I happen to have an acoustic neuroma. Yes, it is a brain tumor, not an "ear" tumor. It causes you to lose your hearing, and potentially your balance. The statement, "a benign tumor which affects the auditory nerve and can possibly lead to brain damage" is incredibly misleading and practically false. The main risk if untreated is loss of hearing. In extreme cases it can grow large enough to affect your facial nerve (what makes your face move). Essentially it is an overgrowth of the cells around the nerve (the sheath around it) that transmits signals to your ear. As it grows it squeezes on the nerve and thus causes damage. If it is allowed to grow and grows too large (which often never happens) it can begin to press on the neighboring nerve, which is the facial nerve.
Really the largest risks with an acoustic neuroma is in the removal process. It is rare enough that there is debate about the best way, but the first way is "crack[ing] open your melon to get it out". However, "radiation" (I'll use that word to simplify) surgery is an increasingly popular alternative. No invasion -- just blasts of radiation localized at the tumor to attempt to kill it.
If anyone cares I blogged a little bit about it when I found out that I had the tumor: http://idledreams.net/dmoore/posts/192.aspx
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Doug Moore @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM
I happen to have an acoustic neuroma. Yes, it is a brain tumor, not an "ear" tumor. It causes you to lose your hearing, and potentially your balance. The statement, "a benign tumor which affects the auditory nerve and can possibly lead to brain damage" is incredibly misleading and practically false. The main risk if untreated is loss of hearing. In extreme cases it can grow large enough to affect your facial nerve (what makes your face move). Essentially it is an overgrowth of the cells around the nerve (the sheath around it) that transmits signals to your ear. As it grows it squeezes on the nerve and thus causes damage. If it is allowed to grow and grows too large (which often never happens) it can begin to press on the neighboring nerve, which is the facial nerve.
Really the largest risks with an acoustic neuroma is in the removal process. It is rare enough that there is debate about the best way, but the first way is "crack[ing] open your melon to get it out". However, "radiation" (I'll use that word to simplify) surgery is an increasingly popular alternative. No invasion -- just blasts of radiation localized at the tumor to attempt to kill it.
If anyone cares I blogged a little bit about it when I found out that I had the tumor: http://idledreams.net/dmoore/posts/192.aspx