by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
Revised January 21, 2017
Introduction
To most people in the medical community, Ménière’s disease is a mysterious condition—I say mysterious because although it has been known for more than 150 years, doctors still don’t know what Ménière’s disease really is.
You see, unlike a typical disease where doctors can define it and test to see if you have it or not, Ménière’s disease is not a disease as such. Rather, it is a collection of symptoms. Thus, it should more correctly be called Ménière’s syndrome.
Since doctors can’t “find” Ménière’s disease—they can’t put their finger on it and say, “here’s your problem”—they diagnose Ménière’s disease by the process of elimination. In other words, they rule out everything else that “looks” somewhat like Ménière’s disease. After they have done this, they diagnose whatever remains as Ménière’s disease. Thus, Ménière’s disease is what doctors call an idiopathic disease from idiopathic causes.
“Idiopathic” is just a fancy medical term that means “unknown”. In short, doctors are saying they don’t know what Ménière’s disease is, don’t know what causes it, and consequently, don’t know how to effectively treat it.
That’s a pretty bleak picture isn’t it. It’s even bleaker if you suffer from Ménière’s disease. Then you know just how horrible an experience these attacks can be.
If you don’t know what Ménière’s disease is like, here’s the 30-second “elevator” version. Ménière’s disease typically comes as a series of “attacks”. A classic Ménière’s attack includes a fluctuating hearing loss, vertigo (often accompanied by nausea and vomiting), tinnitus and a feeling of fullness in your affected ear. An attack can last from a few minutes to a few hours to a few days.
For many people with Ménière’s disease, vertigo is the worst symptom. Here’s three real-life examples to help you understand the severe trauma such people can suffer through.
Mark remembers,
I used to have terrible vertigo attacks. The room would spin in one direction constantly for a week or two, then in the opposite direction for ‘daze’ on end. Then it would stop for a week, or for several months, and then start again.
To Muriel, Ménière’s disease is a dreaded, disabling affliction. Depending on the severity of her attacks, she experiences mild to violent dizziness/vertigo. During light attacks she may be able to manage on unsteady legs—bumping into door jambs or furniture—trying to carry out necessary chores around the house. Severe attacks are another story. At such times she has no sense of balance whatsoever. She can’t walk or otherwise move around. Her overwhelming sensation is the horrendous spinning of the world around her and the attending nausea.
Leigh has even more severe attacks called drop attacks. As she explains,
A drop attack is when you are literally thrown to the ground quite violently with a severe case of spinning vertigo. I’ve blacked out from the force of hitting my head either on the way down or when I hit the ground. You cannot get your hands out in time and that’s the scariest part of it. I’ve hit my head many times and opened it up a few times.
That’s the bad news.
Dr. Burcon’s Discovery
Now for some good news. Although medical doctors and medical science may not know much about Ménière’s disease, and apparently have mostly been “barking up the wrong tree” all these years, that’s not to say that no one knows anything about the basic causes of, and effective treatment for, Ménière’s disease.
Surprisingly, one of the most common factors that results in Ménière’s disease is quite simple to ascertain. Even better, the treatment can be fast, simple and painless. What’s amazing is that it has taken all these years for someone to figure this out. Furthermore, the solution was serendipitous. It did not come about through a lot of scientific research. Here’s the story.
In the year 1999, upper cervical chiropractor Dr. Michael Burcon (affectionately called “Dr. Mike” by his patients) made an intriguing finding. (Note: upper cervical chiropractors specialize in adjusting the top two vertebrae in your neck.) Three of his patients, who just happened to have Ménière’s disease, quickly recovered from their vertigo after receiving upper-cervical-specific chiropractic treatment. Imagine the unmitigated joy these three patients experienced when they realized that the vertigo that had plagued them for years had miraculously vanished. This is a far cry from how people with Ménière’s sometimes come to him. As Dr. Burcon ruefully admits, “I’ve had people crawl down my office floor to the wastebasket and throw up from the nausea of Ménière’s”. (1)
One early patient explained,
I suffered from Ménière’s syndrome, or loss of balance, spinning and dizziness for forty-five years! I had all the things that went along with it: nausea, ringing in my ears, falling with the resulting broken bones and pain. It’s a force that could really throw me to the floor at times. I could not look up or down, or lie flat, without the spinning starting immediately. So, to avoid falling, I learned to walk around by walls, and to keep my head steady or level and to hang onto everything. Michigan University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Wesley Memorial Hospital in Chicago and many neurosurgeons in Michigan, Illinois and Florida could do nothing to help me—only medication, which would make me sleep.
Three months ago, Dr Michael Burcon gave me an [upper cervical chiropractic] treatment. I couldn’t believe it. I was no longer dizzy! The next day, I realized all the ringing in my ears and other noises in my head were gone! I am still free from the dizzy spinning today.” Mrs. G. H (1999). (2)
This and similar success stories from other patients got Dr. Burcon thinking. He began carefully documenting any cases of people with Ménière’s disease that came to him. He soon realized that there was one thing in common that all the people with Ménière’s disease that came to him had—and that was evidence of neck trauma—specifically, whiplash. Once he understood the cause, his chiropractic training suggested the treatment needed to correct this horrible condition. To date he has successfully treated more than 530 consecutive cases of people with Ménière’s disease. That is not just an impressive success rate, it’s a phenomenal success story, and one you need to know about if you have Ménière’s disease and nothing else is working for you!
The Physiology Underlying Ménière’s Disease
There are a number of physical factors that seem to underlie Ménière’s disease. Here are some prominent ones.
The Atlas-Axis Connection
You have 7 vertebrae in your neck numbered from C1 through C7. Your head sits directly on the C1 vertebra, often called the “atlas” because it has a difficult job. (It got its name from Greek mythology where Atlas had the weight of the “celestial spheres” on his shoulders, just like your atlas vertebra has the weight of your head on it.)
Specifically, your head, which typically weighs around 10 or 11 pounds, rests on top of the two-ounce, doughnut-shaped atlas vertebra. The atlas is also called the “yes” bone because your head rocks back and forth on its two articulations when you nod your head to indicate “yes”. That is why, when your skull slips partially off one of these atlas joints in one direction or another, pressure is applied to the brain stem, causing you to be “off your rocker”! (3) As Dr. Burcon explains, “Ménière’s is a nasty disease, but we can usually help people get their heads on straight.” (1)
Your second vertebra (C2) is called the “axis”. This is the vertebra that allows you to turn your head left and right. You could call it the “no” bone because it allows your head to rotate left and right as you shake your head “no”.
Incidentally, your atlas and axis are the only two vertebrae which do not have inter-vertebral discs between them like the rest of the vertebrae in your spine have. Furthermore; they are the two most freely moveable vertebrae; and as a result, are the ones most commonly misaligned and the easiest to be misaligned. (4)
You might not realize this, but your brainstem actually extends down into the atlas and axis cavity so your spinal cord basically begins with the C3 vertebra. Thus, if your top two vertebrae are out of alignment (what chiropractors call a subluxation), they put pressure on the base of your brainstem. This, in turn, interferes with the free flow of signals up and down your nervous system—sometimes with serious consequences. As Dr. Burcon explains, “Five of the twelve cranial nerves originate in the brainstem. The base of the brain controls many important bodily functions, such as breathing, blood pressure, the sleep center, and balance.”
When a C1 or C2 subluxation occurs, the weight of your head is no longer balanced evenly on your atlas. Rather, it is moved off center because of head tilt. When this happens, the rest of your body will begin to compensate for that shift of weight. One shoulder will drop down, one hip will come up bringing a leg up with it creating imbalance in your body. Now you have a problem with your back. One leg appears relatively shorter than the other and you are not walking with a normal gait. (5)
As we have just seen, this head-neck misalignment results in pressure on the brainstem. This can cause interference at the point where your head and neck join (the atlas). “If the atlas is out of its proper position, it can irritate, constrict or disrupt vital nerve signals to any portion of your body. This can cause muscle or joint pain, organ dysfunction, lowered immune system and countless other conditions that you would not ordinarily relate to a problem originating in your neck” (6) including the symptoms of Ménière’s disease. Therefore, it is important for your health to keep your head “screwed on straight”.
From the side, you want your spine to have a nice curve to it. If the atlas is subluxated, it takes the curve out of your spine. However, as seen from the front or back you want your spine to be straight, not curved sideways in any place. (5)
This is where upper cervical chiropractic treatment comes in. Adjusting the atlas (and axis) can take this pressure off your brainstem, thus alleviating many problems by allowing your brain to send its healing messages throughout your body and allowing your spine to revert to its proper alignment.
The Endolymph Connection
Ménière’s disease is also called “endolymphatic hydrops”. Endolymphatic hydrops, according to the Merck Manual, is defined as, “The accumulation of the fluid of the membranous labyrinth of the ear, thought to be caused by the over production or under absorption of that fluid”.
Your inner ear consists of two fluids, endolymph and perilymph (Think of a balloon filled with endolymph inside a larger balloon filled with perilymph.) Hydrops is just the fancy medical name for excess fluid. Thus endolymphatic hydrops really is just an excess of endolymph.
When everything is working correctly, your body continually produces new endolymph, and at the same time—since your inner ear is a closed system—absorbs an equal amount of the existing endolymph, thus maintaining a constant endolymphatic pressure.
Doctors keep coming back to the idea that Ménière’s disease is somehow associated with the build-up of excessive endolymph (endolymphatic fluid) in the balance (vestibular) portion of the inner ear. This only happens if something upsets this delicate system so that your body produces too much endolymph or cannot absorb the existing endolymph fast enough. When something impairs your body’s ability to properly regulate the amount of endolymph in your inner ears, such as pressure on your vestibulo-cochlear nerve from a subluxation of the atlas, you can end up with Ménière’s disease. Thus the real problem underlying Ménière’s disease isn’t found in your inner ear, but is caused by having your atlas/axis vertebrae out of proper alignment.
The Whiplash Connection
Whiplash can knock you “off your rocker”. Dr. Burcon has positively established a link between both Ménière’s disease and trigeminal neuralgia with whiplash injuries that misalign the base of your skull with the top of your neck. This creates a lesion affecting your Eustachian tubes and/or the trigeminal ganglion. Whiplash injuries set the stage, and then other conditions may eventually follow.
For example, you may also get bad facial pain (trigeminal neuralgia) because of head/neck trauma or whiplash injuries when you were quite young. Your first indication may be Bell’s palsy. It may go away spontaneously and then a worse condition comes along. (5)
One thing Dr. Burcon has found in his research of 530 consecutive Ménière’s patients is that they all have one thing in common. Their X-rays show that they have significant whiplash injury from falling on their heads or from car accidents. According to Dr. Burcon, about half of these traumas were caused by vehicle accidents and the other half from injuries involving head trauma. Interestingly enough, most of his patients deny these earlier injuries because they happened so long ago that they have forgotten about them, or they didn’t take them seriously in the first place. (5)
In addition, Greg Buchanan, who suffered for years as a result of an atlas/axis subluxation, further explains,
Simple accidents such as falling from a bike and hitting your head, hitting your head on a door jam or bedside table, sustaining a head, neck or shoulder injury when playing contact sports can, and do, result in these subluxations. (7)
In layman’s terms, basically whiplash is when the vertebrae in your neck are “out” such that your head gets stuck tipped forward and off to one side. This irritates the nerves in your autonomic nervous system so they don’t work properly. In addition, blood flow is reduced in the cervical area. So is the flow of cerebral-spinal fluid (CFS). This is important since, as we previously noted, Ménière’s disease is thought to be related to problems with excess endolymph (CSF) in your inner ear. Furthermore, since the 5th cranial nerve (trigeminal nerve) is compressed, it affects your soft palate so it quits working right, thus affecting proper Eustachian tube function. In turn, this causes the feelings of fullness in your middle ear on the side affected by Ménière’s disease. The 5th cranial nerve also controls the proper functioning of your temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ) which also can affect Eustachian tube function. Finally, when the 8th cranial nerve (the vestibulo-cochlear nerve) is affected, it can result in low-frequency hearing loss, tinnitus and balance conditions such as vertigo and dizziness. (8) Who would have guessed that a single neck bone could cause all these problems and result in what we call Ménière’s disease?
The Subluxation Connection
Chiropractors talk about subluxations. I just say my back or neck is “out”. In medical terms a “luxation” is a complete dislocation of two bones. In contrast, a subluxation is an incomplete luxation (slight dislocation). Thus, a subluxation occurs when the alignment between two bones is altered, yet at the same time, the two joint surfaces remain in contact with each other (Stedman’s Medical Dictionary).
Subluxations may be quite small—only 1 or 2 mm—but this is enough to cause problems. Medical doctors typically discount these slight subluxations as not being medically significant. Typically, when they read cervical X-rays, they say everything is normal because they can’t see any broken bones, or they can’t see any tumors. Furthermore, they think any misalignments will right themselves on their own. However, the truth is that if you get a reverse curve in your neck, the only way to get that curve restored to normal is if you go to an skilled chiropractor according to Dr. Burcon. (5)
In addition, if you get a vertebra out in your neck, you will usually end up with lower back pain because, as Dr. Burcon says, “your spine starts adapting and compensating and twisting trying to take the pressure off your brainstem, and the vertebrae will move in several directions to keep you upright.” This is because “if your body has to choose between your head and your lower back, it will sacrifice your lower back in order to keep your eyes and ears level so you don’t get dizzy.” (5)
“Misalignments in other spinal vertebrae”, according to Dr. Blair, the father of the Blair method of upper cervical spine chiropractic, “require far more force to occur and are usually as a result of significant trauma. They are usually secondary to an upper cervical subluxation.” (4)
Greg Buchanan adds,
I find a high correlation between many diseases or medical conditions and one particular condition or state. In medical literature it is known as an occipitio-atlantal (C0 to C1) [head to atlas] subluxation and can be accompanied by an atlanto-axial (C1 to C2) [atlas to axis] subluxation. (7)
There are basically 4 directions an atlas subluxation can occur according to the Blair method of chiropractic treatment. It can either be:
- Anterior (in front of) and Superior (above) on the Right
- Anterior (in front of) and Superior (above) on the Left
- Posterior (behind) and Inferior (below) on the Right
- Posterior (behind) and Inferior (below) on the Left (9)
A head injury may result in the skull/atlas shifting to one of these four positions. Such movement is dependent upon the amplitude of the force, the direction it comes from and the anatomy of the person sustaining the force. A consequence of the injury can be ligaments stretching and/or tearing, resulting in the person’s head remaining in a subluxated position, and requiring intervention of some kind to restore the normal skull/atlas relationship and head and neck realignment. (4)
Note that an atlas subluxation both posterior (behind) and inferior (below) on the right (No. 3 above) can irritate the 8th cranial nerve (the vestibulo-cochlear nerve that controls balance and hearing) on the left side and that can lead to the symptoms of Ménière’s disease. (10)
It is interesting that Ménière’s disease generally occurs in only one ear at a time. Furthermore, which ear it occurs in is determined to a large extent by the direction of the subluxation. The following table is based on the results Dr. Burcon obtained from examining 300 Ménière’s patients.
| No. of occurrences | Direction of Subluxation and Ear Involved |
|---|---|
| 0 | Anterior (in front of) and Superior (above) on the opposite side to the involved ear |
| 18 | Anterior (in front of) and Superior above) on the same side as the involved ear |
| 12 | Posterior (behind) and Inferior (below) on the same side as the involved ear |
| 270 | Posterior (behind) and Inferior (below) on the opposite side to the involved ear (9) |
Notice that in 90% of the cases, the atlas subluxation is behind and below on the opposite side to the ear with Ménière’s disease. Thus this is the condition the overwhelming majority of people with Ménière’s disease have. However, if you have been in multiple accidents, or in an accident that caused more than one blow to your head, the subluxations can be in opposite (or any) directions. (5)
In an earlier study of just the first 30 Ménière’s patients Dr. Burcon treated, he discovered that prior to the onset of their symptoms, all 30 people suffered cervical traumas; most from automobile accidents, resulting in previously-undiagnosed whiplash injuries. These patients all had the same subluxation that resulted in Meniere’s disease as the 270 cases (above). At that time, Dr. Burcon noted, “It cannot be coincidental that thirty consecutive Ménière’s patients would present with a posterior and inferior atlas listing with laterality on the opposite side of the involved ear.” (10)
Note: Many more people suffer whiplash and other cervical trauma than have Ménière’s disease. One reason everyone doesn’t end up with Ménière’s disease from an atlas/axis subluxation is because they didn’t get the specific subluxation that Dr. Burcon has found to result in Ménière’s disease (bottom line in the above table). Other subluxations don’t seem to cause Ménière’s disease (or at least not very often), but they can certainly cause a number of other problems in your body. (See the next section.) Therefore, it is a good idea to have your atlas/axis checked by a upper cervical chiropractor after any occurrences of whiplash or other head/neck trauma if you desire to remain in good health.
