Trigger Point Massage & Physiotheraphy for Somatic Tinnitus

Hey everyone,

I wanted to discuss the potential of trigger point massages, myofascial release and physiotherapy on somatic tinnitus. Especially for people who have a lot of tense muscles around the neck or jaw area. And maybe someone can share their experience?

A close relative of mine had somatic t after heavy physical labour for years. His t completely resolved after 3 months of intense trigger point massages and physiotherapy exercise.

For me. I had a head trauma 4 months ago. The tinnitus developed 2 weeks after the accident and went progressively worse. For a long time they thought I had something called post concussion syndrome because I had symptoms like blurred vision, extreme fatigue, etc. And scans showed nothing. Also no hearing loss. Then I went to a sacrocranial osteopoth who finally discovered what was truly wrong. Extreme tense neck and jaw muscles as a result from the head trauma.

So I went for 3 sessions of craniosacral work. My blurred vision was gone, tinnitus in my left ear became intermittent (left ear stayed continuous). It was amazing. But in the last session something went wrong and the tinnitus in both ears was way worse than before. And this wasn't just a temporary spike. The volume went way louder and i could hear even more sound. Besides that i even got a mild paralysis of my right arm for about 2 weeks. I went to the doctor and he told me he knows sacrocranial therapy very well. He told me that it both can do wonders or cause more damage since these are risky techniques.

Nevertheless we now knew it was a concussion, but a muscle injury that caused all the trouble so the doc send me to a physiotherapist who did trigger point massages and myofacial release. I only started last week but it does wonders. They loosened my shoulders and the t became less reactive to shoulder movement. My tinnitus also stopped being pulsatile and more of a continuous sound, which was a relief. But still the t was very loud in both ears.

This week they loosened some jaw and neck muscles. And that evening the t stopped completely for a moment!!! Really fully stopped. This never happened. Unfortunately it came back the next day after a long walk in freezing temperatures which caused my muscles to contract again.

They explained to me that tinnitus can be caused by tense muscles on its own. I also have this ear fullness which is also caused by extreme muscle tension. Also I need to relax more. The freak accident which caused this ordeal had left me very stressed out which is why I probably have so much muscle tension.

I'm wondering if any other member of this board have experience with these muscle releasing techniques? It would be nice if someone could share their experience
I've only had 2 sessions so it is a bit wait and see what happens.

Best of luck

 

Very interesting! Did they teach you any exercises to help you between sessions?

 

The intensities of the tinnitus I experience can't be directly modulated by massage. When I get louder ringing and ask my partner to massage me he says, yes, you are tense again. He says it's very noticeable and it's proportional to my tense shoulders and neck. After a eprofessional massage it's usually very quiet and super manageable. I got it from TMJ that happened after I was hit by a car and needed reconstructive therapy on my jaw.

 

Hey AGC, I've only got one stretching excersise for now. The therapist told me my muscle need to relax more before i can do more stretching. Since stretching can tense the muscle even more if it is done early. The excersise i got is to stretch the scm muscle. So you tuck in your chin. Then move your head towards your shoulder (ear pointing to shoulder) and then look sideways to the ceiling. It is very important that it doesn't hurt or your tensing it up even more.

@lisa great to hear that it can be managed with massage. Did you ever went to a professional massage therapist? They can easily feel which muscles are very tense. Apparantly it takes mutiple massages untill the tension doesn't come back, depending on how tense they are.

In my case both neck and jaw muscles are impacted by a freak accident at home. Because there are several areas to adress it probably will take months before the trigger points are deactivated.

Some other tips the therapist gave me is apply heat after massage, avoid stress (since this will tense muscles again), regulary go for a walk or other mild physical activity and be mindfull about posture.

I'll keep you guys updated.

 

@lisa, oh my bad. You do go to a professional therapist. How many sessions have you been to? And how long does the effect last?

 

Btw if someone still reads this. I'm entering 4th week of physio. The tinnitus in my left ear is mostly gone. I only hear a faint noise there. Right ear is still loud, but not as loud as before. It sometimes fades away completely for brief moments. Also less fullness in ears. So i guess physio can really help a lot for somatic t.

 

2 months physio and it dropped about 80% in volume according to my personal perception of course.

 

Hi @Lebber - Are you still doing physio? I'm curious how you're doing since your last post here. I just completed my 3rd session today and have a temporary tone spike, which is similar to the first 2 sessions so far. Seems the next 2 days after physio are always the best for me.

 

I too can have my tinnitus greatly reduced to nearly quiet by a good SCM/scalene trigger point release. I have learned how to do it to myself. It sort of hurts like hell but it works. I keep at it. Sarna (sp?) heated muscle cream is also amazing at breaking up the tension, sold on amazon.

 

@Greg Sacramento, what are your opinions on trigger points in the neck? I have probably 20 on the left side of my neck. I started a program to get rid of them with the backknobber massage device. I also started massaging the SCM muscles... Do you think trigger points in the neck can affect tinnitus or forward head posture? Thanks.

 

For you, probably no problem. For someone with tinnitus that may associate to neck, a CT exam first. Never for someone with pulsatile tinnitus.