Ménière's disease

For a lay person:

Ménière's disease is an inner-ear condition that causes attacks of spinning vertigo with ringing, fullness and fluctuating hearing loss in one ear.

For a trained medical person:

Endolymphatic hydrops with episodic vertigo, fluctuating low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and aural fullness. Management includes salt restriction, betahistine, diuretics, intratympanic therapy and vestibular rehabilitation.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Liver Yang Rising; Qi and Blood Deficiency; Kidney Essence Deficiency; Phlegm-Damp Obstruction (uterus / middle). Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: Get urgent care for sudden hearing loss, or vertigo with headache, weakness or difficulty speaking.