A Case of Chronic Meniere's Disease Improved by Korean Medicine Treatment Including Pharmacoacupuncture of Cervical and Temporomandibular Area - A Case Report

Dong-Joo Kim; Kyeong-Hwa Heo; Kyeong-Hwa Lee; Hye-Jin Lee; Seung-Yeon Cho; Jung-Mi Park; Chang-Nam Ko; Seong-Uk Park; Kim, Dong-Joo; Heo, Kyeong-Hwa; Lee, Kyeong-Hwa; Lee, Hye-Jin; Cho, Seung-Yeon; Park, Jung-Mi; Ko, Chang-Nam; Park, Seong-Uk

doi:10.13048/jkm.23038

JKM > Volume 44(3); 2023 > Article

Kim, Heo, Lee, Lee, Cho, Park, Ko, and Park: A Case of Chronic Meniere’s Disease Improved by Korean Medicine Treatment Including Pharmacoacupuncture of Cervical and Temporomandibular Area - A Case Report

Case Report

The Journal of Korean Medicine 2023; 44(3): 150-162.

Published online: September 1, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13048/jkm.23038

A Case of Chronic Meniere’s Disease Improved by Korean Medicine Treatment Including Pharmacoacupuncture of Cervical and Temporomandibular Area - A Case Report

Dong-Joo Kim¹

, Kyeong-Hwa Heo¹

, Kyeong-Hwa Lee¹

, Hye-Jin Lee²

, Seung-Yeon Cho¹^{, 2}^{, 3}

, Jung-Mi Park¹^{, 2}^{, 3}

, Chang-Nam Ko¹^{, 2}^{, 3}

, Seong-Uk Park¹^{, 2}^{, 3}^{, *}

¹Department of Cardiology and Neurology of Clinical Korean Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

²Stroke and Neurological Disorders Center, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea

³Department of Cardiology and Neurology, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to: Seong-Uk Park, 892 Dongnam-ro, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea, Stroke and Neurological Disorders Center, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Tel: +82-2-440-6217, Fax: +82-2-440-7171, E-mail: seonguk.kr@gmail.com

Received July 20, 2023 Revised August 22, 2023 Accepted August 22, 2023

Abstract

Meniere’s disease is characterized by episodic vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus and ear fullness. The main pathological finding is endolymphatic hydrops, but the etiology of disease and effective treatment methods are still disputed. Recently, Cervical spine disorders(CSD) and Temporomandibular disorders(TMD) have been attracting attention as one of the causes of Meniere’s disease. A 65-year-old female Meniere patient with musculoskeletal problems in the cervical and mandible area was treated by Korean medical therapies including pharmacoacupuncture treatment. After 5 weeks of treatment, there was no meaningful change in hearing level evaluated with pure tone audiometry, but the subjective symptoms of Meniere improved significantly. Numerical rating scale (NRS) decreased from 10 to 0 for hearing loss, 10 to 3 for tinnitus and 8 to 3 for ear fullness. Also NRS of cervicalgia was reduced from 5 to 0 after treatment. The result suggests that the Korean medical therapy including pharmacoapuncture targeting CSD and TMD could be safe and effective method for patients with Meniere’s disease.

Keywords: Meniere’s Disease, Pharmacoacupuncture, Temporomandibular Joint Disorders, Cervical Spine Disorders, Case Report

Fig. 1

Timeline of treatment

PTA, Pure Tone Audiometry; SA, Speech Audiometry ; K-THI, Korean Tinnitus Handicap Inventory; DHI, Dizziness Handicap Inventory; TMD, Temporomandibular disorders

Fig. 2

Changes of NRS scores for chief complaints

TMD, Temporomandibular disorders; DGT, Dojukgangi-tang; GJT, Gami-jiwhang-tang

Fig. 3

The results of pure tone audiometry and speech audiometry

X : left ear AC unmasked ] : left ear BC masked > : left ear BC unmasked Δ: right ear AC masked [ : right ear BC masked < : right ear

BC unmasked

AC, Air Conduction; BC, Bone Conduction; SA Speech Audiometry

Fig. 4

Changes of K-THI and DHI score

Table 1

The Composition of Herbal medicine, per Pack

Herbal name	Botanical name	Amount(g)
Dojukgangi-tang
生地黃	Rehmannia glutinosa	12
木通	Akebiae Caulis	8
瓜蔞仁	Trichosantes Kirilowii	6
玄蔘	Scrophularia buergeriana	6
獨活	Aralia continentalis	4
羌活	Ostericum Koreanum	4
荊芥	Schizonepeta tenuifolia	4
前胡	Anthriscs aemula	4
防風	Ledebouriella seseloides	4
白茯苓	Poriacocos Wolf	4
澤瀉	Alisma canaliculatum	4

Gami-jiwhang-tang
生地黃	Rehmannia glutinosa	16
熟地黃	Rehmanniae Radix Preparata	16
牧丹皮	Moutan Radicis Cortex	8
山茱萸	Cornus officinalis	8
澤瀉	Alisma canaliculatum	8
白茯苓	Poriacocos Wolf	8
玄蔘	Scrophularia buergeriana	8
獨活	Aralia continentalis	4
荊芥	Schizonepeta tenuifolia	4
羌活	Ostericum Koreanum	4
防風	Ledebouriella seseloides	4

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