Exams and Tests

Your doctor can usually diagnose Ménière's disease by taking your medical history and doing a physical exam.

If the cause of your vertigo is unclear, your doctor may want to do more tests to determine whether your symptoms are caused by problems in the inner ear or in the brain. Brain-related causes of vertigo (such as stroke, head injury, brain tumors, or multiple sclerosis) are less common.

Other tests that may be done to rule out other causes of your symptoms and to confirm a diagnosis of Ménière's disease include:

• Electronystagmography, which uses electrodes to measure eye movements. It looks for characteristic eye movements that occur when the inner ear is stimulated. The pattern of eye movements can indicate the location of the cause of the vertigo, such as the inner ear or the central nervous system.
• Imaging tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging of the head (MRI) or computed tomography of the head (CT scan), which may be done if symptoms could be caused by a brain problem.
• Hearing tests, to detect hearing loss. A specific type of hearing test, called a brain stem auditory evoked response (BAER) study, may be done to find out whether the nerve from the inner ear to the brain is working correctly. Hearing loss supports a diagnosis of Ménière's disease.