Chiropractor

I am getting my 2nd nerve block test on Friday. It is in the lower cervical. It is a requirement for insurance. If that helps then they do a neuro ablation procedure. It burns the nerves decreasing pain signals to the brain.

I am hoping this might have something to do with my tinnitus but unsure,
I will also bring my brain MRI to him to see if there is a nerve impingement.
That MRI was done in 2010.

I may have duplicated this post somewhat on a earlier one. I will update if the neuro ablation helps my tinnitus at a later date. I am not sure how the doc can see a nerve impingement on a brain MRI but will ask tomorrow.

I may be barking up the wrong tree if it is total inner ear based, but will find out if it is possibly cervical related.
Posted on 05/02/13, 10:54 am

 

Any news from your Doctor, about your facial nerve?

 

After having a bad neck Friday morning and bad tinnitus also, I took my normal meds of Gralise 600-1200mg + clonazepam .5-1mg, my T diminished significantly. Then had a Chiro adjustment in the afternoon and felt quite well
since then. So maybe there is a neck connection after all.

I also had been bumping up Nortriptylene to 75mg/day which could have also helped. My RF Neuro Ablations need to be approved by insurance before I can go that route. Also still considering hearing aids as another option.

 

@just1morething,

Amazing enough I was driving around in my water truck today for 12.5hrs as I have ponded possible causes and cures for tinnitus & I thought maybe our backs or necks? Mine is certainly not the best and I was thinking maybe going to a Chiro to see if they could help... I know this is some useless information for you but funny enough I log on here and see the same thing I was thinking

 

Funnily enough, I have been thinking this for some time also. This Friday I have booked myself in to see a physio and see what happens. I know it is a long shot but its worth trying, it cannot do any harm. I will you know how it all goes. I wish you luck
In your quest for answers. I hope the chiropractor helps.

 

Hi Jade - I hope you have some luck with the Chiro, as tinnitus can be a battle and sure reduces your quality of life.
The meds I take seem to work good sometimes and other times not. It seems your brain also needs to be distracted somehow or it will "remember " the noise. Your info is not useless, as we are all here to share are experiences and help each other manage their tinnitus if possible. The neck connection is not definite but possible, as the drugs may have played a role also.

 

The chiro will say you have neck problems they 100% allways do.I wish you luck with it.

 

I don't think there was a facial nerve impingement in my case, as I asked the doc to look at my brain MRI and he didn't see one, so I gave up on that angle. I do think if your neck is out of wack, it can cause or worsen tinnitus IMO.

 

This from a forum member 2 years ago:::

Hi my name is Sean Normoyle and I have suffered with tinnitus for 8 years, 2 years ago I decided to do something about it, having realised if I turned my head far enough round the tone would change. With some investigation I believed it was muscular tinnitus, I then found Helen Westerby http://www.helenwesterbycox.com/ and together we worked on finding a cure. Today the ringing has stopped in my right ear for over a year and we are now about 4-6 weeks form me being completely clear.
My own condition was more serious than just tinnitus I had cranial pressure which was coursed by a car accident 20 years ago. The ringing stopped in my right ear within six weeks of the treatment starting, my own case is at the most extreme but I am having more and more clear days and now we want to offer this solution to other suffers.
The test
My Tinnitus was coursed by Muscle and tendon tissue getting trapped in the c3 neck disk, feel the back of your neck on the second disk down from your skull if there is a lump, then that is probley the course of your tinnitus!
Now this is brand new and not even on her website so far Helen has found 4 c3 lumps on tinnitus suffers in the last few weeks 2 of which hadn’t mentioned that they had tinnitus! Helen is offering a diagnosis 20minute session on Saturday the 6th of August 2011 for £30.00 she will diagnose that you have a c3 issue and a recommendation for treatment. There are only 8 appointments so first come first serve you can contact Helen from her website http://www.helenwesterbycox.com/​

 

This from a forum member 2 years ago:::

Thanks carlover.