Incidentally, the C1 and C2 vertebrae are intimately related. As a result, if one goes out, the other is also probably out too. They both usually move in the same direction. (5) However, they are not necessarily “out” by the same amount.
Dr. Burcon further explains, “When the atlas is the major subluxation, vertigo with vomiting is the major symptom. However, when the axis is the major subluxation, hearing loss, ear fullness and tinnitus are the major symptoms.” (9) This is why if only one vertebra is “off”, you may have incomplete Ménière’s disease—what doctors sometimes call vestibular hydrops (in the case of an atlas subluxation) and cochlear hydrops (in the case of an axis subluxation).
Also, it often happens that subluxations occur in pairs. The most common subluxation pair are the atlas and C5 vertebrae. The next most common pair are the axis and C6 vertebrae. The third most common pair are the atlas and axis together. People with both their atlas and axis “out” typically cannot drive or work. They rarely leave their homes. (9)
If your C5 vertebra is “out” as well as your atlas (C1), you may experience a number of problems with your body in addition to your major Ménière’s symptoms of vertigo and associated vomiting. As Dr. Burcon explains,
When the C5 vertebra is out, it messes up the vagus nerve and you could thus have digestion problems, or irritable bowel syndrome, or headaches, or pain in your arm, or tingling in your arm and hand. You could have pain in the joints in your arm. It could cause some problems with your lungs and breathing. It can contribute to panic attacks, also anxiety and depression as well. (5)
Not only do subluxations affect your nerves, they can also affect the blood supply to your inner ears (and other parts of your body). That is why right after an upper cervical treatment you may feel a rush of blood in your head. Some people’s faces turn beet red for a bit as a result. The good news is that if the lack of an adequate supply of blood (and oxygen) to your inner ears has caused much of your hearing loss, you may experience a dramatic return of much of your hearing as your inner ears start working properly again. (This cannot happen if the hair cells are dead, but it does happen if the hair cells and other inner ear structures are just “sick” from lack of oxygen.)
The Multi-Symptom Connection
Because the atlas and axis vertebrae are the gateway to the rest of your body, when either or both of these vertebrae are “off”, it prevents the nerves from working properly and transmitting healing messages to the rest of your body. The result is that a number of what seem to be unrelated problems can develop.
For example, about 50% of the people with Ménière’s disease get migraine headaches. As you can see from the list below, migraine headaches can be caused by an atlas subluxation, so this makes sense.
In addition to causing Ménière’s disease symptoms such as vertigo, dizziness, tinnitus, hearing loss and feelings of fullness in the ear, subluxations of the atlas and/or axis can cause a whole host of apparently-unrelated conditions such as, but not limited to:
- allergies, arthritis, asthma, arm pain, athletic injuries, attention deficit disorder
- back pain, bed wetting, Bell’s palsy
- carpal tunnel syndrome, cerebral palsy, chronic fatigue, chronic infections, constipation
- depression, digestive problems
- epileptic seizures, ear infections, eye infections
- female disorders, fever, flu symptoms, frequent colds
- hacking cough, hay fever, headaches (all types), high (and low) blood pressure, hip pain
- immune system deficiency, indigestion, infertility
- knee pain
- leg pain, loss of sleep, low back pain
- migraine headaches, muscle spasms
- neck pain, nervousness, neuralgia, neuritis, numbness
- pain (chronic), poor vision
- restlessness
- shoulder pain, sinus problems, sore throat
- tendonitis, tight muscles, tingling sensations, temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), trigeminal neuralgia
- whiplash (11)
Obviously, all the above conditions can have more than one cause, but as Dr. Burcon says, “I always keep going back and back in a person’s case history and I start to see these progressions over time—one thing after another that are seemingly unrelated,” (5) yet most of these conditions are the ultimate result of the upper cervical spine being out of alignment.
For example, one of the major causes of back pain is having your neck out of place for a long time. Since it takes a long time before you begin to have the back pain, when you finally go to your doctor about your lower back pain, he doesn’t ask you about your neck, so neck trauma from “way back” gets overlooked as the primary cause. (5)
The good news is that by adjusting the atlas and axis (and any other vertebrae) that need adjusting, upper cervical chiropractors can generally alleviate, and often eliminate, the above conditions.
The Time Connection
One of the interesting things about Ménière’s disease resulting from whiplash and other head trauma is that typically there is an average delay of 15 years between the time of the head trauma and the appearance of the Ménière’s disease symptoms. (8)
Probably this long latency period is why no one previously saw the correlation between whiplash and Ménière’s disease until Dr. Burcon came along. (This also applies to trigeminal neuralgia.)
This is also probably why few people are diagnosed with Ménière’s disease at a younger age. Remember, this 15-year delay is the average delay. Some people have their Ménière’s symptoms appear much sooner (and obviously this is what happens when children and young adults get Ménière’s disease), and some have a greater delay than 15 years.
In any event, people typically are diagnosed with Ménière’s disease in middle age—around age 40 or so—yet their injuries most often happened 15 to 25 years previously during their high school or college years. For example, they may have been in a car accident when they were learning to drive or soon after—during their reckless driving years. They may have had one or more sports injuries in high school or college. They may have done some dumb stunts in their youth or in college that resulted in “falling on their heads”.
Furthermore, few people list these old injuries on their doctor’s admission paperwork. In fact, they have often long-since forgotten about them. Thus, they fail to make any connection with these old injuries and their current Ménière’s disease symptoms.
The Genetic Connection
Some people feel that Ménière’s disease runs in families, and thus there must be a genetic connection. In truth, Ménière’s disease may have something to do with genetics. You see, Ménière’s disease can run in families because family members likely have similar bone structures, and some varieties of these bone structures may be more susceptible to misalignment. (5)
For example, you may be big-boned or small boned. That is a genetic trait you inherited from your parents. You may wonder what this has to do with Ménière’s disease. If you have big bones, you will have larger vertebrae and larger holes in the center for the spinal nerves to pass through. If you have smaller bones, your vertebrae likely will have smaller holes in their centers.
You may also have larger or smaller nerves (another genetic trait). If you have large bones and small nerves, obviously your atlas could have a subluxation to some degree and still not “pinch” your nerves. In contrast, if you have small bones and larger nerves, even just a tiny subluxation could put pressure your nerves and lower brainstem and result in things such as Ménière’s disease.
As chiropractor Dr. Robert Brooks explains,
Some people have big bones and little nerves. Thus, most of their problems are going to be structural. Some people have bigger nerves and smaller bones and they are going to have all kinds of neurological and functional complications with that structure. Furthermore, some people have a combination of both and their problems will go in both directions.
This is just one example of how genetics can play a role in whether you experience Meniere’s disease or not.
Putting It All Together
As we have seen, Ménière’s disease symptoms almost always initially stem from whiplash or similar head trauma. In addition, there may be a number of other factors that together result in an upper cervical subluxation complex. (9)
They call it a complex for a good reason. Not only have you had an upper cervical misalignment for a long time, but there are a lot of different components. With Ménière’s disease, as Dr. Burcon explains:
You have different symptoms, different intensities, different cycles. You could have an autoimmune component. There could be less blood going to the inner ear. There could be too much pressure in the cerebrospinal fluid. (There are two main fluids inside the skull which is an enclosed hydraulic system. If the blood pressure is too low, the other pressure is too high.) (5)
Furthermore, Ménière’s disease involves the 8th cranial nerve (the vestibulo-cochlear nerve that controls both the hearing and balance systems). When this nerve is compressed, it can result in an inner-ear symptom complex consisting of attacks of vertigo, low-frequency hearing loss, and tinnitus.
In addition, Ménière’s disease is not just an inner ear problem, it is also a middle ear syndrome highlighted by Eustachian tube dysfunction (e.g. feeling of fullness) compounded by dysfunction of the temporomandibular joints. (9)
This is because Ménière’s disease also has to do with the trigeminal nerve. (The trigeminal or 5th cranial nerve is responsible for sensations and motor functions in the face and jaw.) Among other things, the trigeminal nerve opens and closes the muscle in the middle ear. When the trigeminal nerve is not working correctly, it can result in Eustachian tube dysfunction. This is often why people with Meniere’s disease don’t like big pressure changes from the weather. The other end of the Eustachian tube lies right between the C1 and C2 vertebrae so swelling there can close up the opening of the Eustachian tube. That’s why sometimes when a plane is landing, the rapid pressure changes can set off a Ménière’s attack. Even getting up too quickly can cause an attack. (5)
In support of this view, note:
Insertion of a middle-ear ventilation tube can temporarily alleviate Ménière’s symptoms, suggesting Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) as a contributing factor. Furthermore, clinical practice also shows that treating disorders of the upper and lower cervical spine and temporomandibular joints can lessen Ménière’s disease symptoms.” (9)
Also, “stellate ganglion blocks [injecting a local anesthetic to temporarily numb the sympathetic nerves] can be beneficial in controlling Ménière’s disease symptoms, highlighting the influence of the autonomic nervous system.” (9) The stellate ganglion are a collection of sympathetic nerves located on each side of your voice box at the level of the sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae (the last vertebra in your neck).
Another factor is that you can have a systemic virus like the herpes virus, so you can have an infection in your ear, and that can contribute to some of these things including Eustachian tube dysfunction. It may be any kind of viral infection, or any other type of infection for that matter. (5)
As you can see, there are many factors that can be involved in Ménière’s disease, but it always seems to come back to the underlying fact that the atlas and/or axis vertebrae are out of proper alignment.
In fact, Dr. Burcon has proved that Ménière’s disease is primarily the result of the subluxation of the atlas and/or axis vertebrae. For example, he found that 470 consecutive patients, diagnosed with Ménière’s by ENTs, and coming to his practice for care of vertigo, tested positive for upper cervical subluxations. He then took three cervical X-rays of each patient. Analysis of these X-rays confirmed the presence of such subluxations, and also showed evidence of whiplash—in spite of the fact that more than 50% of these patients denied that had had any cervical trauma. (8)
After treating these 470 consecutive people with Ménière’s disease using upper cervical techniques, the results were impressive. “Long-term neurophysiological improvements after initial adjustments have been clinically documented in 90% percent of these cases.” (10)
Reduction in vertigo for Ménière’s patients are similarly impressive. Before treatment, on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being no vertigo and 10 being the worst vertigo imaginable, these 470 patients rated their vertigo (both frequency and intensity combined) at an average of about 7.8.
Six weeks after initial treatment they again rated their vertigo, but now their frequency/intensity rating dramatically fell to just 2.8 (a 64% reduction) That alone would make most Ménière’s sufferers ecstatic! But that’s not all.
At one year post treatment, vertigo frequency/intensity ratings dropped to about 1.8, and by the end of two years post treatment, these ratings were down to 1.2.
Even more impressive, by the end of 3 years these ratings dropped to less than 0.1! In other words, by the end of 3 years, you essentially do not have problems with vertigo anymore! (9) That is wonderful news!
Upper Cervical Treatment
Now that you have learned just how valuable upper cervical chiropractic treatment can be in treating your Ménière’s disease, you might ask, “Can’t I just go to any chiropractor for upper cervical treatment? Aren’t all chiropractors trained in spinal adjustments?”
The answer is “yes, all chiropractors are trained in spinal adjustments, but their training does not prepare them to be experts in specifically adjusting the atlas and axis vertebrae!
Regular chiropractors are people who have attended a recognized chiropractic school and received their Doctor of Chiropractic degree (DC). To obtain this degree they must first earn a 4-year bachelor level degree followed by a 4-year doctoral degree in chiropractic.
All upper cervical chiropractors have earned DC degrees, but they have also gone on to take a 1-year post-doctoral specialty in upper cervical spine treatment techniques and associated clinical training. Only about 2% of chiropractors go on to take the upper cervical post-doctoral training, but even so, there are upper cervical chiropractors scattered around the country.
Another question you might be asking is, “If upper cervical chiropractic is so wonderful, and works so well for Ménière’s disease and other conditions, how come I’ve never heard of it before?”
There are two main reasons. First, the medical community typically has been, and largely still is, strongly prejudiced against chiropractic. Thus, medical doctors don’t tell their patients about upper cervical chiropractic and how it can help them. This keeps their patients in the dark about effective upper cervical treatments and thus keeps them coming back to their doctors again and again for treatment rather than letting them go elsewhere and be cured. (Can’t you hear the money talking here?)
Second,
there are laws in every state and Canada that prevent chiropractors that use any particular procedure, whether upper cervical or otherwise, from freely advertising the procedure they have dedicated their lives to learning. One law in particular forbids any chiropractor that uses any particular procedure to infer that his method is superior or more advanced than other chiropractic methods. (6)
There are a number of different approaches to upper cervical chiropractic adjustments—about 10 or so. All of them require extra training. Furthermore, all of them require extra time with each patient. Dr. Burcon is partial to the “hands-on” Blair method, but he is quick to point out that the other methods are all good too.
In addition to the Blair method for treating the upper cervical spine, some of other methods include the Atlas Orthogonal, the HIO (Hole-in-One) Toggle Recoil, the Kale Brainstem, the NUCCA, the Knee Chest, the Orthospinology/Grostic, the Quantum Spinal Mechanics and the Palmer Specific to name some of the more common ones. You can learn more about these various upper cervical treatment methods at http://www.upcspine.com/tech.htm.
Each of these methods have their unique advantages in certain situations. As Dr. Burcon explains, “There is no one chiropractic technique that works best for every patient, every time.” (9) For any given patient, one method may be better than the others for some reason. (5) Since everyone is made slightly differently, each person may need one or another of the various treatment methods.
Upper cervical treatments are for the most part gentle. Greg Buchanan explains,
Upper cervical spine chiropractors utilize very specific, and mainly gentle approaches, techniques, methods and procedures to measure and ‘adjust’ displacements [subluxations] in the upper cervical vertebrae—in particular, displacements of the atlas with respect to the skull. There are quite a few approaches, which differ in analysis, and adjustment technique, but overwhelmingly they are gentle, very accurate and very effective. Those people who have been ill, who have a confirmed subluxation of their atlas and who have received a professional and well-executed upper cervical adjustment to the atlas will testify to the adjustment’s effectiveness. Just like me they have seen the benefits of this wonderful alternative health approach. (12)
The Upper-Cervical website explains it this way:
The upper cervical correction can be described as a slight predetermined direction of pressure applied to the first bone (atlas) or second bone (axis) in the neck. Depending on the technique, it can feel like a brisk thrust, a light tap, or a massage on the side of the neck just below the earlobe. That’s where the atlas is. Sometimes this is accompanied by a loud pop or series of tiny ticks as the bone moves back into place. (6)
If you are worried about chiropractors being too rough and jerking you around and cracking you up, you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise. You see, upper cervical chiropractors do not “manipulate” your neck; they “adjust” it. This adjustment technique is quite tolerable, non-invasive and involves no twisting or cracking of your neck.
Buchanan explains,
Cutting through the noise about manipulation, it’s important to understand that there is a ‘huge’ difference between ‘manipulation’ and ‘adjustment’. True upper cervical spine chiropractors don’t just grab your head and twist your neck ‘hoping’ to unlock, some ‘locked’ vertebrae. Nor do they crack, crunch, rotate, or take your neck to its full range of motion and move it with high velocity in the other direction. This type of approach is what I would call manipulation.
Upper cervical spine chiropractors, on the other hand, are very deliberate and very measured in their approach. They measure displacements in upper cervical vertebrae with accuracy, utilizing precision X-rays to analyze such displacements thoroughly in order to determine the best direction of the adjusting force to achieve the best result possible. This specific before and after measurement and correction is the hallmark of the upper cervical spine chiropractor and determines the difference, in my opinion between manipulation and adjustment. (12)
When choosing an upper cervical chiropractor, you want to make sure that your chiropractor uses specific measuring techniques so he knows what is “out”, and which way it is “out”. After treatment, you want to be sure your chiropractor has ways of knowing that the atlas and axis are now in proper alignment.
One technique many chiropractors use is to have you lay on your stomach. They then compare your leg lengths. (Typically they check that the back of the heels on your shoes match exactly.) If any vertebrae are “out”, typically your spine shifts, which tilts your pelvis, resulting in one leg appearing shorter than the other. They then adjust your spine so it is in proper alignment. When they do this, your pelvis returns to level, and thus both of your legs now appear the same length.
