Labyrinthitis and Meniere's disease

I have heard the name labyrinthitis in many articles about balance disorders, so I decided to do a little research. It seems that it is a balance disorder that occurs from a virus with hearing loss and tinnitus. The brain receives signals from both ears to determine your balance, but when you have labyrinthitis, the signal in one ear drops off and that gives the brain an incorrect reading.

Well there seems to be similarities between meniere’s disease and labyrinthitis, such as hearing loss and tinnitus and the fact that MM is supposedly caused by a virus. But there are differences also.

Something else that I read was that labyrinthitis doesn’t come and go; it stays for a while, Unlike Meniere’s disease that comes and goes as it pleases. And labyrinthitis is usually a one time deal where you get the vertigo and the throwing up and then it leaves you, like having a bad case of the flu. The hearing loss is usually temporary.

The medication that is given is pretty much the same as those given to a meniere’s patient: valium, Antivert and antihistamines.

If the case of labyrinthitis lasts a long time it might be a sign of vestibular neuritis. With vestibular neuritis the inflammation is coming from the vestibular nerve as opposed to the inner ear where labyrinthitis occurs. Sometimes it is impossible to tell the difference between the two.