 

I still think my neck pain is somehow related to my tinnitus. I will have a RF Neuro Ablation done to my neck on 8-22-13. I will update then on a possible connection. Also ordered hearing aids today to try. They are ReSound Alera TS model for tinnitus.http://www.gnresound.com/hearing-aids/hearing-aid-products/alerats. I am looking at several different ways to possibly help my head noise... TMJ disorder,cervical problems, & HF hearing loss.

I agree with Jade that tinnitus is a real PITA and that carlover's comment that he reckons hearing aids will help,
will be true. Probably HF hearing loss from noise exposure. I did not want to hear myself say that.

 

I had a Radio Frequency Neuro Ablation done on the left side of my neck today. I was sedated with a IV of Fentanyl & Versed before the procedure. It was a painless thing to have done. Granted I was sedated for it, but this evening still no pain.

While I was sedated there was no tinnitus and I was'nt really surprised because the last time I had a IV of the same, my T vanished. Silence is golden. The noise got worse later on but at the moment it is minimal. I think the brain controls the T in some cases as to the volume and that is why some IV sedations quiet it and also the reason TRT can work. Also some meds seem to work for awhile on reducing tinnitus. Examples include gabapentin, klonopin, mysoline, etc. (mainly seizure drugs and benzos) I think the brain builds up resistance to these drugs after awhile so they are much less effective. I may try Depakote as someone on another forum had good results with that drug recently.

My left side of my neck does'nt hurt anymore and the right side is less also. I will have my right side of my neck nerves "burned" in Sept. some time. Inconclusive at this time as to how much it helped my tinnitus, if at all.
I will update more later.

 

Thanks erik, Nice to know that and I think there is quite a few side effects to Depakote also. Sometimes it can be confusing as some of the drugs used for tinnitus can cause it or make it worse in some cases. I think Lamictal can cause T but is sometimes used for T reduction. From what I remember, you don't use any drugs erik, and maybe that's the best.

 

@just1morething: I'm glad all went well with your neuroablation! And don't worry about the hearing aids not eliminating the tinnitus. It is still too early to tell; and some people do not get a full suppression, but their noise does become much better. I'm one of those people, though I wish I was like Karl and had suppression. Mine still cycles.

 

I got my T after a slight neck injury and it started the same day the orthopedic went to work on my neck. So I do believe in a link. The whole somatosensory deal with the auditory pathways is somewhat documented by now.

 

Indeed. I just posted elsewhere on TT that somatic tinnitus is a known phenomenon (researched extensively by Dr. R.A. Levine). The extent to which it is properly understood, however, appears to be limited. I have tried trigger point injections and physiotherapy to deal with my (somatic) tinnitus, with minimal success.

@just1morething: I hope your neuroablation helps. Keep us posted.

-Golly

 

I was seeing a chiro before my T onset and would like to see him again for some neck, upper back tightness.

My issue is that he usually does a bit of work on my jaw as well - seemed to help with my headaches.

I'm concerned this could stir up my T...

Any experiences?

 

I saw a chiro one time after the onset - neck problems - and no effect on T (I wished chiro could help, but at least my neck felt better).

 

I'm not thinking it could help with the T but if it can calm down my headaches without stiring up my T it would be wonderful

 

I agree - I went to a chiro and he jerked my jaw around saying that it was "tight".
I was worse than the pain of childbirth - Tinnitus was dreadful for the next week

 

In Feb. 2011 I contracted mild to medium tinnitus in my right ear as a result of an acoustic trauma (playing guitar in a rock band).

I have been seen by one of the leading neurologists in treating tinnitus. He is located in Phoenix, AZ. Blood work was done, a hearing test was performed and I was sent to a maxillofacial dental pain specialist in Phoenix, because I had complained of fullness in my ears, and tightness in my jaw due to the fact that I grind my jaw at night. The dentist prepared a night guard for the grinding and did a complete work-up on my jaw pain and fullness in my ears. She provided instruction on jaw stretching exercises and ice treatment to reduce the pain, but I was getting no relief form the tinnitus.