Unfortunately regular chiropractors often treat your lower back to get your pelvis level again, but fail to properly treat the atlas and axis. As Dr. Burcon explains,
The chiropractor that is hurrying pushes on the longest leg and straightens out your lower back and your legs are now balanced. However, 15 minutes later, it pops back out because the real problem originated from your neck. Furthermore, most general chiropractors don’t let you rest for 15 minutes or so, then recheck your vertebrae to make sure the adjustments are holding. (5)
Apart from the leg-length check, Dr. Burcon feels that every chiropractor should have at least two totally different ways to check that he has adjusted things correctly—such as the X-ray and thermography methods he uses. He explains,
I think that it is most important that you’re good at a couple of different ways, otherwise you might miss something. There’s no one test that works for everyone 100% of the time. You need two different checking systems, but that doesn’t always have to be thermography. You could pick something else, practicing to learn how to do it well. (5)
He continues,
I use X-rays. I always take X-rays before, but not always after, especially if a patient doesn’t want many X-rays taken. As for post-treatment X-rays, sometimes the insurance company wants one, sometimes the patient wants one, sometimes I need one for my research, but I don’t do a whole lot of post-treatment X-rays.
If you are doing well, I probably wouldn’t take another X-ray for a year if we were getting the results that we were looking for and I didn’t need more information or confirmation.
If you just go by feel (challenges) you will be right about 85% of the time, but that is not good enough for me. That is why I take X-rays. B. J. Palmer, who started the specific cervical treatments, said you couldn’t be specific without an X-ray. He was one of the first chiropractors to buy an X-ray machine.
The second method I use is thermography. Thermography is only measuring the heat you are giving off. Thus, there is no X-ray radiation to worry about. As a result, you can take as many thermographs as you want without any danger to the patient. Most Blair chiropractors use thermography as their second way to check their adjustments.
With thermography, I take heat pictures of your neck. I can do your back too if you complain of problems in your back. Over time I’ve learned to see certain patterns. You can see which vertebra is lighting up and is too hot, and which leg is too short and how things change when you use different methods. You have to tailor your methods of treatment to each individual person because each person is different. Too many chiropractors use the same adjustments on everybody because they are going for quantity (more patients), not quality. (5)
After you have had an upper cervical chiropractic treatment you need to be very careful not to put your neck “out” again. Thus, an important part of the treatment is to lay down and rest for 20 minutes or so right there in the chiropractors office, after which, a good chiropractor will recheck your neck to be sure it is still in proper alignment.
Some good upper cervical chiropractors tell those patients who drive to their appointments to back their cars into a parking stall so they can drive out without turning their necks too far like they would have to if they were backing out of a parking spot. Doing this helps you prevent your atlas and axis from going “out” again before you even get home. It takes time for your ligaments, tendons and muscles to shrink and hold the proper alignment again. Thus you may have to have several adjustments in short order to keep them in place while they heal.
Thus the question arises, “How often do I have to have an upper cervical chiropractic treatment?” The answer is that it depends on your own body. You see, your vertebrae may not stay in place after the initial treatment because, by the time you sought treatment, your ligaments, tendons and muscles had all been stretched out of shape for a number of years, and it takes time for them to shrink and get used to holding your vertebrae in their proper positions again. This is why initially “some people have to be corrected once or twice a week, or even more often, then one or twice a month. Other people can hold their correction for several months, even a year at a time. Everyone is different.
One rule of thumb is that it will take roughly one month for every year the subluxation existed. This means that if your vertebrae were “out” for 12 years, you could expect it could take up to 12 months for your body to completely adjust, and for your vertebrae learn to stay in their correct positions. Remember, this is just a rule of thumb. For some people their symptoms disappear soon after the first treatment. For others, it takes months. As Dr. Burcon explains, “Relief may be instantaneous but sometimes it has to run its course.”
“The upper cervical doctor’s objective is to make as precise an upper cervical correction as possible. Then, he must help you maintain the correction with as few corrections as possible so that you may live pain-free and enjoy a better quality of life.” (6)
After upper cervical treatment, your Ménière’s and other symptoms may decrease immediately, or pain may change and move to another area of your body. This is a good sign that your body is now busy healing itself.
Dr. Burcon’s typical chiropractic treatment includes a detailed case history, including a letter from the patient’s ENT and copies of all the ENT’s tests used to diagnose Ménière’s disease. He takes cervical thermographs (using a Titronics TyTron C-3000). He performs a modified Prill leg check analysis. He takes 3 modified Blair cervical X-rays. Then, after careful analysis of the above, he makes adjustments to the upper cervical spine based on his analysis. Finally, the patient lays down for a 15-minute rest after which Dr. Burcon rechecks him to be sure everything is still in alignment. (7)
Retracing
After an upper cervical spine chiropractic treatment, you may expect instantaneous healing, and often that does happens. You may never get another severe vertigo attack again. However, remember that your auditory and other nerves may have been pinched for a number of years leading to abnormal function in the various structures in your ears and head. Thus, it may take time to restore your body to a healthy condition again depending on how long you have had the condition. A good rule of thumb is that acute (recent) cases respond rapidly, while chronic (long-standing) conditions take more time.
This is because with chronic conditions such as Ménière’s disease, a number of years will have passed from the time you were healthy until you reached your present condition with disabling Ménière’s disease. Thus, your body needs time to undo that damage and heal itself.
During the healing process, your body works backwards from your present state through the various intermediate states to where you were originally healthy. Thus, symptoms you had on your downward journey may show up as your body retraces its steps back to vibrant health.
A good analogy would be walking down a wrong path. When you realize that you are on the wrong path, you aren’t suddenly transported to the right path. Rather, you have to turn around and retrace your steps all the way back to where you got on the wrong path. As you do this, you will again experience all the things you encountered on your way down the path the first time.
This retracing/healing process typically takes time. It seems that the retracing episodes follow a very measurable schedule; 1-2 weeks, 5-6 weeks, three months, six months, nine months, and 12 months being the most noticeable.
In acute cases, these retracing symptoms may be so slight that you may not notice them. However, with chronic conditions, if your vertebrae are quickly returned to their normal positions, an entire series of symptoms may develop at one time. Thus, you may think you are getting worse, not better and stop the chiropractic treatments. Yet it is at this very time that you need to continue with chiropractic care because good things are happening. Your body is retracing its steps and healing itself as it progresses. (14)
During retracing, our bodies retrace the symptoms, and sometimes the emotions, that accompanied a certain illness particularly a traumatic one like Ménière’s disease. As Leon explains:
I have had my share of retracing these last few weeks to be sure! I have not had any vertigo attacks but I have experienced “down days”. Two weeks ago I was really struggling—more so than I have for the past 8 months—even to the point of having to go to bed and rest. It was quite discouraging until I remembered that there was a retracing schedule. I looked at the calendar and it was dead on for 6 weeks! I feel very good today.
A number of months later, Leon further explained:
This is month 9 of the retracing of the C1 from this past March. Month 9 is generally the most severe retracing period and I have not been looking forward to it. So far the only symptoms since month 5 have been constant ringing and once feeling that unmistakable feeling of “terror” just before an attack hit. It never came though.
However, this week I noticed that I did not feel great in my head. It was full of pressure when I went to bed last night. Apparently I may have had an attack last night but did not know it. The timing was right on for retracing.
A lady explained:
After about three weeks, I woke up feeling almost entirely normal and remained that way until last week. I hadn’t had a spell since Halloween. Last week, my ear stuffed up and the tinnitus started. This week I’ve had three small spells. The good news is, they’ve been short and bearable with very little nausea. My upper cervical chiropractor says everyone experiences a “retracing” slump at 6 to 8 weeks and the fact that the spells are shorter and less violent is a good sign. That’s where I am at this point.
Both of these people are in the retracing process. In time, their bodies will have healed and they will be restored to health again. If you are feeling discouraged and worried that your Ménière’s is returning, take heart. You are probably just in the retracing process.
Will Upper Cervical Spine Treatment Help You?
The short answer is you won’t know for sure until you have tried this treatment but the chances are very good that it will. However, here are some common ear and related conditions that may indicate your atlas is “off”, and thus you could benefit from upper cervical chiropractic treatments.
- Do you have ear symptoms such as tinnitus, watery sounds in your ear, your ears feel blocked, or you have Ménière’s Disease, otalgia (ear pain), or recurrent ear infections?
- Do you often get headaches or migraines?
- Can you remember any trauma (even minor) to your head, neck or shoulders?
- Do you experience any balance problems such as dizziness, vertigo or movement sensations when nothing is moving?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, it might be wise to get yourself checked out by an upper cervical chiropractor. (13)
Don’t Take My Word for It—Read the Success Stories of Real People Who Have Read and Acted on This Article
Since this article was originally published, I’ve heard from several people that have read this article, then tried upper cervical spine chiropractic. To date, everyone that has tried it has a success story.
Sometimes the story is just a terse, “I’ve tried NUCCA [upper cervical] chiropractic and have been going for 1½ years. It works for me.” as one lady wrote. Other stories are much more detailed.
The first person I know of to read and act on this article after I published it was a man by the name of Leon. Here is his story.
I am 64, and up until 3 years ago, when I was diagnosed with it, I had never heard of Ménière’s disease. Mid-summer 2012 I had a major textbook drop attack—muscle failure, intense vertigo, profuse sweating, and violent vomiting. At 5’9”, I went from 160-165 to 145 pounds.
In hindsight, I had been having drop attacks, but without the vomiting, since my mid-thirties. I always assumed that it was stress and blood-sugar related. In May, 2014, I was having attacks so intense and frequently that I contacted Human Resources at my place of employment to review my options regarding an early, disability retirement.
Ten weeks ago, Dr Neil Bauman wrote a report [this article you are now reading] on an upper cervical chiropractor, Dr Michael T Burcon, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Burcon has had remarkable results treating more than 400 Meniere’s patients. Neil’s report caught my attention.
Up to this point, everything I had tried didn’t help my Ménière’s disease. So on March 19, 2015 I went in to visit an upper cervical chiropractor. After taking x-rays and other assessments (3 hours worth) he determined that indeed my top vertebra, C1, or atlas, was indeed out of alignment, so he put it back in.
My chiropractor has had approximately 15-20 Ménière’s patients, all of which have had improvements in their vertigo and related symptoms. He uses the same method as Dr Burcon and has actually met him and heard him speak at Blair Conventions.
While with my chiropractor he informed me that many times patients experience what he refers to as a preview window. He said that you might note a reduction in the current symptoms that you are experiencing—the window will last only a short time, but it will give you an idea of what you can expect.
The very afternoon of the first visit I felt different inside—an indefinable improvement in my general inner self. My feet between my toes and upper pad had been numb for approximately 4 or 5 years . On day 3 after this treatment I noticed that my right foot was no longer numb!
I have always had pressure and a feeling of fullness in my head and ears. On day 2 my ears started occasionally popping. On day 3, I blew my nose and my left ear exploded in multiple pops! It felt as though I was blowing mucous right out of my ear followed by a very pleasant “empty feeling”. That continued for 4 or 5 more days, and has occasionally popped 1-2 times a day since.
My tinnitus varies and may be louder and softer at times, but it has been with me 24-7 for the past 40 years. Occasionally I’ll hear 5 different simultaneous sounds ranging from sleigh bells ringing to banging on a 50 gallon drum with a hammer. On day 4 while driving home from work, I suddenly noticed that there was no ringing that I could hear. I could not hear a single sound, but it returned by evening.
On day 5, I woke up in the middle of the night because it was so quiet—no ringing again—too quiet to sleep I guess. (The ringing is back now.)
My hearing has improved somewhat. On day 6 I could hear well enough with my left ear that I could talk on my cell phone! Incidentally, I never thought hearing a toilet flush could sound so beautiful!
I have not had a vertigo attack since July, 2014. At week 3 it occurred to me that I had gone to our “family chiropractor” sometime last year. I began wondering, “What did he do last year?” So I drove to his office and asked him if he remembered what he did last year? His answer quite frankly blew me away! He said: “Your C2 was out and I put it back in. That is what we do for Ménière’s.”
I could hardly believe what I had just heard. What he confirmed, was that he had adjusted my C2—the axis vertebra. I also remembered I had had an accident and ran into a pole while playing a friendly game of football and knocked myself out when I was 20. It never once occurred to me that hitting that pole with my body already turned at an angle caused my upper vertebrae to be “knocked out of place”. Certainly I had never considered that as potentially being the cause of my Ménière’s with all of the accompanying symptoms.
Interestingly enough, on my second visit to the chiropractor, he asked me about any improvement with my hearing. It seems that improved hearing occurs frequently. On the downside, I asked about tinnitus and he said that seems to be the last to go. Overall, about 60% of his Ménière’s patients have had improved hearing and reduced tinnitus.
I am quite hopeful that what Dr Burcon discovered and what Neil reported on is a true “cause” for Ménière’s and not just another “I used to have Ménière’s but now I am cured” type post.”
On his one-year anniversary after his first Blair chiropractic treatment, Leon wrote:
“Today, 20 March 2016, marks one full year since having my C1 realigned an upper cervical chiropractor using the Blair method. First, thank you Neil for following through with deeper research regarding the Upper Cervical Blair Method of adjustments and for posting your article. It has changed my life!
I have not had a Ménière’s attack of any kind since July 2014, when my C2 was put back in place by a local chiropractor, nor have I had an attack of vertigo whatsoever since having my C1 put back in place a year ago last 20 March 2015.
I was averaging 2 attacks a week and in a period of 8 months went from 160-165 pounds down to 145 lbs. I was almost unable to work (I am an oil painter and Art professor at a University) and seriously contemplated taking an early medical retirement. I am now able to work a full day painting, and a full day teaching, and my weight has stabilized now to a comfortable 160 pounds.
I still have some symptoms (a feeling of fullness or pressure and tinnitus) as the vertebrae periodically slip out of place and have to be put back in.
I am still deaf although enough hearing has returned in my non-cochlear implant ear so that I can now talk to almost everyone on my cell phone.
Incidentally, the wife of one of my former students was in town today with her husband and I asked her regarding her experience with the Blair method. I had seen her September 2014 at a wedding reception and it had come up. After returning home, she immediately contacted an upper cervical chiropractor, had all the X-Rays taken to confirm that her C1, and C2 were out and had them properly aligned. She was extremely grateful to me and has had a much better quality of life now for the last 15 months. As for me, I would do it again myself in a heart beat!
When Leon wrote about his success with upper cervical chiropractic controlling his Ménière’s disease, Karen decided to try it also. Here is her story.
I strongly encourage everyone to give the Blair chiropractic treatment a shot if at all possible! After Leon’s success, I was still skeptical about seeing a chiropractor as I never liked all the snapping and cracking they do. (I have been to a few over the years.)
After doing some research, I found an upper cervical chiropractor near me who practices the Blair method. I was getting 3 to 4 vertigo attacks a week due to my Ménière’s disease. They were getting worse and I started having drop attacks. I tried everything to feel better, but nothing worked. Finally, I made an appointment in June of 2015 with a Blair chiropractor. I had tons of questions and wanted to understand exactly what he was going to do. He was amazingly patient. He answered all my questions, told me the process and made me feel at ease. Let me say here—the treatment is very gentle! There was no pain, no cracking at all. Just some pressure points as he took his thumb and pressed on my neck—that’s it.
I was amazed, and very happy about that! I did need a few adjustments as he said my C1 and C2 vertebrae were out of whack. He asked (before I mentioned it) if I ever had had an accident involving my neck. I was in a car accident in 2000 and had severe whiplash. My jaw and neck were never the same since. I was always in a lot of pain.
Since my first treatment to now, I have not had any pain in my jaw or neck! After about 6 treatments, (over 2 weeks) I was feeling really great—no pain and the vertigo attacks were almost nil. It was amazing,and totally unbelievable! I was able to hike in the mountains again, go skating and start doing the physical things I loved once again. Thinking I was back to normal again, I stopped going for any more treatments.
Fifteen months later, in September of 2016, I began getting “drop attacks” again. Truth be told, September was awful for me. I had many drop attacks. I remember literally being on the floor for 4 days at a time—not being able to move or get up. It was horrible.
I was going through several traumatic events in my life around this time and was going through deep grief. I think that is why I did not think of going back to the chiropractor for another adjustment.
My son was concerned about my health and after talking with you [Neil] suggested I go back for further treatments. That same week I went back for a couple of adjustments. I just can’t believe the difference it made! Not one episode of vertigo or lying on the floor or dizzy spells since. I even went skiing with the kids just before Christmas and thought, “Oh boy, I will pay for this now,” but nothing bad happened. I’ve not had any dizziness or drop attacks since that either!
Let me mention that you do need check-ups (I call it a tune up) every few months as it is easy for the C1 to get knocked out of whack from time to time. I now go about every month for an adjustment—mostly for my lower back—but my chiropractor always checks my C1 and C2 vertebrae at the same time.
Please give this a try if you are having vertigo attacks. It sure is worth it! I’m not sure I would have tried it until I heard about this from Neil, then read Leon’s success story. Now I am totally convinced that for me, at least, it was the answer!
