I did this mistake and I lost my life. I went to see Dr. Gianoli and he diagnosed me with what doctors call a scam PLF diagnosis. He recommended a “simple procedure” and he left me on permanent disability. I lost my hearing, he left me with chronic debilitating vertigo and nausea, a monstrous tinnitus, a pressurized ear and chronic neurological pain from his surgery. After destroying one ear and my life he he told me I need surgery on the other ear as well.
Sorry D75 you had this surgery which did not work. How many years ago was this and have you found meds that helped you cope with this.
James(turnitaround) is our in-house PLF expert and he can attest to the fact that PLF surgery can sometimes not work on a ear which is hydropic.
So sorry for your nightmare, there is not much to say, but thank you for posting, I’m sure many appreciate it. Surgery should of course not be taken lightly and there are risks and indeed it highlights that we simply don’t know enough so conservative path is currently the best.
I don’t have personal experience but having done a lot of reading and understanding the anatomy I came to the conclusion that it doesn’t make sense to have PLF surgery on the ear if it is hydropic because it will unnaturally increase the pressure within the inner ear which might have unpredictable consequences, and indeed the patch is likely to break in this circumstance anyway, so whats the point? And here’s the rub: a PLF will almost certainly cause a degree of Hydrops, so what is the point? A patch won’t magically fix the fluid imbalance, how could it? The only thing is to leave it and hope it will naturally resolve whilst perhaps making sure you drink plenty each day.
All the people I’ve read here and on Healthboards who’ve had this surgery have had significant post operative symptoms. This wouldnt make sense if this procedure was so successful. If vertigo is a sign of leakage into the middle ear, then clearly if you have vertigo after a patch is placed, it has failed right there! (But caveat: there may be other physiological causes of vertigo, eg temporary compression/distortion of balance sense organs, increased blood/perilymph permeability messing up fluid concentrations)
I was considering PLF surgery last year having become fed up with my symptoms. I went to see a London specialist who is one of the few experienced in this operation. We both agreed conservative treatment in my case was best, and it seems to me that that may be true for most people. I have only improved since that meeting and I’m so glad I took that course of action. He claims an 80% success rate though … (but of course they might have recovered anyway … )
Thanks again for posting, I hope things improve for you.
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Hi turnitaround, could you confirm the name of the specialist please? Thanks a lot!
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Welcome to the community, consider introducing yourself in New here, let me introduce myself 
Take a look at this post:
but imho, be very wary about going down this road. PLF is but one of many explanations for the same set of symptoms also apparently explained by other diagnoses. Medicine is not yet sufficiently advanced such that I would recommend anything other than conservative treatment for the typical spectrum of MAV/PLF/VM/PPPD symptoms.
The most important things to exhaust first are medication, life-style improvements (including diet changes esp. the reduction in caffeine intake) & psychotherapy to reduce anxiety.
As you can see, PLF treatment can resolve some symptoms (e.g. vertigo) but it can do so at the some cost to your hearing, irreversibly so, potentially. Consider the likelihood that you might get better anyway if you persevere and would retain more of your hearing if you avoid surgery.
Hi, thanks a lot for the response!
Yes, I can see that there are a number of possible issues with surgery. I think my specific situation does suggest PLF is at least a possibility though
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