Chiropractic/Upper Cervical Work

Before each appointment he does that nerve test on you. If your nerves are good he doesn't even adjust you. I'm not sure if he's working on my occiput alone or my occiput and atlas. I know he's doing occiput now....

Any reason why I should wait?

I have another 30 appointments to go to that I pre-paid for?? He says the avg person needs 10 months of treatment.

Also my occiput seems to be more in place. I'm not lifting my head up as much to crack my occiput.

Much of his method is re-aligning the brain stem which allows your nerves to travel better. Something I don't know what it was, but one side was off 1.6 millimeters and the other side was off 1.5 millimeters along with my occiput misaligned vertically. All input from you guys is great!

 

I like the treatment methods that he's doing. Occipital complex treatment is usually needed for neck/physical tinnitus. For some just stretching the neck upwards and maintaining good posture works well. The occiput has a direct connection to the ears. Sometimes a little rest is needed.

Mathew, it's like exercising. One can get sore muscles from exercising if they haven't been used in a while, but overall an improvement is being made. Maybe take a warm shower a hour before each appointment.

Read the top part in both left and right columns within this article. Just to get a basic idea of things.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/occiput

Update: I would like @Zacoli and
@BreachOfEuphoria to read this thread.
@Benoves

 

I will be going for NUCCA adjustments, for me its not a shot in the dark as I have upper cervical pain when driving and walking after 10 or so minutes. I can adjust one of my tinnitus sources (I have three) but moving my chin down.

Hopefully this is a clue and I will get results...

Nevertheless I will post on this forum if it helps me.

 

I had my 3rd appt today. My quick nerve test was good, so no adjustment. I noticed I'm not lifting my head up as much to crack my occiput. My tinnitus is still very low and only on my left side. It's probably the lowest it's ever been.

 

I woke up today and my right side was buzzing like usual or a little less, it will be interesting to see Monday if I'm in adjustment. Also my jaw and neck were tighter when I was in "adjustment". Today like I said ear buzzing and my guess is I'm out of adjustment, however my jaw and neck feel lose and more normal.

 

I don't have pain in my occiput. Today like I said my ear is buzzing so I'm guessing I'm out of alignment. My neck, jaw, and occiput all feel looser. I can open my jaw more.

 

Great news, I'm glad that your T has been going down and down. Maybe one day it will disappear for good.

 

I'm doing the same now. Woke up probably out of "alignment" and damn annoying right side is buzzing some. Mid to upper back feels off too.

 

Hi @Mathew Gould,

Some of the significant improvements/respites you're getting sound very encouraging. Just to mention, I'm currently getting some neck work done with a physical therapist whose work is very, very gentle. Sometimes the day after I get worked on, I'm disappointed my neck doesn't feel better. But usually, my neck is better the following day.

The way I look at this phenonomen, is that any adjustment we get from any health care practitioner is going to be imperfect. But a good one will get the neck/body going in a better direction. However, it often can take some time for this to happen, from a day, to more than a day.

That's why my philosophy is be patient between adjustments, and let the body do it's thing, which if given the opportunity, will realign better than what can be expected from an adjustment by a health practitioner.

Congratulations on your notable improvements!

 

My body is worse today, like everything is back out of alignment and my ear is buzzing. When I was "in alignment" my neck and jaw felt restricted, it does not feel restricted today.

 

@Mathew Gould Continue treatment. You are doing great. These are often the two areas of physical cause. We have discussed both and you are going with treatment in link two - C1 and C2. What I also often mentioned is in link one - suboccipital muscles. Both relate to TMJ, but clenching of teeth from stress, having mouth open too wide or dental can be also be causes. For you it would be your C1 and C2 and suboccipital.

http://www.oliverfinlay.com/assets/pdf/van assche (2006) interaction between suboccipital muscles and tmj muscles.pdf#page=1

http://www.tmjhealth.com/WebPages/TheMysteriousJoint.html

 

It's interesting regarding occipital areas of the head. I have a lump in the back of my neck which I suspect is the occipital lymph node. Running my finger along it creates a sound it my ear. Turning my neck I get PT, tilting my head to the left I get a rumbling in the right ear that stops when I just touch the lymph node/lump. Our bodies are so fragile if little things like this can cause such a problem like tinnitus.

I need to get it scanned, im hoping its a muscular knot from heavy heavy shrugs I was doing before. Lymph node would be more difficult to solve or perhaps untreatable completely.

 

Yeah I'm basically going to be getting treatment once a week for the next 2 months, then after then every other week for 6 months. If I go and I'm in alignment from the nerve test on my neck and my feet being the same length he doesn't do nothing. The problem is I have been lifting my neck up to crack my occiput and I came out of alignment, I've been cracking my occiput for prob almost 1 year and its a habit and feels like it needs to be cracked. When I was in alignment the tinnitus could barely be heard only in my left side. However whenever I got my night splint adjusted tinnitus would do basically the same thing for up to 1 week and not be bothersome...

Also when I was in alignment I lost prob 20% of range of motion in every direction I moved my neck, do you think this is common?

 

I had another appointment today. I feel a lot better and he barely adjusted me today because he said some bone or something in my head was out of alignment, I think the bone starts with an "s".... It will be interesting to see if my Tinnitus moves to my left side where I can barely hear it tomorrow when I wake up.

 

@Greg Sacramento woke up with normal tinnitus today... Does the brain slowly improve over time with an upper cervical or does it improve in big steps?