I still need to be careful of my neck though. I’m learning how to move my head slower these days. I do get days with dizziness, but it is very minor compared to before. I will take the dizziness over the vertigo and drop attacks any day!
If you are thinking of trying it, I want to encourage you do do so. I live outside the city—its a 1½ hour drive one way to my chiropractor, but it is totally worth it!
Thanks for letting me know about this treatment, Neil! And Leon—I am thrilled its been working for you as well. I remember when you were so sick with drop attacks and having a very hard time. It’s good to actually see and hear results from people we know, rather than from an ad.
It worked wonders for me and will for others, but I know people are afraid to try it as we see so many fly-by-night ads to “cure” just about anything these days. It’s hard not to be skeptical until you really know someone who had success with it. I was skeptical myself until I saw Leon’s success. That gave me the courage to try it for myself—and I’m so glad I did!
Karen asked me to emphasize that you need to go back for regular “tune-ups” from time to time because things can go bad again if you do something that causes your C1 or C2 to pop out of alignment. If you don’t get them back in proper alignment you can start having vertigo and drop attacks again as happened to Karen. Wouldn’t you love to be able to say with Karen, “No drop attacks or any signs of dizziness or vertigo for the past 4 months since I got the help I needed.”
An upper cervical chiropractor recently emailed me. He wrote,
I have been working with a patient who had been suffering with Meniere’s for over 4 years. She has had no vertigo issues since receiving her first Upper Cervical adjustment a month and a half ago. In her words, at her visit today she exclaimed: “I was existing before… now I’m living my life!” She was referred to our office after reading through your book, Say Good Bye to Meniere’s Disease.
Note: don’t be fooled by medical doctors and specialists. They don’t know the fine points of vertebral alignment. For example, one lady went to a neurologist about her neck. He had an MRI done and the neurologist and radiologist reported that there was nothing wrong with her C1 and C2 vertebrae.
I encouraged her to go to an upper cervical spine chiropractor and have precision x-rays taken. Sure enough, her C1 was “out”. (With precision x-rays, they can detect subluxations as small as a minuscule ¼ of 1 degree.) After her first treatment she reported.
Thank you for this article. Without this article, I would not have known what to do with my Meniere’s disease. Yes, you were correct, the MRI did not detect my C1 being misaligned. The x-ray from my upper cervical chiropractor revealed a C1 subluxation. After only one adjustment, my dizziness disappeared, my blurry vision has improved, I feel less pressure in my head and I can hear better even though my ear still rings. I still cannot believe this “magic” adjustment. I just feel so good! Thank you so much.
Finding an Upper Cervical Chiropractor
By now you probably are eager to find an upper cervical chiropractor and see what they can do to help you bring your Ménière’s disease under control. Fortunately, upper cervical chiropractors are easy to find if you know where to look.
Greg Buchanan’s website gives a wealth of information on upper cervical chiropractic. Furthermore, he maintains a list of upper cervical chiropractors scattered all over the world so you (hopefully) can find one near you. Just go to the above link and click on the fifth button across the top “Practitioners”. From the drop-down menu choose your area of the world. If you live in the USA or Canada, choose North America, then click on the “View” button (on the right) for your state (or province) and you will see an alphabetic listing (by chiropractor’s last names—not business names) of the upper cervical chiropractors in that state/province. Each listing gives not only all the contact information you need, but also what method of upper cervical techniques they use, what instruments they use, whether they take X-rays or not, etc.
You can also go to the main web page for each of the various upper cervical chiropractic associations (each organization is associated with one specific method) and look at the listing of chiropractors trained in their method. For example, to find Blair chiropractors in your area, click here. These listings may be more complete and up-to-date than those on Buchanan’s website.
To find an upper cervical chiropractor that practices a specific method (such as the Blair method), go to Buchanan’s web page that lists these various methods and click on the name of the method you want to investigate (in the column on the left) or on the “Read More” link at the bottom of the paragraph describing the method on the main part of the page. Usually there is a listing of chiropractors using that method somewhere on that website.
I’d suggest you look for upper cervical chiropractors that have/do the following:
- A good number of years of experience (a minimum of 15 or 20 years). This is because it takes years of practicing to become an expert upper cervical chiropractor, especially in treating a complex condition such as Ménière’s disease.
- A chiropractor that uses the Blair method (if you can find one reasonably near you).
- A chiropractor that has a proven track record in successfully treating people with Ménière’s disease.
- A chiropractor that uses at least two methods to tell if you are in adjustment (X-rays and thermography, for example).
- A chiropractor that takes X-rays so he won’t miss tiny subluxations.
If you want to start with the most experienced upper cervical chiropractor for Ménière’s disease and other difficult neurological cases, you can’t go wrong by contacting Dr. Burcon’s clinic. He has a spectacular 97% success rate for people with Ménière’s disease and trigeminal neuralgia. (11) He treats people from all over the world (and also sometimes collaborates with an upper cervical chiropractor near you if you need extended treatment).
Dr. Burcon’s contact information is on his website. Select “Contact” (on the left). Also, check out the “Burcon Chiropractic Research Institute” website for further information about him.
Last, but certainly not least, don’t forget to investigate each chiropractor before you commit to him/her (some chiropractors are better than others, some have more training than others, some have more experience with Ménière’s than others, some have better testing protocols than other, etc.). You alone are responsible for your own health, so do your own “due diligence”, then decide whether you want to proceed, and if you choose to proceed, to whom you want to go.
For those who choose to seek upper cervical treatment, please comment here on your experiences whether good or bad. This will help other Ménière’s sufferers decide whether, and from whom, they want to seek upper cervical chiropractic treatment.
I wish you well in getting your head “screwed on straight” and finally kissing good-bye to your Ménière’s (and other) symptoms that have plagued you for so long.
_________
More good news. If you have Ménière’s disease and and want/need support and friendship from other people who also have Ménière’s disease, join what is probably the most wonderful on-line support group for people with Ménière’s disease—the Ménière’s list in the SayWhatClub (SWC). There you can meet Leon and Karen and others that have to deal with their Ménière’s. And, of course, I am there too, although I don’t have Ménière’s.
You can join the SayWhatClub here where you can learn a bit about the SWC and fill out a membership application. Someone from the hospitality committee will then contact you and introduce you to the Ménière’s list. You will be welcome. I look forward to meeting you there.
_________
References
(2) Heselsweet, Geraldine, 1999. Success Story.
(3) Burcon Chiropractic.
(4) Blair Upper Cervical—Dr. William G. Blair.
(5) Burcon, Michael. 2015. Personal communication.
(6) FAQ. Upper Cervical Chiropractic.
(7) Buchanan, Greg. My Findings.
(8) Burcon, Michael. Upper Cervical Protocol & Results for 300 Ménière’s Patients. Sixth International Symposium on Meniere’s Disease. Kyoto, Japan.
(9) Burcon, Michael. Cervical Specific Protocol & Results for 300 Ménière’s Patients. Presented at the New Zealand College of Chiropractic, Upper Cervical Conference.
(10) Burcon, Michael. Upper Cervical protocol for Thirty Ménières Patients.
(11) Conditions That Respond.
(12) Buchanan, Greg. Introduction to Upper Cervical Techniques.
(13) Sign/Symptom Checklist.
(14) Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Society, Inc. 2014. Repairing the Body and Health Outcomes.
Thank you for the excellent article. Frankly, I could not have done as well myself. Just got asked to speak at the 7th international meniere’s symposium in Rome this October. Pretty excited. Anyway, hope to meet up with you one of these days.
It seems 3 years ago, while being seen by a “new” Dr to the clininc I’ve gone to for othogonal atlas adjustments, I woke up the next day with sudden hearing loss, pressure and severe ringing in my right ear. He adjusted my neck 3 times within 5 minutes saying “almost” each time. I finally said no more, not knowing he may have injured me! I have been looked at by 3 ENT specialists , each has said my ear is “normal” and that I will have to live with it. I am lately finding more dizzy spells…it’s getting worse. What should I do??
Hi Stephen
Where is that clinic?
I live in UK and have been suffering for last three and half years but diagnosed with MD approx two and half years ago and recently been diagnosed with suffering from Vestibular migraine (VM) too. The hearing loss and tinnitus is in left ear but from last week tinnitus has started in my right ear too, mY ENT doc this is nothing too worry about and it is unlikely that MD would become bi.
I watched videos and read your articles and I am very interested in seeking treatment with Blair technique, however I can’t find any practitioners here in UK for this technique. I have found two (four hours away) who practice Knee Chest and one (hour and a half away) who practices Atlas Orthogonality. Please can you advise that are both of these methods equally effective ?
Amit, please look into Atlasprofilax. Marie in London is well-known.
If, after the atlas holds, positive tests persist in other cervical segments, those vertebrae are adjusted. Again, both side-posture and prone positions are used on the lower cervicals. Patients rest for 15 minutes after every adjustment, then are checked. Patients are released only after their legs present balanced.
I’ve been suffering from many if not all the symptoms listed … Fullness in ears, ear infections, vertigo, dizziness, sudden onset allergies but blood work show none. My x-rays showed I was out in my neck area and even up into my skull you can see my spine is off center. I did have a whiplash injury approximately 10 years ago. I’ve been trying to figure out what was wrong, two ENT’s sited BPPV. But no one tried to help me with that diagnosis. I had blood work run extensive for hormones. Vitamins. Everything my blood work was perfect. Still was having vertigo and the fullness of the ears was terribly frustrating and the recurrent ear infections. Problem is no one wants to listen and everyone thinks my neck being out has no relation to the ear and vertigo issue. My x-rays show problems between c1-c3 for sure maybe more as I have just seen them and have not spoke with anyone yet in regards , however there is clearly no space between the one section. I’m hoping I finally found someone to correct the issue. I would welcome talking further with someone if my info and challenges would help others.
Send me copies of your MRI and x-rays with your case history and I will offer you a short complimentary phone consultation. You can speak with my wife, Jane Burcon, at 616.575.9990. Dr Mike
hi i just di upper ao adunment its been 5 days , having bloodrushes here and dere , face irritation redced, my back of the head feels less tight . over all 4o percent improvemnt , had blood rush today like whole body had rush of blood after minutes of adjustment it was my left side face felt like worm and cold tingling sensation my my shoulder and in my chest but the are still tight . in 5 dayz many weiardt things happend my left side body from sholder felt normal , 3 rd day was neck pain but suddenly realesed . i donno wat the hell is happeing , when i awas going home i had a better vision feling skepticals been to other chiros before
Meniere’s disease can occur at any age, but it usually starts between the ages of 20 and 50. It’s considered a chronic condition, but various treatments can help relieve symptoms and minimize the long-term impact on your life. If you have recurring episodes of vertigo, you may have this disease. You have a spinning sensation that starts and stops spontaneously. Episodes of vertigo occur without warning and usually last 20 minutes to several hours, but not more than 24 hours. Severe vertigo can cause nausea and vomiting.
Where in New Zealand can I get this treatment for Menieres please?
Hi Jean:
To find upper cervical chiropractors go to http://www.upcspine.com/prac1.asp and click on the country box for your area of the world and go from there.
Only one such upper cervical chiropractor is listed in New Zealand. You can see this listing at
http://www.upcspine.com/prac3.asp?rid=5&r=New%20Zealand&sid=62&s=North%20Island&cid=8&c=NEW%20ZEALAND
Here is the listing.
Practitioner Type: Upper Cervical Chiropractor ID: 1561
Name: Dr Neil Bossenger
Status of UpC technique Certification: Up to Date 9 Feb 2008
Please check with technique owner for current status
Practice: Spinewave Wellness Centre
Address: Suite 1, 102 Remuera Road
Remuera
Auckland
North Island, NEW ZEALAND 1050
Tel: +64 (0)9 5220025 Fax:
Mob: +64212397623 Other Tel:
Website: http://www.spinewave.co.nz
Email: neil@spinewave.co.nz
Upper cervical approach/technique used: Blair Upper Cervical
Instruments: Tytron C-5000; HeartMath HRV; Lloyd Side Posture Toggle Recoil Table
Takes precision upper cervical x-rays: Pre and Post Upper Cervical
Additional Comments: Techniques: Blair Upper Cervical Specific; Functional Neurology
Cordially,
Neil
Dr Graham Dobson teaches my technique at New Zealand Chiropractic College and is a brilliant physician. His practice is in Auckland. He is Neil’s mentor.
Hello Dr. Burcon,
I have reviewed the list of available upper cervical chiropractors near me, but they do not appear to employ this technique. Are there other techniques that have proven effective, or is your technique the only one that has been shown to be effective for MD in terms of upper cervical care?
Thank you for your time,
Brian
Very informative/refreshing read, however one claim is simply incorrect. I know Grostic, Toggle, gonstead and full spine upper cervical protocols and procedures. The specific claim that anothet year of education is required, is not true in my case. With that being said, all chiropractic schools are not equil or the same, but I’m happy to say mine helped me with diversity of techniques.
Hi Dr. Brent:
I’m not doubting that you learned some upper cervical techniques in chiropractic school–and I’m glad you did. But you need additional training to become an EXPERT specifically in upper cervical techniques.
Cordially,
Neil
Right, this speciality takes a year to get certified. It is not diversified. It is specific.
I go to a sports DC when I injure my shoulder and want musculoskeletal work done. I go to upper cervical DC for neurological problems.
Hello Dr. Bauman,
Thank you so much for your post.
I was recently diagnosed with Meniereis and also have a grade 1 anterolisthesis of c3 and c4. with multiple cervical spondylosis.
I live in the NYC, can you recommend a chiropractor in the NYC area that would be able to work with my specific issues?
Thanks,
Leigh
Hi Leigh:
I don’t know any upper cervical chiropractors in NY, so I can’t specifically help you. But here is the link to the upper cervical chiropractors in New York state. You can go through it to find those in NY itself and then choose whomever you want to see. You’ll see in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th line from the bottom of each listing the technique they use. I’d suggest the Blair method, but there is only one Blair chiropractor listed and that is up in Rochester. So you’ll have to choose one of the other methods.
The link to this listing for NY is http://www.upcspine.com/prac3.asp?rid=4&r=North%20America&sid=35&s=New%20York&cid=5&c=UNITED%20STATES%20OF%20AMERICA
Cordially,
Neil
Leigh, I’m in NYC too and have tried a NUCCA chiro (dr. Irmana) but still suffering tinnitus and hearing loss. Have you had any luck? If live to hear any recommendation. Thank you!
I don’t know if I had Menierre’s disease but have had BPPV for over 1 yr with it going away only a couple weeks out of the yr. Had left ear fullness, pain in left ear when I get a headache, much drainage in back of throat. Had chiro adjust my atlas yesterday-said it was very much off to the left. When trying to get up got extremely dizzy & began vomiting. I have never vomited before from BPPV before so this was a bit scary. I was so dizzy & nauseous. Went to bed and slept 13 hours. I feel better today but still causious of my neck. Is this normal to get so sick after adjustment of the atlas?
Hi Darlene:
How do you know it was BPPV that you had? Symptoms of BPPV don’t include the symptoms you list such as left ear fullness, pain in left ear, drainage in back of throat, etc. Those all sound more like your Atlas was out, not BPPV. I think you were misdiagnosed.
What kind of a chiropractor did you go to–a conventional one, or an upper cervical spine one? And if the latter, what method did he use–Blair? or ?
I’ve not heard of an instant and violent reaction such as you had. But obviously it is possible. Typically, if your Atlas and/or Axis is out for a long time, you can experience retracing where the symptoms show up in reverse order to your getting them in the first place–and then they go away permanently. In your case, it seems to have happened all at once.
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you for your reply. The general dr diagnosed me with BPPV when I first went to him over 1 yr ago compaining that when I turn over in bed I would get extremely dizzy. He laid me back on the table & he said I had nystagmus, so said it was BPPV.
As time went on I started having soreness in my left ear too. I would also have a reverberation in my left ear when I would have the tv on and people were talking. I would mute the tv and the reverberation in my left ear would go away. I didn’t have a ringing though. Would also get a headache and that left ear would start hurting. I even lost my hearing in that ear back in december for 1 night. Thankfully it was back by morning. I continued seeing my chiropractor. He never adjusted my atlas only did back & neck adjustments and would pop my ear to help it drain the lymph fluid down my throat. The BPPV or whatever it is went away for only a couple weeks at a time but always returned. I have been living with dreading laying down for over 1 yr. My neighbor who is in her final yr of chiro school offered to adjust me. I went over for what I thought was a simple adjustment …told her about the vertigo. Anyway, she adjusted back, neck and my atlas. I had told her that I never get nauseous from the vertigo….but when I went to get up after the adjustment the room was really spinning!! (she just did a manual adjustment to move the atlas by cracking my neck) I said I feel nauseous. Asked if I could lay back down and when I did I vomited. I ended up vomiting 4 times. I was so dizzy. Now I was dizzy standing up not just laying down. I was so sick slept 13 hours. Next day I felt better. But now it is 5 days after that occurence and I feel awful. The base of my neck feels stiff & sore, feel light headed and dizzy when I walk. My regular chiro suggests an MRI, but I think I want to see a chiro that specializes in atlas adjustments first. Do you think this is all from my atlas? Do you think it is out again or she never got it in? I just want to feel human again.
