Meniere's Strategy Update

I've written about my ear disease in the past which has caused some dizziness and near vertigo. It really stepped up a notch in badness earlier this Summer/late Spring causing almost a complete lack of hearing in the ear. So I began researching options and someone posted on my blog about the Shea Ear Clinic in Memphis.

So I wrote the clinic and found out about the procedure they perform, intratympanic gentamycin injections, essentially shooting steroids and such through the eardrum into the inner ear. It can cause some hearing loss, even total hearing loss, but I'm basically there already so it's hardly a concern for me.

But Memphis is a long way to go for the procedure which takes place on an outpatient basis over three days. It also means that I'd need to have someone go with me as short term dizziness and other complications are possible. Finding a local alternative would be preferred of course and so I started looking by checking with my orthopaedic sports doc for a reference. The doctor they recommended, who by all accounts is a great doctor, isn't a big fan of the procedure but has performed it six times. That doesn't seem like a lot of experience to me, but I think he would be a good option for an initial opinion and might have some alternative solutions so I think I'm going to see him first.

It seems smart for me to talk to a couple of doctors and clinics to see what people recommend. You never know!!