by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady asked:
I was just diagnosed with bi-lateral LVAS [large vestibular aqueduct syndrome] AND Meniere’s disease, moderate- profound loss. Does the fact that I have both, increase my chances for further hearing loss? Can I expect my hearing to deteriorate further? I know no one can say for certain, I’d just like to know some odds or statistics.
As far as I know, these two conditions do not affect each other. Therefore, look at each of these conditions independently. People who have a hearing loss from LVAS typically have some kind of trauma that results in more hearing loss each time it occurs. Some people with LVAS never seem to have any hearing loss, or are only susceptible to pretty major trauma, so they lose some hearing at one point and then it stays at that level for a long time.
With Meniere’s disease, typically you lose more hearing with every attack you have. Then, after the attack, your hearing returns somewhat, but not to its previous level. So think of your hearing loss typically as going down two steps, then back up one step—then down two steps and back up one with each succeeding attack.
This isn’t written in stone, but the people that I know with Meniere’s typically have this kind of loss, and eventually they lose most of their hearing in the affected ear.
The good news is that Meniere’s typically affects only one ear—but about 20% of the people with Meniere’s have it in both ears or it switches to the other ear later.
You can learn more about LVAS here.
Learn more about Meniere’s Disease and what you can do to help yourself.