Forgot to mention that the nystagmus is vertical rather than horizontal. Does that mean anything?
Hi Darlene:
I think that your neck is definitely off and needs a competent upper cervical chiropractor to treat you. As you have found, it is not wise to let anyone practice on you before they have their degree–and not even then. Dr. Burcon, the world’s expert on atlas adjustment for Meniere’s disease told me that a chiropractor heeds 20 YEARS of experience AFTER they finish their Upper Cervical training in order to be good.
If I were you, I’d find a Blair upper cervical chiropractor that has been practicing for 20 or more years. You need someone you can trust to do the right things to get your atlas, axis and any other vertebrae in your neck back into proper alignment.
Do it as soon as possible. You need to feel human again.
Cordially,
Neil
ENTs don’t realize that all Meniere’s patients have BPPV! I know DCs that have the knack for upper cervical that do a good job after getting certified. They also tend have more time to spend with you. Some are not comfortable with poorly understood problems like MD. They are not used to catching patients in their offices and having them vomit in their waste baskets. I drove over to Best Buy last week, picked a patient up off the floor, put her in a wheelchair and took her to my office. Not everyone wants to do that.
Hi Neil,
Wonderful article!
I’m diagnosed as “Menieres” but have rarely had vertigo. My ears went “clogged” after a plane landing in SF a couple years ago. I couldn’t hear at all for several days. It took about 14 months for my ears to begin to clear. And even after they did, my hearing test showed a 15-20 point decline across all the “consonant” frequencies. — Almost doubling my hearing loss. Needless to say, I haven’t gotten on a plane since. But I still have recurrent “clogged” ears (Eustachian tubes?) that wreck havoc with my hearing. Intermittent balance issues, too.
Do you know any Blairs practioners with 20 yrs experience in/around San Francisco?
(I’ve had 3 whiplash injuries and one major interaction with a piece of cast iron and the top of my skull….) It would be wonderful if these kinds of adjustments could help!
Hi Carol:
I don’t know an specific Blair chiropractors in CA. All you need to do is go to http://www.upcspine.com/prac3.asp?rid=4&r=North%20America&sid=9&s=California&cid=5&c=UNITED%20STATES%20OF%20AMERICA which gives you a list of all the upper cervical spine chiropractors in CA. Look at the kind they are–Blair as opposed to NUCCA, Atlas-orthogonal, grostic, etc. This information is usually the 3rd to 5th line from the bottom in each listing. Look for those reasonably near you and then check the listing and phone them to check them out. Choose whomever turns your crank.
Cordially,
Neil
Tom Forrest is my mentor and not too far away. Fifty percent of MD patients get sick landing. They have Eustachian tube dysfunction. Other people yawn or chew gum but that won’t work util you get your head on straight. Do severe weather fronts trigger your attacks also?
Hi Dr. Burcon,
I’m in San Diego – do you know of anyone here that you would recommend? I’ve seen the list that Dr. Bauman recommends and I only find a Dr. Jessica Lee – is there anyone else you would suggest? Thanks.
Ah, I’d already figured that out…. So it’s back to the telephone again. (After reading their websites.)
Thanks again for this article. It also inspired me to (finally!) figure out the path of the eustachian tubes. I was fascinated that they (and or the nerve that controls them) pass through the C1 and C2 vertebrae.
OK, I’m off to do more research on my “local” Blair chiropractors.
Doing some research on Gentamicin injection treatments, and I stumbled across this blog. I read this post and nodded my head “yes” several times. The injection is going to have to wait as I am now currently in the process of evaluating a Upper Cervical Chiropractor which practices the Blair technique.
My “Meniere’s” symptoms cropped up about a year after I had an auto accident in 2007 and have been plaguing me ever since with no resolution or cause. I have no family history of Meniere’s so the diagnosis and suffering was perplexing. Now, something I never would have thought about, is starting to make sense.
I will follow up once I speak to people and perhaps schedule a treatment regimen. But, thank you, Dr. Bauman, for writing this blog. For the first time in years, I have a glimmer of hope!
Gentamicin will kill your inner ear. When they start using stem cell treatments you will no longer be a candidate.
I had the Gentamicin and it killed my hearing in my right ear but relieved the vertigo quite a bit. My vertigo. started when I got home from the driving range after hitting golf balls !!!
The ENTT never even considered that. I’ve had this for many years now and always thought the driving range experience had some thing to do with it. Still off balance but I have lived with it for many years now.
Good day. I am from South Africa suffering from menieres. Is there any upper cervical ciropractioner in South Africa that can do the adjustments?
Hi Delmarie:
I only see one upper cervical chiropractor listed for South Africa, a Dr. Janet Meier at 409 Cape Road, Cotswold, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, but she uses the “knee chest” method, not the Blair method. You might want to contact her anyway and see if she thinks she can help you. Her phone number is 041-364-3780
There may be other upper cervical chiropractors that are not listed in the listing I used.
Cordially,
Neil
I started with knee chest and it is fine if the doc is good.
Hi Delmarie – did you have any luck in finding a C1 C2 specialist chiropractor in South Africa? I am in Centurion ,
Gauteng
Hello,
Thanks for the article and all the info in the posts. I’m 43 and started having pain in my right ear in April of this year… I think it was related to my ear buds as I had been using them at night for a few hours a night for over a year.
I have not used them since April.
I thought it was an infection and did 2 rounds of antibiotics from a Walk In Clinic..
Since then I have been to 2 ENT’s on a few occasions and one says its ETD, the other suggests an MRI.
I did a hearing test at the ENT in July and it showed no hearing loss, but indicated something with the right ear drum pressure.
Over the past few months I’ve noticed loud crowded places are troublesome and about 6 weeks ago my Left ear has started showing similar symptoms (Cracking, popping etc) it has always been quiet.
Both ear drums on different occasions have fluttered a few times recently and sometimes feel tight.
In the beginning of this my right ear felt like a muscle would spasm and tighten on the inside.
I sleep flat on my back to keep symptoms down and have only had occasional dizziness and can’t bend over for long periods of time because of the pressure.
I have been to a chiropractor and he confirmed my C1 and 2 are out, and Xray showed I have a kink in my middle spine with my hips not level. His adjustments did seem to help but this is also when I noticed the left ear starting to pop, crack and mild pain. I don’t believe he is a upper cervical specialist.
I know these aren’t all the symptoms of MD but a lot of whats on here seems very similar.
*Also, I took Klonopin for a few years and tapered completely off a year ago. I currently only take Advil at night.
Again, Thank You Both!!
Hey doc , my doctor used that gemacitine treatment on me. Since then i’ve been walking like a I’m drunk however theres no effect while sitting. Can I now have your treatment because it has failed to help. And please , give a remedy for this drunk walking.
Thank you.
Hi Amaad:
Once your balance system has been killed by taking Gentamicin, nothing is going to bring it back. It’s too late. All you can do is practice your balance–balance therapy and eventually you’ll learn to use any remaining balance you have in your ears, plus your eyes (so you need light in order to walk around) and your proprioceptive system in your feet and legs (so you need to walk on smooth hard surfaces for best results.)
Read this man’s story of how he got his balance back to a reasonable level. It is at http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/regaining-balance-one-mans-story/ . Also read this article as it explains more about your balance and how to overcome lack of it. It is at http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/are-serious-vestibular-problems-a-wheelchair-sentence/ .
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you so very much for replying ! The links you posted will hopefully help. I have another request , i have a continuous headache since the treatment , it feels very tight and full of pressure. Is there anything that would help? Thanks again!
Hi Amaad:
I suspect that you hold your body “funny” in order to try to keep your balance. You make your muscles tight and this can put tension on your head and neck muscles, ligaments, bones. Thus they can pull out of proper alignment and result in a pinched nerve in your neck.
If this is so, then having chiropractic treatments and/or physiotherapy treatments and/or massage on your head and neck may get things relaxed and back into proper alignment–and let your headaches disappear.
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you so much!
Please help! Where do I start ? MRI or x ray ?
909 5590783
I live in Southern California. Do you recommd a chiropractor?
Hi Veronica:
You should read my article over again. It explains where to start, how to find a upper cervical spine chiropractor, etc.
You start by finding an upper cervical spine chiropractor, preferably one that practices the Blair method. To find one, click on the following link and it will show you the upper cervical spin chiropractors in California. http://www.upcspine.com/prac3.asp?rid=4&r=North%20America&sid=9&s=California&cid=5&c=UNITED%20STATES%20OF%20AMERICA
Look through this listing for those chiropractors that practice the Blair method and find one reasonably close to where you live. If you can’t find a Blair chiropractor reasonably close, then choose from one of the other methods.
Once you have made your choice, phone them and ask whether they have had success treating people with Meniere’s disease or vertigo. If they do, that sounds like a reasonable practitioner to try. You need to do your own “due diligence” a I know nothing about these chiropractors.
Cordially,
Neil
I’ll re-read your article. Thank you for your response it’s greatly appreciated.
Veronica
Please help! Where do I start ? MRI or x ray ?
I live in Southern California. Do you recommd a chiropractor in the area ?
Hi doc,
I was recently diagnosed with bppv by my ent and confirmed by Eng test. I do get ear fullness but haven’t been diagnosed with menieres. Every time epley is done I have the usual vertigo and eye nystagmus but epley hasn’t solved the dizziness and balance issues and vertigo. I have already been seeing a Blair uc doc in nj for the past 12 years. My usual adjustment is c1 and c2 while laying on left side. The Blair uc chiropractor has solved so many issues for me. I am all in. I went today and was adjusted the same way. My neck is so much more sore than usual. Was wondering if you had an experience with a positive bppv diagnosis when it was actually caused by upper Cervical issues. Thanks in advance for your reply!
Hi Larry:
That’s a question for Dr. Burcon to answer. I’m sure he knows and I’m just as sure I don’t.
Cordially,
Neil
After a really rough year, I found a great article on upper cervical treatment and roughly 8 weeks ago embarked on that journey. The tests showed my upper spine was severely misaligned. After about three weeks, I woke up feeling almost entirely normal and remained that way until last week. I hadn’t had a spell since halloween. Last week, my ear stuffed up and the tinnitus started. This week I’ve had three small spells. The good news is, they’ve been short and bearable with very little nausea. However, I’m afraid this is a sign of things to come. My uc doc says everyone experiences a “retracing” slump at 6 to 8 weeks and the fact that the spells are shorter and less violent is a good sign. Can somebody give me some positive feedback about their experience with upper cervical treatment? Did you have a retracing period? How long did it last? Please no horror stories, I don’t need my anxiety to go anymore off the rails than it already is.
I have suffered with menaires now for 23 years and I am ready to explore this method. My question is when I try to find someone is my area I can find Blair method but they don’t have pre and post x-rays just pre. I can find NUCCA method that uses pre and post X-rays. What would be better? I don’t have many options and they are all over 2 hours away.
Hi Cheri:
I think I’d choose the Blair guy that just uses the pre-xray pictures, all things being equal, but the NUCCA guys are good too. What I’d do is phone both up and find how many people with Meniere’s they have helped. Go with the guy with the most experience/successes.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi. Thanks for your article.
I was diagnosed with menieres over 7 years ago after the birth of my son. My hip was twisted during delivery and since that time I’ve suffered acutely with menieres symptoms plus hay fever, headaches, pressured head, palpitations and night panic attacks where I feel like I’m dying. I live in Tasmania, do you know of anyone who practices here?
Hi Cathy:
It looks like the closest upper cervical chiropractors are in north of you in Australia. I don’t see any listed for Tasmania.
Cordially,
Neil
I live in Houston, TX . Is there anyone that practices this procedure here
Hi Debbie:
Go to http://www.upcspine.com/ and click on Practitioners, then in the drop down box choose your region, then choose your state and read through the resulting listings to see if anyone practicing the Blair method is relatively close to you.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil
I posted this in the other forum as well. In your experience have you heard of cases where C1/C2 adjustments made the tinnitus worse using the Blair method?
Thanks Tom
Hi Tom:
I’m not aware of Blair chiropractic making your tinnitus worse. However, there is the thing known as retracing, and when you retrace you go back through the symptoms you got as your neck got progressively worse. Therefore,, you may temporarily experience an increase in those symptoms before they finally disappear. Possibly this could happen with tinnitus as well.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi! Absolutely fascinated by this article. I was just diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease three months ago at age 56. Even though I mentioned a history of migraines (since age 13), a major car accident at age 18 (went through the front window), and anterior cervical fusion with diskectomy for C3 at age 40 none of the doctors saw any correlation. I had upper cervical chiropractic help up until my surgery. Wish I could try again but with the titanium plate I would be afraid to have any adjustments now. Just great to read about some possible validation to what I suspected about my Meniere’s Disease cause. Thanks!
Hi Caroline:
If it is only your C3 that is fused, an upper cervical chiropractor may still be able to properly adjust your Ci and possibly C2 and thus alleviate to some degree your Meniere’s. I’d go to a Blair upper cervical chiropractor as they are very gentle, as opposed to a NUCCA one. It never hurts to go to a Blair guy and have him take x-rays and tell you whether he thinks he can help you or not. Then you can together decide if it seems wise to proceed with treatment or not.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi! I am really interested to try upper cervical chiropractic. I have been suffering from vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss, etc and have had to stop driving as it progressed. I have searched the data bases to look for a UpC chiropractor within reach, and all searches come up empty in my area. Would it be safe to see a local chiropractor without that specific certification? (Feeling rather desperate!)
Hi Jodi:
Did you check not only the database for upper cervical spine chiropractors in general, but also all the specific databases for each brand of upper cervical chiropractic? Sometimes you will find more listings under the Association listing for that particular kind of upper cervical chiropractic that are not in the general database.
Now to answer your specific question. It may be possible to find a conventional chiropractor that is somewhat knowledgeable about your Atlas and Axis, but they don’t have the specific training that I think they really need in order to properly align those vertebrae so that your Ménière’s goes away. You can try. I don’t think they’ll make things worse (or better), but I can’t really say.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi, Is there any practitioner in Indonesia?
thanks
Hi Marcel:
Not as far as I know. But there is one is Singapore if you are interested.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil,
can you share the contact in Singapore? and how many treatment does it usually need since i need to plan for the treatment. thanks so much.
Hi Marcel:
Go to http://www.upcspine.com/prac2.asp?rid=2 and click on the “View” button for Singapore and you’ll find all the details about this chiropractor. He uses the knee/chest method.
It’s always hard to tell. It depends on how far you are “out”, how long you have been “out” and how well you stay in place after you are adjusted. I would suggest at the very minimum you’d need two sessions, but it could easily be a lot more (2 or 3 sessions for a week or two then 1 a week, then 1 a moth) depending how well the adjustments “hold”.
In any case, two adjustments should make a big difference.
Cordially,
Neil
I clicked view in Singapore but cannot find anyone there..it is empty. Can you please help on this? Appreciate it greatly!
Hi Angeline:
You have a couple of options. First, you could travel to nearby countries that do have upper cervical chiropractors listed such as Hong Kong, Manila, Auckland or various places in Australia.
Second, you could ask around and see if any of the chiropractors in Singapore have had any extra training in upper cervical techniques. They may be able to help you as well.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr.
after doing my research about my Meniere’s, I came across 2 causes, one discussed here, and the other one is the possible herpes virus in the inner ear. Are these two conditions, atlas bone shift and herpes related?
Hi Eli:
I am not certain yet, but I think the bone shift is the underlying problem that causes Meniere’s. But if you have a viral attack (Herpes) it can make the Meniere’s worse. So if the bone displacement is not enough to cause Meniere’s, but it is there in the incipient stage so to speak, and then you get a viral attack, then the Meniere’s becomes evident. If you get the Herpes under control, the Meniere’s symptoms may seem to go away, but the underlying subluxation is still there predisposing you to Meniere’s attacks in the future such as when you are under more stress, or anything else that causes the ligaments, tendons, muscles to tighten up and pull it off more.
