and described the condition now known as Meniere's Disease. His description was this:

"A man, young and robust, suddenly without reason, experienced vertigo, nausea and vomiting. He had a state of inexpressible anguish and prostration. The face was pale and bathed in sweat as if about to faint. Often, and at the same time, the patient, after seeming to stagger in a dazed state, fell on the ground unable to get up. Lying on his back he could not open his eyes without his environment becoming a whirlpool. The smallest movements of the head worsened the feeling of vertigo and nausea."

Not everyone experiences this extreme form of Meniere's, but it is characterised by sudden and recurrent attacks. It is usually accompanied by tinnitus, low frequency hearing loss and a feeling of pressure in the affected ear. It is often associated also with sensitivity to loud sounds.

Although there are other forms of vertigo, true Meniere's is caused by an increase in pressure on the fluids in the inner ear. Sound Therapy is quite effective in the treatment of this condition. See How does Sound Therapy help Meniere's?

Meniere's is caused by problems in the vestibular system, causing balance disorders as well as hearing loss, so by energising and stimulating the system, Sound Therapy usually gets good results with Meniere's disease.

This also helps in the area of hearing loss, though in the case of Meniere's disease what bothers people most is the loss of balance. For balance disorders Sound Therapy is quite effective. When the balance issue is resolved, people are generally not so concerned with the tinnitus or hearing.

Tomatis had a unique theory on how Sound Therapy helps to alleviate Meniere's Syndrome. He believed that the excess pressure in the vestibular system (the semicircular canals) is caused by spasms or twitches in the stirrup muscle. The stirrup muscle is one of the middle ear muscles and its role is to regulate the pressure on the inner ear fluid. The footplate of the stirrup presses on the oval window, the membrane which separates the middle ear from the inner ear chamber. Therefore when the stirrup muscle goes into spasm, there is a sudden change in the pressure in the inner ear fluid, causing a disturbance like a sudden storm to pass through the semi-circular canals. This communicates to the brain via the vestibular branch of the auditory nerve, that there is sudden movement of the head, which gives the patient the feeling that the world is spinning or falling away beneath them. Tomatis explains that once the stirrup muscle has been rehabilitated with the regular exercise provided by the Sound Therapy program, it no longer goes into spasm and the Meniere's attacks do not recur.

Information Sheet on how Sound Therapy can assist with Menieres/Vertigo

Return to top

Testimonials on Meniere's

Shirley Cowburn, Wigan , England :

"In addition to helping my tinnitus, the Sound Therapy tapes have made another wonderful difference in my life. My balance, which was very unsteady, following ear operations 30 years ago, has completely recovered, and this is marvellous for me and my family."

Darrell Johnson, Delisle, Saskatchewan , Canada :

"About four years ago I started getting ringing in the left ear, followed by light-headedness and dizziness. Sometimes I couldn't stand without falling. This I was getting about once a month, then twice a month, soon twice a week and not long later three or four times a day. My doctor told me I had Meniere's Syndrome, which is a problem of the inner ear past the stirrup. There wasn't much that could be done; I would just have to put up with it. Being my age was 53, I knew I would be quite some time putting up with this problem.

Then I heard about Sound Therapy. I bought the Sony Walkman ä and tapes. Now, four months later, I have no light-headedness and dizziness, and the ringing in my left ear has gone. The hearing in my left ear has also improved. I can't express how much Sound Therapy has done for me. I am never dragged out and tired any more. I can stay up very late at night and still get up rested early in the morning. Also, I don't get uptight and stressed about the little setbacks of the day, but can just relax and take them in my stride. I even find it easier to talk to people - am not so shy! It's like a new life."

Lee Heffele, West Australia :

"My husband and I are orchardists, we have a biodynamic avocado plantation. I do all the office work and the bookwork and my husband does the other side of it. I am now 74 and I'm still very active mentally and physically. When I was about 43, I had my first tinnitus attack. At the time I didn't know what it was. Eventually after going to specialists who did brain scans where they found nothing they determined that it was Meniere's syndrome. I continued to suffer from Meniere's syndrome until I found Sound Therapy.

I had tinnitus as well, which also got considerably better when I used Sound Therapy. I also got my hearing to the stage where it was almost normal and I could hear on the phone.

I would describe my experience with Meniere's as horrific. I think anyone that has Meniere's would say it's horrific, if they have the severe one. I ended up in the hospital, on one occasion because I couldn't stop vomiting and you feel as though you are falling through the floor. You are lying on the floor and you are hanging onto the floor virtually in terror because you feel as if you are flying backwards. It's the balance in the middle ear that's effected, and it's terrifying, to the point where I was almost suicidal at one stage. I said I won't live with this, if I have to live with this I will have to leave the planet. From what I've heard, anyone that's ever had it feels the same way. They don't really want to live, you lose interest in life, it's such a shocking feeling. No one can describe it, you have to experience it. So fortunately I didn't panic, I found ways to control it.

It got to the stage when it was bad, where I was getting an attack once a week. It would take a week to get over it and then I would get another one. The attacks would last for about two or three hours but it didn't then leave me in a healthy state. I would be ill then for a week, feeling ghastly and just generally ill.

I dealt with it by taking every precaution and used the Sound Therapy constantly, which helped a lot. To begin with, I had the Sound Therapy on all day. I used to have it in a bum-bag and it sat on my hip wherever I went. I took it to the shopping centre, wherever I was I had it going. At that time using the Sound Therapy stopped my Meniere's attacks entirely. Later I also used chelation therapy, a natural way of cleaning out the arteries with concentrated nutrients, and that was also extremely beneficial.

Return to top

How does Sound Therapy help Meniere's?

Meniere's disease is caused by problems in the vestibular system, which is often accompanied by a hearing loss, so by energising and stimulating the system, Sound Therapy usually gets good results with Meniere's disease.

This also helps in the area of hearing loss, though in the case of Meniere's disease what bothers people most is the loss of balance. For balance disorders Sound Therapy can be quite effective. When the balance issue is resolved, people are generally not so concerned with the tinnitus or hearing.

Tomatis has a unique theory on how Sound Therapy helps to alleviate Meniere's Syndrome. He believes that the excess pressure in the vestibular system (the semicircular canals) is caused by spasms or twitches in the stirrup muscle. The stirrup muscle is one of the middle ear muscles and its role is to regulate the pressure on the inner ear fluid. The footplate of the stirrup presses on the oval window, the membrane which separates the middle ear from the inner ear chamber. Therefore when the stirrup muscle goes into spasm, there is a sudden change in the pressure in the inner ear fluid, causing a disturbance like a sudden storm to pass through the semi-circular canals. This communicates to the brain via the vestibular branch of the auditory nerve, that there is sudden movement of the head, which gives the patient the feeling that the world is spinning or falling away beneath them. Tomatis explains that once the stirrup muscle has been rehabilitated with the regular exercise provided by the Sound Therapy program, it no longer goes into spasm and the Meniere's attacks do not recur.

What you need to get started with Sound Therapy .

Research on Sound Therapy

Product Catalogue

Return to top