 

Has anyone here have had any luck with upper cervical work on tinnitus? It seems a lot of chiropractors know about tinnitus and have had good results lowering it (so they say). I am mildly confident my tinnitus is neck injury related and I heard they can help with that. Any thoughts?

 

@TimmyC A well known hypothetical reflex pathway is the linking of upper cervical facet joints and temporomandibular joints with the automatic nervous system that results in eustachian tube dysfunction. A neck injury, forward head posture causing neck muscle spasms and/or disorder with pressure to the balance of the jaw may be cause of ETD, sinus problems and possible other facial complaints.

The neti pot probably caused irritation of already stressed cervical facet joints and then the temporomandibular joint that released ETD inflammatory with instant neurogentic inflammation causing tinnitus fairy quickly. So probably a joint injury of the cervical sympathetic system and as a result ETD with neurogentic inflammation, not hearing loss. Proof of this is cracking sounds in neck due to air pockets between facet joints which also could cause sight structural pressure to jaw.

A c -spine X Ray is needed before treatment for stressed/spasm or imbalanced muscles. Depending on results - positive results - a CT and ultrasound may need to be considered.
An examination of jaw joints by a dentist.

Jaw joints are structurally inline with the C1 and C2, but facet joints would relate to lower disc. The C1 C2 would be in play 95% of the time. Deep neck fibers and facet joints would be in play up to 90% of the time. Occipital nerves of upper neck leading into the brainstem 95% of the time. Stretching the neck upwards would help with occipital nerve release done along with correct posture training. Forward head bending needs to be controlled as that places neck pressure to the jaw.

 

@Greg Sacramento
How can I get in touch with you?
I just got diagnosed with Chiari and apparently I have c1 fusion? (I'm not sure yet, still confused about everything, but there is something wrong with c1 and c2)

 

@Arseny -- Be glad to talk, but your neuro is the one for treatment advice.

I suppose this was noted by MRI or was just a judgement made by CT?
Was the test ordered by an ENT or a neuro?

If you have neck pain with several sorts of ear problems starting to develop with severe headaches then be careful with straining you neck more. If you are having dizziness, hand coordination problems, and most important vomiting and swallowing problems then talk to your GP soon.

If it's primary then it's probably related with fetal development or congenital.

If it's secondary caused later in life, then disease, injury or infection may have involvement. More likely Type I is from an accident.

Type II usually develops during childhood.

Could you mention a possible accident if known, an infection. Over and above a Chiari, did any neck arteries show concern?

We can talk by PM conversation. I can contact you or you write to me.
Knowing your age is important.

 

Could you send me a PM?
ENT told me to do a brain MRI back in October and it gave me severe noise induced tinnitus and hyperacusis.
I didn't do angio MRI.
I had severe 24/7 tension headaches and migraines with aura in November and they got much better with HBOT.

They return after each spike. I suppose it's some sort of neuropathic pain linked to hyperacusis. Since everytime hyperacusis comes back it brings back headaches. And with time they both get better.

I have experienced 2 episodes of severe vertigo with everything in vision shaking from side to side with amplitude of 1-2 inches.

When I tilt my head back doctors say my eyes are kinda jumpy when I try to follow and object meaning there is a problem with neck blood flow.

I have had somatic pulsatile tinnitus in right ear for quite a long time now, I think more than a year. Now it's worse than ever, even a slight misalignment of my neck causes me to hear a loud blood whoosh in my right ear.
Doctor put me on diuretics and some stuff for the veins.

Doctor things that Chiari and neck problems come from my birth trauma.
I had Epstein-Barr virus in 2015 (severe case) and developed CFS after that.

I had a brain hemorrhage in right side of the brain when I was less than a month old.

Now right ear is getting worse for some reason. After each noise exposure tinnitus spikes and left ear (where I had problems initially) goes back to baseline, however right ear stays on elevated level. In last 1.5 months I've gone from exteremly mild tinnitus in right ear (can only be heard with earplugs in completely silent room) to moderate tinnitus with Morse code (I had it in left ear when tinnitus started at first) and white noise.
In the past week a had a few days when tinnitus in right ear was 1.5-2 times louder than left ear... Most of blood flow issues are located on right side.
After all treatments audiogram shows 10 dB across all frequencies up to 16000 Hz. OAE and DPOAE are normal.
It seems that I can somewhat modulate noise induced tinnitus with neck and body movements.
Hissing head noise can wary a lot and it's much worse if I have high BP or the weather is bad.

I'm only 22...

 

Pulsatile tinnitus manifest subjectively as an increased awareness of blood flow in the ear. The cause of somatosensory pulsatile tinnitus syndrome although is not vascular. Pulsatile tinnitus superimposed on your regular tinnitus could result from the pulsation of blow flow with the spiral capillary of the basilar membrane. Physical therapy will be needed to solve this.

I viewed your history and I will contact you by PM.

 

I have seen a NUCCA chiropractor for about seven months, and so far I don't think I have seen an improvement although once in a while I do think the tinnitus has worsened. I probably have had about 25 adjustments. Anyone with NUCCA experience, do you think 7 months is enough time to see whether NUCCA can help (or tinnitus related to upper cervical issues)? I have read that some people have seen an improvement after a few adjustments, not me. My tinnitus fluctuates too, so it is hard to tell. Obviously the chiropractor is giving me a vague answer, that everyone responds differently. The ENT said that NUCCA most likely isn't helping.