This is how I see it at this time. I need to do more research on this to finalize my thinking.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi- I am 30 years old and have had Meniere’s Disease for 12 years now but was not diagnosed until 2 years ago. When I was 18 I woke up with both ears plugged one morning and just figured it was allergies or water in my ear. As the day progressed I became very dizzy and my right ear never opened up. I saw the ENT, had a hearing test and was put on steroids. My vertigo took about a week to go away and my hearing never came back. 4 years ago I started getting a few random vertigo attacks. I saw the ENT for many balance tests, and MRI and a scan. They finally diagnosed me with Meniere’s disease. I was given Meclizine to help with some symptoms but the only thing that could help when I was down with vertigo was Valium. My ENT began administering Dexamethasone injections into my ear drum. This gave me vertigo relief for a few weeks and then I would need another shot. This was also during a stressful time for me – wedding and house buying. I started seeing a close friend who is a chiropractor with his own business. He took X-Rays which did show that my C1 and C2 were compressed. He began giving me adjustments which seemed to help. I continued to need an injection every month or two until I became pregnant. I also continued to get adjusted every week. I went my entire pregnancy without any vertigo and it seemed to come back 4 months after my son was born. Since then I have needed a Dex injection every 6 weeks. I haven’t had a violent attack but after 5-6 weeks my head seems to feel off. My ENT suggested that Gentamicin might be the next step. What are your thoughts and recommendations? I am still getting adjusted every other week.
Hi Allie:
Has your chiropractor taken the training for an upper cervical spine chiropractor? If not, maybe you need to see one that is specifically trained in this area since the adjustments you are currently getting are not fixing the problem.
Another possibility is to have your chiropractor contact Dr. Burcon and send him the xrays for a consult to see if Dr. Burcon has any ideas.
I’m personally not in favor of Gentamicin except as a last resort. I’d try to work with a “Blair” chiropractor such as Dr. Burcon and exhaust that avenue before going the Gentamicin route.
Cordially,
Neil
I have been diagnosed with Menieres and after reading this article i think this may have been the issue all along. For me, i was playing with my dog when we bumped heads so hard that she broke my nose causing blood to pour out and giving me two black eyes. A few months after i got tinnitus, then lost 50% hearing in one ear, followed by my wisdom teeth starting to come through! I think 9 months later the virtigo started and thats when i was diagnosed with Menieres.
My wifes chiropractor looked at me whilst adjusting my wife and asked if i had been in an accident. Amazingly, he said he could see that my jaw was displaced and that my head was twisted. He adjusted my Atlas after claiming it was turned the wrong way and that immediately relieved a pain I had been complaining of in my neck.
As you can tell, so much in your article rings true for me.
Thank you for the article and your research.
Hi Dr. Bauman,
About 5 months ago I started getting severe tinnitus and Eustachian Tube Disorder. This has been very difficult to cope with. It is less severe in the morning but increases in intensity throughout the day. In particular, yawning and nodding my head down (stretching out my C1 & C2)exacerbate my tinnitus. I have mild TMJD which I’m sure doesn’t help either.
Reading through your article about Miniere’s Disease, it caused me to remember having bouts of vertigo as a child where the room wouldn’t stop spinning. Being 40 years old now I haven’t had those issues for about 30 years. Could there be a connection of that length of time?
I have been seeing an upper cervical chiropractor for about 3.5 months now. My C2 was out quite a bit, my C1 a little bit and my C6 out quite a bit. I am having difficulty getting my adjustment to hold. I do think that when my neck is aligned my symptoms are slightly reduced. My hope is that I can get the adjustment to hold and see the symptoms gradually fall off. Do you have any tips on how to help the adjustment hold?
Hi Dave:
It’s certainly possible that your previous bouts of vertigo were also related to your neck being “out”. But I have no way of knowing for certain.
When your neck has been “out” for a long time–maybe 30+ years at this point, getting it to hold can be a slow process as the muscles, tendons, ligaments are all stretched out of shape. So when your chiropractor puts them in place–they quickly fall out into their old familiar places.
Thus, whenever they go “out”, you quickly need another adjustment to put them back in place–even if it is just the next day. The longer they are “out” between treatments, the less likely they are to hold after a treatment.
Also, this is a good question to run by your chiropractor. Ask him what you need to do (or don’t do) to help them hold their proper positions apart from getting treatments whenever they go “out”.
Cordially,
Neil
I’ve had Menieres for over 10 years. It’s gotten really bad in the last 6 months. I was desperate last Friday researching salt therapy as a possibility for Menieres. I saw your comment about trying to fix your Atlas. Then I had my first drop attack on Sunday (very scary!) and I took that as a sign. I found a Blair chiropractor on Monday and go for my pre-testing this Friday. I am so filled with hope finally. Thank you!
Hello-I’ve been dealing with stuffy full ears for 2 years now. Three ENT’s and my allergist say it’s Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. I tried all the over the counter remedies, and also doing allergy shots weekly to naturally help desensitize my body to what I’m allergic to but, nothing seems to work. I got a massage this evening from a very knowledgeable therapist and she pointed out that my cervical spine is curved and I should address that! I’ve never been told this before by other therapist but it makes since because I do have neck issues! Often it’s sore and tight! 12 years ago I was hit from behind in a car crash but I thought the whiplash corrected itself long ago! Perhaps my ETD is caused by my neck problems? It’s gotten me to do a lot of research tonight and I found my way here. I don’t have vertigo or any classic signs of Menieres mostly just stuffy/full, crackling ears, and lightheadedness. Should I see a Upper Cervical Chiropractic that specializes in the Blair technique or would any Upper Cervical Chiropractic be suffice? I’m having trouble finding the best of both worlds in my area. Thank you!
Hi Christy:
If you can’t find a Blair upper cervical chiropractor, then by all means go to any of the other “brands” of upper cervical chiropractors that might be closer to you.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if your Eustachian tube dysfunction and other neck problems were initially caused by the whiplash you experienced years ago.
Cordially,
Neil
Although what you explain is often mistaken as Meniere’s Disease, it is not. It is caused by the top vertebrae being out of alignment. Yes, some chiropractors can fix this.
However, this is not true Meniere’s Disease and if you have hearing loss along with the vertigo, it is NOT your vertebrae out of alignment.
See an ENT, get X-rays from your GP, Perhaps and MRI or CT. If your vertebrae is out of alignment up by your neck, feel free to try this.
If, however, you have the ringing in your ears, fullness and it accompanied by hearing loss, you NEED to see an ENT, Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist or a Neuro-Otologist.
Hi Christi:
I have to disagree with you. This is because Dr. Burcon has helped all those with Meniere’s disease that come to him. If what you say is true, then he could not have helped everyone–just those that did not have true Meniere’s disease. It is out of the realm of possibility that EVERY one of the more than 550 people, diagnosed with Meniere’s disease by ear specialists, actually did not have Meniere’s, and thus he was able to help them.
These people were all diagnosed by ENTs as having Ménière’s disease–because that is one of his requirements before we he will treat them–yet he helped them. That shows that you are not on the right track.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi,
I am 25 and just recently started having tinnitus. I also have headaches, slight dizziness, neck discomfort, popping of my ears, and some brain fog. This started about 3 weeks ago.
I went to an ent here in MN and I didn’t have hearing loss nor fluid in my ears. I do rock climb and I feel like I tweek my neck occasionally.
I also get nausea from playing indoor sports and get weird pressure deviations in my ears when I have a heavy workout.
Would this my symptomatic of neck misalignment?
Thank you so much,
Matt
Hi Matt:
I can’t say for sure, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to go to an upper cervical spine chiropractor and find out.
What happened 3 weeks ago that might have brought this on? That’s always a good place to start. What changed back then?
Cordially,
Neil
How many chiro blair adjustments are usually needed to correct Menieres symptoms? Thanks.
Hi Brett:
There is no set number. A lot depends on how well the adjustments “hold”. If you are adjusted correctly the first time and it holds, theoretically that is all you need–just one adjustment.
However, typically, because the ligaments, muscles and tendons have stretched out of place, when you put the vertebrae back in place, they “slip out” again. Thus you need several treatments to keep putting them into place until they finally stay in the correct place. Thus you many need 10 or more treatments spread over the first few months. Then maybe just one a year to be sure everything stays properly aligned.
Typically, the longer your vertebrae have been out of alignment, the more treatments you’ll need before the treatments “hold”.
Cordially,
Neil
Incidentally, the very first Blair treatment should end your vertigo episodes. You may have minor vertigo episodes in the future, but nothing like you had before your first Blair treatment.
Neil, I found this article last year and I acted on it immediately. So thankful for this information! Cervical spine was all subluxated, legs and hips unequal. I’m bilateral and quite hearing impaired at this point.
Only relief I’ve had in years has been with Blair upper cervical.
Love your article. I would like to know if you could refer me to a chiropractor in Orlando Florida.
Dr. Burcon will be speaking to upper cervical specific doctors on June 22 at Loews Coronado Bay Resort, San Diego, CA. He will be doing a demonstration at the resort on his protocol for Meniere’s patients, their doctors and caregivers at 1 pm to 2:15 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2018. The event is free and open to the public but registration is required to participate in the workshop.
Is there a common theme on what the tinnitus sounds like that comes with Meniere’s? I’ve had high pitch bilateral tinnitus now for 10 months but recently developed a low pitched hum in my left ear that comes and goes. It feels like my ear is vibrating creating the sound/buzz. I also have aural fullness.
Hi Dave:
Here is a quote from my Ménière’s book. “Tinnitus from Ménière’s disease is typically a low-pitched incessant hissing, rushing or roaring noise rather than a high-pitched sound. Your tinnitus may persist, fluctuate or disappear between attacks.”
The aural fullness is also a symptom of Ménière’s.
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you for your thoughtful article. My husband has Meniere’s disease. His problems started less than 24 hours after getting the DPT vaccination. Could you possibly have any insight into why since it didn’t start with a whiplash or something of that sort?
Hi Kayte:
The obvious answer is that he doesn’t have Ménière’s disease. I think the doctor misdiagnosed him. Because, as you say, he has no history of whiplash or other neck or head trauma resulting in the misalignment of the top two vertebrae, which is the typical underlying cause of Ménière’s.
What I think really happened is that he had an ototoxic reaction to the DPT vaccine. The time-frame is right—just 24 hours later. Furthermore vaccines can cause all kinds of ear problems, so if the ototoxic reaction included some or all of the same symptoms as Ménière’s disease—such as hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo and a feeling of fullness in his ears, the doctors just automatically assume that’s he has Ménière’s disease, because they don’t think that vaccines are ototoxic. I think it was very likely as ototoxic reaction to the vaccine. Does this make sense to you?
Cordially,
Neil
First off, I want to thank Dr. Bauman for everything he has done. I’ve read a number of articles from him that have helped me educate myself more about what is happening. I can now be more prepared when I go to see specialists.
Last Thursday or so (05/03/2018), I woke up with very limited hearing in my right ear. My hear felt like it had a lot of pressure in it. The last three days I had used a humidifer in my room for dry lips and thought maybe the pressure was from the humidity (it was really foggy in my room).
I didn’t think much of it as I had no issues with pain/balance or anything. I’m also 29 years old. I went on business as usual. I’m quite active. Went to the Gym, rode my bike the next day, played 3 hours or so of basketball on Saturday with no problems. On Sunday morning, my hearing was basically gone. Fullness was still there. I went to the gym (and eucalyptus steam room) and by the evening hearing was seemingly all gone with Tinnitus setting in.
I immediately went to the primary care dr. on Monday morning, then an ear specialist monday afternoon (05/07/2018). I’m on 60mg/day of prednisone steriods (5’10 220 lbs). They didn’t see anything visibly obstructing my ear with their special little telescope device. However, it did feel kind of tender when they were poking around versus my good ear.
I’ve gone to an ear specialist, and will see a few more (in addition to an MRI) in the next week. They’ve diagnosed me with severe sudden hearing loss. I’m deaf in my right ear. Can’t hear a thing but when I am around loud noises, I feel the pressure increase and can slightly feel bass.
I’ve been reading the other Sudden Hearing Loss articles from Dr. Bauman and stumbled across meniere’s disease. I really only have the two symptoms: pressure in ear and loss of hearing. I’ve felt a little disoriented at times due to my hearing/awareness being disturbed, but nothing to make me vomit or anything.
I do have some pretty significant neck issues that I manage through regular chiropractic (ART Therapy; KC Sports Docs) and physical therapy efforts. My neurologist diagnosed me with a herniated disc in C3 and so I have gone to PT and occasional chriopractor. I do the PT exercises about three times per week to start my gym weight lifting routine. If I do not do PT with my regular workout routine, and then I play basketball my neck will start to seize up and cannot move it. While I have been in excellent shape, if not the best of my life in the last year, I do have some known issues in my upper neck. I haven’t been bothered by my neck at all lately, but articles like this make me wonder if this could cause my freakish hearing loss. I have taken 3 cycles of prednisone since starting on Monday (180mg total). I have not noticed any improvements in my hearing nor reduction in tinnitus since starting the steroids.
I say much of this about my neck/activity levels because some of this never came up at the first specialist, and I feel like he really didn’t provide any insightful feedback (general ENT guy, but also a function of SSHL). He gave me the common steroid and said to check back in a month.
This is one of those things where time is of the essence and so while I am still ~1 week from initial loss, I want to do as much as I can. I’m going to an ear-specific place next week (otologic center of KC).
I keep coming back to the humidifer and the fact that my room was super foggy and hot in my room, I just kept sleeping in it (and I’m a side sleeper! So hot fog settled in my ear). Now I’ve read this article that has to do with upper cervical issues and I certainly have issues there as well…
Any recommendations for me? I did reach out to Dr Ryan Spurgeon who does Atlas Orthogonality to see if he has any experience with my symptoms.
Thanks,
Adam
Hi Adam:
I really don’t think the fog machine has anything to do with your sudden hearing loss and tinnitus. The tinnitus is likely a result of the hearing loss, so that just leaves figuring out the cause of the hearing loss.
When they did the hearing testing, did they also do a typmanogram? If so, what was the result–Type A (normal) or type C (flat)?
It’s entirely possible that your neck–specifically C1 and C2–are out of proper alignment and are putting pressure on the nerves that control hearing, and that control your Eustachian tubes–giving you the feeling of pressure.
Since you have known issues in your neck, I think this is a good place to start–and make sure these two nerves are not pinched in any way. Once you know that, then you can look at other possibilities, but start with the most likely first–and that is your neck. So if you think Dr. Ryan and his atlas orthogonal methods will help you, go for it. You are wise to check whether he has any experience with your problems.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi
I have been diagnosed with Meniere’s , MRI scan showed liquid built up in my ear. I am taking betahistins as recommended by ENT, now I don’t have vertigo but I feel off balance and dizzy whole day, my blood tests including urine test were fine, xray and CT scan of caravical spine and neck is also fine and no nerve is pinched, what should I do next? please help.
Hi Ali:
There are two things that jump out at me. First, typical doctors don’t look at the “minor” subluxations as being problems. So you need to go to an upper cervical spine chiropractor for the precise xrays you need to determine if your C1 and C2 are in proper alignment.
Second, do you really have Meniere’s or something else. For example, a number of drugs are listed as causing Meniere’s, but since drugs do not put your neck out of whack, you know that is not the real problem.
What really happens is that a number of drugs can produce all the side effects you get with Meniere’s so the doctors incorrectly diagnose you with Meniere’s when your real problem in drug ototoxicity.
If I were you and you have an upper cervical spine chiropractor close enough to go to, I’d go to him and make sure your C1 and C2 are properly aligned. If not, he can treat that.
Once you know your neck is properly aligned and if you still have the symptoms, then its time to look further afield. The next thing I’d do is consider all the drugs you are taking and make sure hat they are not producing the side effects you are experiencing.
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you very much for reply to my comment.
I went to my closest chiropractor and he said he can treat by fixing C1 and C2 but he did not do any xray or scan and he just started treatment straight away by pushing my disk in neck. I could not continue with him further but I am trying to get a GP referral and I will go back. they are very famous in treating Migraine but I could not find Meniers related info on their web site. http://brisbanemigraine.com.au/
I have found this chiropractor from upcspine.com web site which is closest to me but his certification status is not up to date, should I visit only that chiropractor who has up to date certification?
Practitioner Type: Upper Cervical Chiropractor ID: 621
Name: Darren Scheuner
Status of UpC technique Certification: Up to Date 22 Feb 2003
Please check with technique owner for current status
Practice: Atlas Chiropractic
Address: Suite 1/15 Lake Street
Varsity Lakes
QLD, AUSTRALIA 4227
Tel: 07 5658 1585 Fax: 07 5575 7571
Mob: Other Tel: 07 5658 1587
Website: http://www.atlaschiro.com.au
Email: darren&atlaschiro.com.au
Upper cervical approach/technique used: Atlas Orthogonality
Instruments: Toftness Instrument & Atlas Orthogonal Table
Takes precision upper cervical x-rays: Pre Upper Cervical Only
Has Xray on site.
