In July, I posted an e-mail here from a patient who had found that chewing gum reduced the occurrence of their Meniere's symptoms. The original page is available by clicking here. I asked for input from other patients to see if anyone else had a similar experience.In brief, the responses I received were split approximately equally into 3 groups.
1) Those who found that chewing gum helped reduce the occurrence symptoms
2) Those who found no difference in symptoms
3) Those who found that chewing made their symptoms worse (for a variety of reasons).A number of patients commented that chewing during a vertigo attack made their symptoms worse. In my view, this is cause for concern so that chewing gum during an attack should be avoided . If you try this, it should only be used in the periods between vestibular attacks (see rationale below).
In similarity with many other Meniere's remedies, there seems to be wide variation in responses across patients. This is consistent with the commonly-held notion that Meniere's symptoms do not arise from a single problem in the ear, but instead may result from a number of quite different problems in different patients. It may therefore be that only patients with a certain type of problem may be affected by chewing. Nevertheless, if chewing gum increases the period between attacks then you may think it is worth evaluating in your own case. You should certainly discuss it with your ENT doctor, but do not expect him to know anything about this. At present there are NO SCIENTIFIC STUDIES IN THE LITERATURE WHICH SHOW THAT CHEWING GUM HELPS MENIERE'S PATIENTS. Therefore, do not be surprised if your ENT is less than enthusiastic. Furthermore, if your ENT suggests any reason why you should NOT chew gum (such as a joint or jaw disorder), then follow his advice.
The scientific rationale - and why I am interested in this issue:
Our recent research has found that large, slow movements of the eardrum (which you do not hear) produce longitudinal movements of the inner ear fluids. We suspect these movements play some part in how the fluids are regulated. When you swallow, the contraction of the middle ear muscles causes slow ear drum movements which may affect the inner ear fluids in some manner which is presumed to be beneficial. Thus, repeated swallowing, as occurs when you chew gum, may somehow help in the regulation of the fluids. On the other hand, during a Meniere's attack it is possible that the membranes which surround one fluid (called endolymph) may be damaged. In this state, movements of the ear fluids may make the problem worse and during this time it would be better to avoid fluid movements (by not chewing gum, etc) until the membranes have healed. Please bear in mind that many aspects of this are not fully understood, and we are continuing research in this area. We are in the process of publishing our studies in the scientific journals. In the meantime, if this concept is of benefit to some patients then that is good news, and is the intended goal of our work.I do NOT want to push this as a cure for Meniere's disease. I am well aware that this is a complex disease that is unlikely to be solved by any one treatment. Given the feedback I have received I do not think I am giving anyone "false hopes". Please also note that I am not selling anything. I have no association with any chewing gum company. I am presenting this information simply because I think it may be of benefit to some patients. Chewing and swallowing is a common occurrence, so chewing gum does not in any way represent a medical treatment.
I remain highly interested in this topic and value any input (good, bad or "no effect" ) you wish to send. I would like to thank all those who sent me e-mail. I cannot reply to all e-mail (I have to do research!) but I do read it all. Thanks to you all and I wish you all well!