What is an acoustic neuroma?

What is an acoustic neuroma?

An acoustic neuroma, also called a vestibular schwannoma, is a non-cancerous tumor that occurs around your balance and hearing nerves that connect your inner ear with your brain.

The term schwannoma means the tumor developed from Schwann cells. These cells surround nerves in the peripheral nervous system (nerves outside the brain and spinal cord) and normally insulate and support the function of nerves. Schwannomas can occur in nerves across the body, but in the head, these most commonly occur from the vestibular nerve, or balance nerve.