Hi Ali:
I’d go to an upper cervical chiropractor in any case. Who says his credentials are really not up to date? The website could be out of date, not his skills. You can always phone him up and find out–and at the same time tell him your problems and see if he thinks he can help you. Then make up your mind.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi,
I recently diagnosed with Meniere’s disease. However, I never experienced a vertigo. I just have hearing loss, the tinninus sound in my ear, feel so much pressure on my head, my neck, have migraine. feel dizzy, sort out of balance when walking..Is it really Meniere disease since vertigo is the major systom which I don’t have ,maybe not yet? I did felt flat on my back, I hit my back head on wall many times when lie down on bed to sleep by accident, and also I did felt down and broke my arm at young age. I recently went to regular chiropractic due to pitch nerve not going away, he took x-ray and said my bone tiled to left and i hv hearing loss on my ear. However, after 1 week treatment, I just feel worse, more dizzy than help. Now , Im thinking to try what you mentioned above. please advise. Thank you so much for the article
Hi Mary:
Remember that Meniere’s disease isn’t a disease as such–it’s just a collection of symptoms. Furthermore, there are different versions of Meniere’s depending which symptoms you have. So not having vertigo as the main symptom doesn’t mean your don’t have Meniere’s. From what you have described, I think you do have Meniere’s.
I’d go to an upper cervical chiropractor–not a conventional one because the movements to get your neck precisely aligned require precise movements–not the normal bone-cracking than conventional chiropractors do. That doesn’t fix the subluxation than results in Meniere’s.
Cordially,
Neil
Thanks. So I got my MRI on cervical spine, therr is nothing wrong with C1 and 2. What they found is C4 and C5 disc bulge. ..Maybe that is the reason why i dont hv vertical issue and the fact C1 and C2 is normal make me wonder if i really hv meniere disease. any thoughts dr? thanks
Hi Mary:
Did you go to an upper cervical spine chiropractor for your MRI? I’ve never heard of an upper cervical spine chiropractor using MRIs. They take their own precision xrays so they can see exactly what they need to see. I think your MRI was a waste of time as far as determining whether your C1 and C2 are out or not and which way and how much.
Conventional radiologists are not trained to look for the slight differences that can cause Meniere’s.
Cordially,
Neil
Im still waitingto see upper cervical. the cervical spine MRI was ordered by neurologist when I complained the weakness of my neck, imblance dizziness issue. Then they found C4 and C5 disc bulge around 4mm. Going to see upper cervical this wkn. I feel so hopeless as im sufferring but not much can help from any doctors but thank you for your respond.
Hi Dr Neil,
I want to say thank you for ur article. Without this article, I would not know what to do with my meniere disease. Yes u r correct MRI did not detect my C1 being misaligned. The Xray from my upper cervical doctor indicate i have whipash head. After only 1 adjusment , my dizziness disappear , my burry vision has improved, i can see and i can hear better even though i still hv ringing issue but less pressure. I still can not believe this “majic” adjustment . I just feel so good, less head pressure, no dizziness, no blurry vision, no sleepy…Thank you so much.
I feel like this entire article was written about me! I was diagnosed with Menier’s Disease a few months ago. I’ve had several attacks since 2012 spread out every 3 years, until recently, I’ve had 3 attacks in 3 months. Two years ago, I got diagnosed with Cervical Reverse Lordosis, heart palpitations, and anxiety (thanks to an “overactive Vagus Nerve”). Several years before that, I was told by a Physical Therapist that one shoulder is higher than the other and I have one leg shorter than the other. Am I starting to sound like the article? I started looking up Upper Cervical when my ENT told me that I may require surgery since the medical and dietary interventions aren’t working well. So now I’m really intrigued about Upper Cervical and honestly want to try it before I resort to surgery that I may not even need.
Hi Brittany:
You have a number of spinal issues. If I were in your shoes, I’d get myself checked out by an upper cervical chiropractor as the first step in recovering my health. I hope you do the same.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil!
Since the last time I posted this, I’ve been seeing an Upper Cervical Chiropractor and turns out my axis is pushed forward by ~3 mm. My atlas is normal. But, based on your article, it sounds spot on with my symptoms for having very little vertigo (though when I do, it’s BAD). I’ve had 2 adjustments already and am very hopeful for this to be the solution! 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful article! It brings me hope!
Brittany
Hi I am very happy to read this as I have been having dizzy spells for about a month. Blood tests are fine. Am going to see an ENT soon to diagnose the issue. My dizzy spells are not so serious that I fall or spinning sensation but I usually feel off balance, like on a boat. I have cervical spondylosis diagnosed about 5 to 6 years ago and also lost the natural curvature on my neck. Have been having some jaw misalignment issues for the past 6 months. Ringing in the ears for a few months on and off. So would like to know if there is any cervical chiropractor here in Singapore who can help get me back my life please…thank you so much!
Hi Angeline:
Sorry, I don’t see any upper cervical chiropractors listed for Singapore. The next best thing is to phone chiropractors and ask if they specialize in upper cervical problems. You may find one that isn’t listed but practices some upper cervical techniques.
Cordially,
Neil
I have 2 questions that I would greatly appreciate a prompt answer on if possible.
I feel like I am the poster child for what you describe.
I had major impact injury in an accident in 1993. My Tinnitus started then to the present.
In 2013 I had another accident which caused the hyperacusis to become more noticable, and low decibel hearing loss which returned.Ironically due to a door slamming from high winds. I think in hindsight it caused me to “self” correct as I reacted to the concussive sound.
I now have a full ear starting on Oct 2, 2018 and had a Drs and Prednisone for the last 3 weeks. My hearing test has shown loss of High decibel hearing in right ear. The tinnitus and hyperacusis are in overdrive, causing headaches, pain,and intermittent facial numbness on the right side. Thus Menieres
October 18, I visited Reno, during this time and awoke with neck really skewed to the left. I went to a very responsible chiropractor who saw what a wreck I was and gently adjusted me (under the cranium) it felt like no cracking, and in doing so he caused most of the symptoms to go away. Sadly it only lasted 6 hours.
He advised me to get to an upper cervical chiropractor when I got home
Here is the question-
I am seeing a NUCCA person for a week( I did not realize the difference, and can not figure out really what the difference is between Blair and NUCCA) , and I can tell my spine is realigning greatly, but the hearing loss, hyperacusis, and tinnitus are still on overdrive.
Is it counterproductive/indicated of me to go to both the upper cervical and a regular chiropractor at the same time?
The Reno chiropractor has chiropractic friends he knows in the SF Bay area and would tell them exactly what he did, and or I would drive up to him, as whatever he did was “magic” for me.
Am I being stupid , aggressive or crazy? If not in what order would you suggest, in matter of 24 hours chiro or UC?
Thank you for the article as I thought I was alone in this idea.
Awaiting your reply.
Hi Heather:
I don’t see any reason to go to both a regular (conventional) chiropractor and an upper cervical chiropractor at the same time because all upper cervical chiropractors are already conventional chiropractors. So they can adjust your whole spine. It’s just that they have had specialized training in precisely aligning the upper cervical spine.
The difference between a Blair and NUCCA upper cervical chiropractors is that the Blair method only uses the hands (no instruments) whereas the NUCCA uses a large accelerator (sort of like a trip-hammer) to push the vertebrae back into place.
In my opinion the Blair method is much gentler. I have found the NUCCA method to be very loud as the trip-hammer hits right on a vertebrae close to your ears and the sudden “bam” is transmitted to your inner ears via bone conduction. I started to wonder if it was damaging my ears it seemed so loud via the bone conduction.
You need to go back again and again as necessary until the adjustment “holds”. Once it holds its position, you’ll start feeling really good.
Cordially,
Neil
My adjustments are beginning to hold – which I’m very happy about – after several weeks of adjustments.
However, I am not “feeling really good”.
In fact, I’m feeling really bad right now.
I strongly believe that I have Meniere’s and am wondering if my worsening symptoms might be due to a retracing effect.
Does Meniere’s even retrace like so many other conditions do?
If it does, can anyone give an idea as to how it ‘usually’ unfolds?
I see where some are saying that it vanquished their vertigo quite quickly.
But what about head pressure, ear fullness, nausea, dizziness, tinnitus, and so on.
Are they part of the retrace experience?
That is to say, do they kick up dust along the path to recovery after holding?
… Thank you for your time, and all that you are doing to help others.
Hi Jeannine:
It’s very possible that you are experiencing retracing of your Ménière’s progression. Typically, retracing follows the reverse order of your symptoms appearing.
It is true that many people get rid of their vertical with the very first treatment, assuming it holds. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have “off” days where you feel some degree of imbalance or dizziness.
Tinnitus may or may not be part of retracing. Tinnitus may be a result of your hearing loss from your Ménière’s. Thus, as long as you have hearing loss, you may have tinnitus. Also, upper cervical spine treatments do not necessarily bring back lost hearing. Sometimes that happens, but consider it a welcome bonus, not a guaranteed thing.
I would expect your head pressure, ear fullness, nausea, and dizziness to fade away with time as long as your neck stays properly aligned.
Cordially,
Neil
Would you be able to recommend a specialized chiropractor for atlas and/or axis adjustment for my Ménière’s disease in San Diego, CA?
Since I don’t have vertigo now for many years, are these treatments known to reverse tinnitus, profound hearing loss in both ears Nd Spence of balance?
Thanks
Juhi
Hi Juhi:
The upper cervical chiropractic treatments work mostly to relieve vertigo, but they can help with tinnitus to some degree and sometimes with hearing loss, but I wouldn’t expect much if any improvement if you now have profound hearing loss. They may help with your sense of balance.
It wouldn’t hurt to go and see whether your C1 and C2 are out of proper alignment. If they are, it could help your ear and any other body conditions caused by their being “off”.
If you click on the following link, you’ll find all the upper cervical chiropractors in California. You’ll find about 6 that are in San Diego.
http://www.upcspine.com/prac3.asp?rid=4&r=North%20America&sid=9&s=California&cid=5&c=UNITED%20STATES%20OF%20AMERICA
Near the bottom of each listing is the kind of upper cervical techniques they use. For example
Upper cervical approach/technique used: NUCCA
4 of the 6 use NUCCA techniques, one uses Blair (which I’d recommend–all things being equal) and one uses orthospinology. They all can help you if your neck is out.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Doc
I am currently experiencing symptoms of dizziness when ever I bow or tilt my head leftwards. With that I also have GERD. The two appeared together last week.
The very first episode was 7 years ago and non stop vomiting I ended up in A&E. Sleeping upright for a couple of weeks and fasting or eating very little also helped.
Since then I have had many mild episodes but they have almost always been cured by having water relief tablets (herbal direutics). This time my GERD seems to to be much worse and I am thinking whether the contents of the Oesophagus have leaked out on to my hearing nerves hence the two are always linked. During these episodes I also get rocking feeling every time I swallow food.
Interesting in your thoughts?
Hi Mark:
I don’t know whether your balance issues are related to your GERD or not. Have you been checked out for BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) by an ENT? That is one thing you might want to check out o make sure the otoconia in your inner ear are in the right place. That may be your problem and if so, it is not related to your GERD as near as I can tell.
Second, are you taking any medications for your GERD besides natural ones? If so, they all can cause balance problems.
The rocking feeling you experience is a type of vertigo. We usually think of vertigo as a spinning sensation, but it can also be a rocking sensation.
I don’t see any way that the contents of your esophagus can “leak” into your inner ear where your hearing and balance nerves end. But it could be that your C1 and C2 vertebrae are out of proper alignment and this your vestibulo-cochlear nerve isn’t functioning properly and thus you get the balance problems. To correct that you need to go to an upper cervical chiropractor. And other vertebrae may be “out” causing your GERD to flare up–so probably this is the one thing you should start with. I think there is one upper cervical chiropractor in London.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Everyone:
If you want to learn more about Meniere’s Disease and how to successfully treat it, come to the 20th National Meniere’s Disease and Trigeminal Neuralgia Symposium being held in Grand Rapids, MI on May 1st and 2nd, 2020.
Come and meet Dr. Burcon, the world’s leading expert on treating Meniere’s Disease, and meet me too. I’ll be the featured speaker–kicking off the first session on May 1st.
For information on this symposium or to register for it, go to
https://www.burconchiropractic.com/page/2879
If you have Meniere’s, you’ll be glad you came.
See you there.
Cordially,
Neil
Amazing information, thank you Neil! I am 55 and have been suffering with hearing loss and tinnitus since I turned 50, and Menaires/dizziness/spinning, etc. for the last year or so. Prior to hearing loss and tinnitus I used to fall asleep with an ear bud in quite often. I also played a lot of contact sports growing up and was knocked unconscious in an assault in my mid-twenties. I’m not clear if any of that history is the cause of my symptoms or not and I would be interested to know your opinion on the ear buds thing as I’ve seen others in your chat history that mention that. One thing is clear, the ENT’s push the surgical and Gentimicin options hard but never once have mentioned the possibility of what your paper lays out. I would prefer to try and manage things conservatively and so this is an avenue I intend to explore. Again, many thanks for your paper and any other feedback you may be able to offer.
Hi David:
Falling asleep with earbuds in your ears and the volume reasonably high is one way to cause hearing loss and tinnitus. This would have nothing to do with Meniere’s of course. But you’d have two of the 4 Meniere’s symptoms.
I sure wouldn’t be surprised if your contact sports and being knocked out is the root of your Meniere’s.
ENTs don’t know about the C1/C2 chiropractic option and are either willing ignorant, or just plain ignorant of it because it isn’t something they can make money from. Most doctors and chiropractors are not “friends”.
I’d go to one of the upper cervical spine chiropractors and get an evaluation of whether your C1 and C2 are out of proper alignment. When I went to one with symptoms of periodic vertigo, he found I was out 3 degrees one way and 3 degrees another way (6 degrees total). After two treatments, I was out less than 1 degree combined. And the good news is that for the last 4 or more years since then, I haven’t had any episodes of vertigo. So it is really worth while to be checked out.
Cordially,
Neil
This is super interesting and gives me a little hope that my LF hearing issues on the left side may in fact be something more fixable. It did seem to start 18 months ago with an ear infection and waking up with a blocked left ear. After antibiotics the hearing was still affected but it wasn’t until just before Christmas last year that I had a sudden degradation in hearing with some of the most extreme tinnitus I have experienced (left side again). Should note that there is no balance or dizziness issues. The ENT immediately prescribed oral prednisone and that brought hearing back (almost normal and better than in the prior year) after around 3 days at 70mg but it relapsed after I started to taper off the dose. A second course did not have the same effect and so I was then sent down the trans tympanic injection route. None of the three doses had any positive effect on hearing so now they are talking menieres and hearing aids. Also had a clean MRI as a precaution.
Being somewhat frustrated I took some left over Prednisone for a few days at a lower dose as an experiment and again saw some temporary improvement in hearing. This suggests to me that the issue perhaps isn’t inner ear based at all if high dose steroids direct have no effect yet the prednisone does. Inflammation somewhere is evidently being reduced… I’ve tried suggesting to the ENT that there might be more to look at but it’s met with almost complete disinterest.
Working with a chiropractor and naturopath and also someone to check on my TMJ (hedging bets!) but I wonder about finding a particular specialist for the upper cervical spine.
Hi Tristan:
Steroids work sometimes, but not all the time in bringing back sudden hearing loss.
When steroids bring hearing back and when you go off them it starts deteriorating again, that makes me wonder if you have an autoimmune system disorder. Have you been checked out for any such disorder and specifically Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED)? Just a thought.
Since Meniere’s includes balance issues and you don’t have them, you may have “half-Meniere’s” called cochlear hydrops–which includes the tinnitus and low-frequency hearing loss. If that is so, then the treatment is the same as for full Meniere’s–upper cervical spine alignment.
To find an upper cervical spine chiropractor, go to http://www.upcspine.com/ and click on “Practitioners” to find such a chiropractor–hopefully near you. They can tell if your C1 and C2 vertebrae are out of proper alignment.
I don’t understand your reasoning about high-dose steroids and Prednisone. Prednisone IS a steroid. Normally the steroid of choice is Prednisone (but sometimes Prednisolone) given in a tapering dose.
Cordially,
Neil
Many thanks for the reply Neil, appreciate the advice.
They did take bloods to do an autoimmune check come to think of it but the results haven’t come back and it’s been over a month. They were quite dismissive about about it but I’ll follow up on this.
On the steroids my understanding was that the in-ear injections were considerably more potent / targeted than the oral prednisone hence my assumption was that this would be more likely to have a notable effect (rather than none at all). Taking three days doses at 40mg prednisone since the injections and that _did_ seem to have an effect made me think it might be having an effect elsewhere than the inner ear. Anecdotal evidence is not very scientific though so I may see if they’ll entertain my doing another weeks course.
Help!
38 year old son with Menieres and vestibular migraines.
Having dizzy spells every other day.
He lives near San Francisco-please suggest an upper cervical chiropractor.
Hi Joy:
I don’t know any specific upper cervical chiropractors in San Francisco. I have to find them the same way you can.
