Chiropractor

I went to a chiropractor yesterday at the VA. They did some x rays. I had to things wrong with my neck. My neck has never hurt. Dont know what they called it. But I will get the terms and post them. We went through what was out of place. He said he has done alot with people that has Tinnitus. I have 4 more appointments with him every week. He grabbed my neck and said he was going to do two adjustments. It felt like everything in my neck just cracked. I dont know if it is going to help out all. He said some people he has dealt with it has done nothing, some has reduce the volume by 50%, some has gotten rid of it 100% according to him. Has anyone out there been to a Chiropractor and did it help or do more damage?

 

Karen,
I will keep you posted on the whole outcome. This one seems very interesting.He seems like he knows what he is talking about.He know about my case before I had ever seen him. Dont know what will happen. I will just wait and see.

 

I'll be watching!

 

Check the neck, what the heck? I also thought mine was possibly cervical related, and I have seen a chiropractor recently. I had quite a few problems with my neck over the years, probably from car accidents, welding, farming etc.
I was also looking into upper cervical. I thought sure it was helping my T as each adjustment seemingly improved it.
But in the end I may have been chasing another wild goose. I thought about 20-25 % of T cases was caused by cervical, but am not sure if it helped or not. I read that c1-c3 problems can in some cases cause T. He really loosened up my neck though, as it was possibly stiff from being in front of the computer reading TT. Ha ha.

 

Mike, Karen & others,
Just thought I would update you on my appointment with a orthopedic doctor (neck & back). We discussed sleep apnea and cortisone injections to the neck . I previously had a epidural to my neck, under live xray, a couple years ago. That didn't have much effect. He said that having a cortisone injection to my upper neck area could possibly help T. (not epidural)

I had my first cortisone shot to my hand a couple months ago, and it did wonders.(to my hand) Also discussed sleep apnea and how you could "starve" the brain & ears of oxygen. He said that is possible, and to use CPAP. I will update on this later. I think I will stay away from Chiro's for awhile. Hope this info may possibly help some others.

 

Steer well clear of chiros

 

I've been going to a chiropractor for a couple of months. It has done nothing to lower the volume of my tinnitus. My neck and back feel great, though!

 

I've been going to a chiropractor for 4 weeks. I've had some improvement in my tinnitus over that time, but I can't say for sure it is do to the chiropractor. It,s possible, but I've been trying multiple things so its hard to sort out what accounts for the improvement. It might just the habituation process, or my more relaxed attitude toward the ailment as I've had more time to adjust to it.

My back and neck feel great too! Maybe that's part of it as well because I find the adjustments relaxing.

 

Time ? ......26 years .tick tock tick tock tick tock

 

Hi Joe ,They have a dubious record for their marketing techniques ill give you that,but without boring you to tears my dear old mum before having just one treatment from one was in shouting out loud in agony from shooting pains down her back and legs (obviously sciatica nerve) all her dr could do was useless strong painkillers .Without his expertise I just dont know how she would have got through it.

 

I had steroid injections into my upper cervical area in the facet joints in 3 different places. My head seems quiet now but may be a one day wonder. My fingers are crossed that it helped but will need more days to verify.

 

Day 2 not as good as Day 1 as right side or ear has a fairly loud hiss. Upper neck left facet joints only were injected, so may make sense. Was good last night though. I woke up with hiss early this morning and will have to wait to have my right side done. Will update later. One day of quiet was sure nice.

 

Just updating on my right upper neck facet joint injections that I had on Monday. I was sedated with Fentanyl and Versed. I had total quiet for 1/2- 1 hour under sedation. It was nice to have quiet again, albeit a short while. Now I have a sorta steam hiss on Tuesday. I forgot to use my oral appliance for left TMJ disorder and sleep apnea so that could have played a role also for today. More trial and error to figure out how to get my T as quiet as I can.

 

NerveMed article on tinnitus. Maybe has been covered here before. I was looking into nerve blocks for cervical and came across this. http://www.nervemed.com/news/january-2011-case-study-landmark-tinnitus-treatment-by-inm

 

Interesting link. The physician listed on the front page, Aaron Filler, looks legitimate. Impressive credentials. (http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-aaron-filler-3jfhw/background-check)

I wonder why we've never heard of this treatment? Can't find anything on pubmed. But maybe I'm missing something. Does anyone know anything about this therapy?

 

I did call up NerveMed about facial nerve blocks for tinnitus. She said they only work if caused by muscle spasms. I will ask the local doctor about them when he does my cervical nerve block injections.

 

Another option might be Botox. They use that for certain types of tinnitus.

Sorry to see your tinnitus is not doing well. Mine is fine today.

 

Thanks Jazz, Mine is better today . I may swap lower cervical nerve block injections for facial nerve block injections if they call me back and OK that for my 4-16 app. I think he may do them.

 

I got my first nerve block today . It was to my left cervical, C2-C5 I think. You need to get the nerve block test before the insurance will let you have a Neuro Ablation. I did ask the doctor about the facial nerve block but he said he cannot due that because it is MRI guided and he only has live XRAY. He also said that was a very delicate area close to the brain. He was going to look into a place closer than CA that may do this. He also mentioned that he would look at my brain MRI for possible nerve impingement causing my T.

I will update when I get more information regarding this.
They did not use Fentanyl in the IV so I had no temporary T relief this time. I may look into a Fentanyl patch. Fentanyl patch could be dangerous and was just a idea.

 

The first 2 upper cervical facet joint injections cost $9000. My insurance kicks in at 2-3K. I got the idea from a orthopedic doctor. My main goal was possible tinnitus relief and less neck pain. The cost is ridiculously high. I do not know the cost for the Nerve Blocks or the Neuro Ablations. I am looking to try a Fentanyl patch today if I can get a prescription for it at my doc app. Fentanyl is what they used in my first IV and gave me temporary T relief.

 

The primary care doctor told me that she only used Fentanyl patch for hospice patients. Back to ENT doc, CPAP, and possibly TMJ doc for now. I don't understand the charges either but the insurance will pick them up. It was just a outpatient procedure for about about 1-2 hours total time. Injections only took about 1/2 hour or less. The doctor today said good sleep is very important. I should try to get off of Zolpidem (ambien) for better REM sleep.

 

04/18/13 10:09am
The facial nerve block may still be in trials according to the doc who did my injections to my neck. I gave him the article and he looked it over. He is looking for a closer location that does that type of injection. I will follow up with a required second cervical nerve block before a Neuro Ablation procedure.

If the facial nerve block is still in trials, it probably would not be covered by insurance. I did use CPAP with humidifier last night and do seem considerably better today. You should definitely use humidifier w/CPAP, otherwise the air is too cold.

Also, will look back into TMJ disorder. If T is inner ear based, then is a much more difficult thing to control. If the ear is sending errant signals to the brain by a damaged cochlea, I am unsure what the best strategy is. Maybe the seizure drugs are the best option then or possibly hearing aids.

At this point the intratympanic AM-101 injections don't seem to have worked very well from what I heard. I don't think the dexamethasone injections have a very good track record either.