Ménière’s disease in today’s social media sphere
Reviewed by Victor Osei-Lah

Social media is increasingly becoming the source of medical information for many. The authors analysed 1108 posts on Ménière’s disease on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, to determine the accuracy of content, authorship, depiction of Ménière’s disease and types of media used. Of the 1108 posts analysed, the majority were found on Instagram (810) followed by TikTok (184) and Facebook (114). The majority of the posts were from patients (52%), most of them on TikTok, and non-physician healthcare providers (27%) mainly posting on Instagram. Only 1.9% of the posts were from physicians. Unsurprisingly, misinformation was rife in the posts from non-physician healthcare providers, promoting ‘cures’ such as cervical spine manipulation to improve cervical blood flow, acupuncture and homeopathy. Patient experience accounted for 66% of the posts followed by educational content (16.5%) and advertisements (15%). The authors were surprised and troubled by the fact that non-physician healthcare providers (84.9%) were more likely to write educational posts than physicians (6.5%) or academic institutions (1.2%). Fifty percent of posts portrayed Ménière’s disease in a positive light, centring around treatment effectiveness and supportive care; 30% were neutral and 18% depicted Ménière’s negatively due to ineffective treatment, impact on daily living and mental health. The authors opined that there is high demand for accurate information on Ménière’s disease on social media. They challenged all practitioners in vestibular disorders to engage with social media to counter the dangerous misinformation so as to guide the public to reliable sources of medical information.

Social media analysis of Meniere’s disease: Insights and challenges for otolaryngologists.
Tan W, Rossi N, Nixon-Hemelt O, et al.
J VESTIB RES
2026;36(3):164–71.