About a year into all of this, I was visiting my chiropractor in Sedona, AZ who I had been seeing over the years to adjust my shoulder to correct an injury that I had suffered over a decade ago. I had not seen her since I contracted the tinnitus, and in passing, I mentioned my tinnitus and the horrible suffering I was going through.

She told me that if I was suffering tinnitus and also had the symptom of extreme fullness and/or popping in the ear then it may be possible to relieve the symptom through chiropractic adjustment. I was hesitant at first, but after some discussion I agreed to give it a try. I'm not a medical person so I will explain what happened in layman's terms.

The chiropractor told me that my jaw needed to be moved forward from my ears about 1/8th of an inch, because my present situation created a blockage of blood flow in my ear which caused build-up which added to the problem of the tinnitus. The first sessions consisted of small adjustments in the jaw and cranial areas to open the flow. I did get some temporary relief from these adjustments, but the tinnitus would return after about a day or so; however, the tinnitus would tend to go away in the mornings, especially after a good night's sleep. This may not sound like much relief, but after living with a constant buzzing torture and absolutely no relief from the tinnitus for over a year, it was severals hours of welcomed relief each week. The chiropractor explained that we were working towards a major chiropractic adjustment to the ear, but that my body was not yet ready for that particular adjustment and would not be ready until after the jaw had been moved forward the 1/8th". We would need several more cranial adjustments before the ear would be ready. I continued the treatment with mixed results, but the few hours of relief I got were like getting a new lease on life so I continued and hoped for the best.

Finally, last week on November 19, 2013, she told me I was ready for the adjustment to the ear. She pulled down hard on my lower earlobe and I felt a cracking sound that ran through the ear to the inside of my head in the area where I could hear and almost feel the tinnitus. It scared the bejeezus out of me but it did not hurt. She then pulled upwards on the top of my ear and I felt the same thing again. I could actually feel the inner parts of my ear being moved in a chiropractic adjustment. I went home and realized that my tinnitus was ringing as loudly as ever and I wondered if this was simply the way it would be for the rest of my life. I went to bed depressed as usual about my symptom.

The next morning I woke and the tinnitus was almost gone. I didn't think much of it because after the previous chiropractic treatments this was normal, but the tinnitus usually returned by mid-day or early evening. This time, for the first time, it did not get worse later that day, the next day nor the day after that. It has been almost a week and my tinnitus has remained steady at about 10% of what is was when I started treatment. In other words, I am enjoying a 90% decrease in the severity of my tinnitus. I have even pushed the boundaries, by drinking coffee, eating chocolate and doing all the things that previously triggered my tinnitus. So far it's holding steady and the fullness in my ear has almost gone away as well.

The quality of my life has come back, and I will continue with the chiropractor. She is encouraged that I may have a full recovery.

 

Years ago my chiropractor suggest that I use a rolled up towel as a pillow behind my neck and sleep on my back. It helped. Also, I had a spasm of the muscles running from the collar bone to the back of my ears. These muscles turn your head. I was also instructed to do some accupressure and that certainly helped too. This was in the late eighties. But since I've abused my ears so badly with loud music that nothing much helps.

 

I'm thinking of trying botox to my left TMJ area to see if it calms down my T. It could work if it's related to a muscle spasm from what I read. Has anyone tried botox for their tinnitus? I am going to call a neurologist tomorrow as they do the injections, but not sure if they will do them in that part of the body.

I'll give it a shot (literally) and update.

 

Either that, you could try trigger point injections to see if it helps?

 

I prefer osteopathy. I went to a chiropractor years ago to address severe cervicogenic headaches and sciatica. I ended up with spinal cord shock, and I will never go back to a chiro again.