You can find a chiropractor specializing in UCS by going to http://www.upcspine.com/ and clicking on the “Practitioners” tab. Then choose California and scan down the resulting listings for one located close to you.
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you so much for your excellent and complete article. I have been with Ortogonal Chiro for months and helped me a lot with my dizziness. I am loosing my hearing very fast according to my ENTs. I am 46 healthy woman. Still with hearing aids. I would like to avoid the Cochlear implant (s). How could I decide between Nucca and Blair? I just started with Nucca, but the Chiro hasn’t 15-20yrs of experience. The closer one is 3hrs away one-way. Last adjustment (the 4th one) I felt few needles for few seconds in my almost deaf ear, so sounds good (?). Could you please tell me your opinion and suggestions? And difference btwn Blair and Nucca. Thank you again!
Hi Maritza:
The key is not the method they use, but the amount of experience they have had in treating people with Meniere’s disease. Find one that has had good success in treating numbers of people with Meniere’s is you can.
Both NUCCA and Blair chiropractors are good techniques. I found that the NUCCA method was “rougher” and noisier than the Blair method. The difference is that the NUCCA accelerator “banging” on a vertebra is rougher on your body as compared to the Blair hands-on method which in comparison is very gentle. In addition, the “banging” of the accelerator on your vertebra is bone-conducted to your inner ears and sounds loud to me and I have a severe hearing loss, so I imagine it would sound a lot louder to a person with normal hearing, and excessively loud if you had loudness hyperacusis.
Both do the job–but given the choice, I’d opt for Blair over NUCCA for the above two reasons. Because the closest Blair guy was 250 miles away, I chose to go to a much closer NUCCA guy. Just two treatments and I’ve never had a vertigo episode again and it is now 5 years later.
So you may choose to do the same as I did and opt for a closer chiropractor. However, if your current chiropractor is an Atlas Orthogonal guy, he should be good too.
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you Dr Neil! I currently with Nucca (4 sessions so far), and I don’t hear anything loud. I will try to find a Blair chiro closer. In 2017 I was with an Atlas Orthogonal Chiro, for 6 months, and helped me a lot with my dizziness, but not with my hearing loss. I am almost qualified for a Cochlear implant, but I am trying to avoid it… will see… thank you again!
Hi Maritza:
It’s not that the sound the NUCCAs use is loud–just that because the “shock” of the accelerator is right on a vertebra, bone conduction sends the “shock” right to you inner ear where you perceive it as being very loud–at least it was in my case.
Upper cervical chiropractors have the most success with vertigo and balance issues, and lesser success with hearing loss. So you might not have much change in your hearing, but at least, by stopping the Meniere’s episodes, your hearing won’t deteriorate further from this cause.
Cordially,
Neil
hi. Just wondered if there is any update on how this works today (2022). Any blair people in the UK
I wondered if Neil had any thoughts on this link – which someone posted in the above comments:
https://marieatlas.co.uk/method-2/
Hi Fireblade:
This method works just as well now as it always did. Lot’s of people have found relief of the Meniere’s using this technique.
There are a couple of Blair chiropractors in London, but as far as I know, nowhere else in the UK.
Using the MarieAtlas method sounds like a good thing. Anything that properly aligns the Atlas (C1) is all to the good.
However, for Meniere’s disease, you have to also make sure the Axis (C2) is properly aligned.
Just massaging the muscles helps, but depending on how the Atlas and Axis are “off”, massage alone will not move them into proper alignment. This can require the services of an upper cervical chiropractor. Once things are properly aligned, massaging the muscles so they hold their proper places is a good idea. I see these two methods as complementary, not as rivals. Chiropractic may be needed first, then the massage method can help keep things properly aligned.
This is because when your Atlas/Axis have been out of proper alignment for a number of years, when the upper cervical chiropractor puts them in their places, then can easily slip out again until the ligaments tighten up and the muscles relax. If the muscles stay tight, they will tend to pull the vertebrae out of proper alignment again. Thus anything that relaxes the muscles is a good thing.
Thanks for sharing this technique. I hadn’t run across it before.
Cordially,
Neil
This makes total sense to me, Is there a practitioner in the Algarve ?
Hi Deborah:
I’m not aware of any upper cervical practitioners in Portugal anywhere. The closest to you would be Spain. There are three there. Go to http://www.upcspine.com/ and click on Practitioners, then choose Europe and you’ll see the listings for Spain.
Cordially,
Neil
I have googled upper cervical chiropractor in my area and it just shows me the listing of general chiropractors. Is there a different way to find one?
Thank you,
Jess
Hi Jess:
The easiest way to find upper cervical chiropractors is to go to http://www.upcspine.com/ and click on the “Practitioners” button along the top then choose your location. Sometimes there aren’t any nearby and you might have to travel a bit to find one.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr.Bauman,
I’ve been experiencing a droning kind of low-pitched tinnitus for nearly a year now. My low-pitched tinnitus seems to fluctuate quite a bit, at times I can ignore it. What worries me a bit is that I started experiencing a head and ear fullness in January. I can still hear things, but my ears and head feel clogged and stuffed, even when I pop my ears. I’ve gotten my hearing checked, and my hearing is normal. Furthermore, I also have never experienced periods of vertigo before. In your experience, do you think this is a case of Meniere’s?
Thank you,
Diane
Hi Diane:
If you don’t have periodic episodes of vertigo, it is unlikely that you have Meniere’s disease. It is possible that you have “half” Meniere’s–that is, cochlear hydrops. But you don’t have the hearing loss to go with it so that seems unlikely too.
If you are worried that your symptoms may indicate a developing Meniere’s problem, then I’d go to an upper cervical chiropractor and find out if your C1 and C2 are out of proper alignment. If they are aligned properly, then you don’t have Meniere’s. If they are out to some degree, I’d get them aligned properly and see whether you symptoms go away.
When I started having periodic episodes of mild vertigo (but not any of the other symptoms of Meniere’s) I went to an upper cervical chiropractor and found I was 6 degrees out–3 degrees out in one direction and 3 degrees in another direction. After two treatments that got me within 1 degree of proper alignment, I didn’t feel any different, but guess what? In the past 6 years since then, I’ve never had another episode of vertigo.
So being checked out by an upper cervical chiropractor can solve problems you don’t even know you have.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr.Bauman,
Thank you for your response! I will definitely get it checked out with a chiropractor. I really seem to have a very strange case of tinnitus. I moved houses, I didn’t hear it all a few days ago, and it came back all of a sudden two days ago. The ear muffling is also rather recent. I was also on Zoloft and abilify a few months before the tinnitus started. However, I don’t think there’s a link because the tinnitus didn’t start until 4 months after I stopped taking the medication. I’ve only heard of medication causing high-pitched tinnitus, can it possibly cause low-pitched tinnitus as well? Additionally, in your experience does low droning tinnitus go away on its own? I’m hoping to get to the bottom of this
Thank you very much for your time ,
Diane
Hi Diane:
Tinnitus can begin several months after stopping a drug. I’m not saying yours is from that cause, but it is one possibility.
Also, some drugs give lower-frequency tinnitus, some middle frequency tinnitus and a lot of course, result in high-frequency tinnitus.
If your tinnitus is associated with moving to a new house, it could be due to molds in the house, or too much electromagnetic smog in/near your new place among other things. This could be true if your tinnitus gets worse in certain places and better in other places.
As far as I’m concerned, the frequency of tinnitus has nothing to do with how long it persists. It has more to do with removing the cause of the tinnitus in some cases and in whether you build a continuous tinnitus loop system in your brain or not due to how you think about your tinnitus.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr. Baumann, thank you so much writing this article. I feel like there is some hope to my life now.
I have been diagnosed with Meniere’s for almost 2 years now and I was wondering if Atlas Orthogonal technique would work for Meniere’s as well as the Blair technique?
There’s a upper cervical chiropractor that offers atlas Orthogonal in Toronto with many years of experience. Was wondering if I should try that or just look for a Blair technique chiro?
Thank you so so much
Hi Edmond:
Yes, there is hope for you if you have Meniere’s disease. As far as I know, all the different kinds up upper cervical chiropractic techniques do the same thing–properly line up your upper cervical vertebrae so it theoretically shouldn’t matter whether you use Atlas Orthogonal or Blair or NUCCA or knee chest, or any of the other techniques. I think what makes the difference is the skill and experience of the individual chiropractor doing the adjustments.
What I’d do is ask the chiropractor you are interested in what his experience and success rate is for people with Meniere’s. If he has a good track record, go for it no matter what technique he uses. If he doesn’t have a proven track record for helping those with Meniere’s, you might want to go somewhere else.
Since your guy in Toronto has “many years” of experience, he probably has a track record for those with Meniere’s as well.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr. Bauman, just wanted to thank you so so much for taking the time to answer everyone’s questions after all these years. It’s Doctors like yourself that truly make a difference in bettering people’s lives.
I will definitely ask the right questions when booking an appointment. This doctor is the only doctor to offer Atlas Orthogonal technique in Ontario, so I’m really hoping there’s some kind of hope. I will update everyone as soon as i am able to get a first adjustment.
Thank you sincerely.
Take care
Hi Edmond:
Thanks for the kind words.
I see that, but there is one Blair, one Kale brainstem, 4 knee chest and 8 NUCCA upper cervical chiropractors listed for Ontario at https://www.upcspine.com/prac3.asp?rid=4&r=North%20America&sid=4&s=Ontario&cid=2&c=CANADA so you do have other choices, but using different methods if you want to check some of them out for their expertise in helping those with Meniere’s.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Everyone:
From time to time I receive testimonials attesting t o the fact the when your C1 and C2 vertebrae are out of proper alignment, you can get Meniere’s disease, or, depending on which nerve fibers are “pinched”, “half Meniere’s disease”, what doctors call cochlear hydrops or vestibular hydrops. These two conditions have some, but not all, the 4 symptoms of full-blown Meniere’s, but the root cause is the same, your C1 and C2 vertebrae are out of proper alignment and thus are “pinching” some of the fibers of the vestibulo-cochlear nerve.
If the cochlear nerve fibers are pinched you basically have hearing loss and tinnitus. If the vestibular (balance) nerve fibers are pinched you have vertigo and other balance problems. If both are pinched, you get full-blown Meniere’s disease.
In the testimonial below, this person’s cochlear nerve fibers were pinched giving him tinnitus and hearing loss that was corrected by going to an upper cervical chiropractor to properly align C1 and C2.
Note that the feeling of fullness is due to C5 being “out” thus pinching some of the trigeminal nerve fibers. The trigeminal nerve controls your Eustachian tubes and when they are not working properly you get this feeling of fullness.
Now, here’s the testimonial. If you have the same nerve fibers pinched you could have the same results as this many.
______________
After 8 doctors: 2 PCP’s, 1 ENT and 1 neuro ENT, then onto 3 Chiropractors. All promising to help me rid my tinnitus, hearing loss and annoying ear fullness in my right ear. Well, they all did not help me one bit. I was on my own!!!!
I remembered who I thought had the best but not the right diagnosis and that was my neuro-ENT. He told me I had Ménière’s. I told him that I never experienced vertigo so I couldn’t have Ménière’s, it had to be something different.
So I went researching to help myself.
I found all about a relatively new type of Chiropractor and they are call Upper Cervical Chiropractors. They primarily deal with C1-C2 vertebrae misalignments which cause tinnitus, ear fullness, hearing loss and Ménière’s. I found the closest Upper Cervical Chiropractor Doctor 103.7 miles away from my front door.
When I called to make the appointment the receptionist said the Dr will speak to you. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, finally a Dr who wanted to help me! He took a thermal image of my neck, a 3D image of my neck, and a posture photo. The results showed my C1-C2 were off a few degrees causing irritation to the nerve roots coming from the base of my skull. After several visits, I no longer have loud buzzing noises, no ear fullness and most of my hearing is coming back.
Please, please do yourself a favor find an upper cervical chiropractor. These Dr’s are like engineers. they measure exactly how far out you are on alignment and use a mechanical table that does the adjustment, not a person trying to rip your head off your shoulders. It’s so painless, you don’t realize the effects until about 2 hours after the alignment. I have my life back thanks to Dr Ian Bulow in Cranberry TWP, PA.
______________
You can find these upper cervical chiropractors by clicking the “Practitioner’s” tab at https://www.upcspine.com/
Cordially,
Neil
Dear Dr.Neil
I read your article about MD and AIED.
I have fluctuations in hearing. MRI show endolympathatic hydrop.
So we agreed to have endulympathatic sac surgery ,my hearing in become 25% better within 2 months after surgery.
Then after 3 months my hearing dropped again to 50%.
This is all in left ear ,since my right ear is gone 15 years ago ,now iam fighting to survive my left ear .
My question is ,do I have AIED ,thats why my hearing is dropped again .
Hi Wael:
Personally, I think your problem is related to Meniere’s disease as an enlarged endolymphatic sac is a symptom of Meniere’s, not AIED. Besides, if you have AIED, I’d expect you to have some other autoimmune disease too–do you?
I assume you had endolymphatic shunt surgery, correct? It worked for a while, but now has quit working. This is fairly common as these shunts eventually clog up and quit working. Thus, I think your underlying problem is again and enlarged endolymphatic sac.
You obviously don’t have full-blown Meniere’s but likely a subset of it such as cochlear hydrops or endolymphatic hydrops.
In my opinion, the way to address this is not to have surgery, but to see an upper cervical spine chiropractor and have your C1 and C2 vertebrae properly aligned to take pressure off the vestibulocochlear nerve. Then things will work properly again and you won’t have problems with your endolymphatic sac.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi, after reading all of this I am pretty certain that my episodes are mainly triggered by my sore neck. Lately I have been dealing with neck stiffness and pains that are more than the usual. This has definitely escalated the tinnitus and vertigo. I have noticed whenever I physically exert myself I pay the price the next few days. Never has my otolaryngologist said that my neck could e contributing to my problems. I am very interested in having this checked out. Being in the middle of Montana makes it very difficult to find help. If you have anywhere in Montana please point me in the right direction. I currently drive 9 hous to Spokane for my Meneirs Dr. I would love to find closer help, but am willing to do anything not to feel like this day after day.
Hi Tim:
I sure wouldn’t be surprised that your neck being out is the culprit. An upper cervical chiropractor should be able to get rid of the vertigo, tinnitus is harder. If turning your neck all the way left or right makes your tinnitus momentarily louder, you have somatosensory tinnitus.
The good news is there are 7 upper cervical chiropractors listed in Montana–in Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell and Whitefish so hopefully one is reasonably close to you.
Here is the link to these 7 upper cervical chiropractors.
https://www.upcspine.com/prac3.asp?rid=4&r=North%20America&sid=29&s=Montana&cid=5&c=UNITED%20STATES%20OF%20AMERICA
Four are Blair chiropractors and 3 are NUCCA. I’m partial to the Blair guys, but I’ve been to a NUCCA guy and he fixed my vertigo episodes with just two treatments and it has never come back in the past 8 years or so.
Hopefully, you’ll have good results too.
Cordially,
Neil
I just found this article again in my “Bookmarks”. I had it there since 2016. I would just like to comment that I suffered with Meniere’s and/or debilitating vertigo for several years prior to 2016. I went through all sorts of tests and they were even talking deadening my eardrum in an effort to make it stop. Finally I came about this article while trying to desperately find some sort of answer as to what was going on.
As I read through the article, I kept nodding my head up and down (trying to avoid a vertigo attack), and realized that I was in a rollover accident in 2007 and that was probably the root of my problem, and an upper cervcial issue may be to blame.
I immediately sought an Upper Cervical Blair specialized Chiropractor, which at the time was a 2 hour drive. However, those visits ended up being worth it as it was found that I did have some vertebrae out of alignment in the upper cervical. After a few weeks of treatment, the spinning stopped.
The last time I had any sort of dizziness, vertigo, or any Meniere’s related issues was back in 2016. It is now 2024 when I’m writing this comment, and this article literally saved me from getting adverse procedures done that would not have helped.
To avoid a 2 hour drive, I found a local Chiropractor who is not Blair specialized, but he knows of the technique and has done well to keep me steady for at least the past 6-1/2 years.
So just a belated “thank you” Dr. Bauman for writing this article, it was sheer coincidence that it ended up showing up in my search results that day, but it forever changed my health for the better.
Mark
Hi Mark:
Thanks for your story of how upper cervical chiropractic got rid of your Meniere’s disease. This gives hope to the people who read my article and then don’t do anything about it because they or their doctors don’t think it will work. Yet it does work as you have so eloquently testified.
I don’t believe in “sheer coincidence”. I believe that God directed you to my article, so give Him the glory. Numbers of other people have told me that my articles have been God’s answer to their (often upspoken) prayers when nothing else has worked.
Cordially,
Neil