I'm New! Please Help Me!

hello everybody, im michela from germany,30 years old.ive been reading a lot of posts here in the last few weeks and hope there is a little bit of comfort and hope for me too in this forum

so this is my story: 6 weeks ago, my world was perfect.all i had was neck pain.then suddenly, one morning i woke up with stroooooong pain in my left shoulder. i got an mri done and it showed i had 2 (!) herniated discs in my cervical spine.within 2 weeks the pain was almost gone and i was so happy-but stop-suddenly, while lying on my pillow-from one second to the other, tinnitus started.it was a silent, but high pitched noise on both ears, bot much more on my "herniated disc-pain-side". i thought "well, tomorrow it will sure be gone".
well, now this happened 5 weeks ago and the tinnitus is still there, always, but very very silent. a silent high pitched sound with silent chirping crickets.
as soon as i lay down on my side, it gets louder. and if i stand up again after a few minutes it gets almost silent. always mcuh worse when lying down,not because i hear it more, but it really GETS louder when lying down.
now i have talked to my doctor and he is convinced the tinitus came because of the tight muscles in my neck through the pain i had in my neck and shoulder. he said there are nerves in the neck which are directly linked to the ear. and i do not only have the tinnitus ,the same day the tinnitus started the pressure in my right ear started as well. and a bit of hyperacusis . the nose-throat-ear doctor said i hear perfectly, tinnitus has nothing to do with my ears, no infection,nothing.

so what do YOU think: will tinnitus go away again as soon as my tight muscles in the neck get better again? how long will that take?i have a prescription for massage and do a lot of neck training at home with a dvd to help the neck muscles relax. my doctor said,because there is no noise induced tinnitus, when the neck is ok again,tinnitus will go too. but im so scared it will NOT!!!!! please give me your opinion!

 

Hi Michela, I'm new to T since Dec. 2013. I'm not certain how your T happened. There are so many people on this site that are very knowledgable. Hang in there you'll get plenty of help. How is your sleeping?

 

It can go away, don't lose hope. Sounds like " cranial sacral " massage may help you.
Pls read up about it.

 

and i forgot to mention: if i press on my neck with my fingers ,the high pitched sound gets even "higher-pitched".
which means i can manipulate my tinnitus sound a bit by pressing on my neck or turning my neck very much from one side to the other. the doctor explains it like this:
my muscles in my neck are so tense that they do not allow normal vascular blood flow and this is making that strange symptoms like tinnitus and pressure on my ear because there are nerves and vessels in that neck area wich are also responsible for normal hearing. if blood flow is not normal anymore in the neck area because of the stiff muscles it can make this ear ringing. hm.

 

hi linda,sleeping is great, because i use sleepphones and listen to rain or waves all night long with my GREAT sleepphones which i had at home fortunately! i even use them during the day, even if i hardly can hear the kind of tinnitus i have, i try to avoid to hear it cause im afraid my brain will never let go of the sound, even after the actual cause is not there anymore, you konw what i mean?sorry for my english..
and thanks sherri: i have been to the dentist, its not a jaw problem,it really seems to be the neck.

 

and another thing: please dont think "oh ,her tinnitus is not loud, she does not suffer so much then".
oh no, i cant think of anything else !!! it drives me crazy thinking that it will stay like this forever and i will never enjoy complete silence again.im so scared and depressed like i have never been in my life, cause i have always been such a happy person ;(

 

I am no expert like your doctor on the physiology of the body affecting tinnitus, like how blood flood and tight muscle can affect your tinnitus. I leave that for the medical people to take care of that side of things for you. Perhaps if the muscle is so tight, you may want to get some pro massage done on your muscle or ask your doctor if muscle relaxing drug is needed in your case.

I can only advise as a former sufferer myself. This is the initial phase of your tinnitus trauma. This sensation is so new that your nerves and emotions will be overwhelmed by the new experience for some time. Be patient. You won't always react like this to this new sound. You can read up all the success stories on this forum as well as those on other forums to see that there is a pattern for most people and it is quite normal for you to react the way you are now. You will have many distorted thinking at this stage and tend to view things in catastrophic tendency. Many of the members including myself have gone through those dark days and now are living a normal life. Some have their tinnitus disappeared or faded. Some like me have the ringing still as loud but we get used to it over time and now hardened to the sensation. No more negative reactions like before and life goes on. So relax a bit. Read those success stories. Seek medical treatments. Get some masking going using nature sounds, white noises, pink noises or whatever works for you. But most importantly, give it time. Let the body get more used to the new sensation. All the best to you and may God speed your recovery.

 

Hey Michela, my tinnitus is very similar but based in my head instead of my neck. If I press my fingers anywhere around my eyes, the tinnitus gets louder! Somatic tinnitus is pretty weird stuff. But luckily it is often easier to treat. I think your doctor is on the right track. While a massage, like billie mentioned, might temporarily help, you probably need some long term therapy. Whatever is tensing your muscles has become a habit. You might want to look into bio-feedback therapy.

 

"Somatic tinnitus is pretty weird stuff" I too, have some strange things going on with my body that seem somatic rather than inner ear based. It's just frustrating on not knowing who to see that can tell you the origin of your problem and how to treat it. Mine appears to be coming from my neck area, but that is just a guess. It seems spine related that is somehow producing noise in my ears or head. Maybe a massage is a good idea if your neck muscles are tense.

I hope you get better @michela & @Liesel and find your source of your tinnitus.
Edit : My T changed for the worse by what I ate & drank today so that would probably say mine is inner ear related ( I should know by now but don't want to accept it) Appt. with a cranio sacral therapist Monday just in case.

 

Sounds like somatic tinnitus caused from nerves in the neck see a physiotherapest

 

I have the same..If I press on temples sometimes forehead or strain neck it gets louder

I would suggest trigger point therapy...it's worth a shot.

 

Aloha just read your post I also havev tight muscle problems on my neck due to degenrated disk which doctor says its common but I had tinnitus June 9th 2013 just came on suddenly woke up and burgess there ? The first three months I was on anxiety medication and sleeping pills after two weeks I stop both of them due to the side effects of the medication I didn't want to get addicted to them Three months I was on anxiety medication and sleeping pills after two weeks I stop both of them due to the side effects of the medication I didn't want to get addicted to them So I stopped I've been on no medication for.
So I stopped I've been on no medication for My ringing I am doing great I know the ringing has to do it my neck because when my neck gets stiff my ringing gets louder than normal and the tone changes but lately I've been exercising every day and my ringing is a lot softer

 

Sounds like you need to find the right sort of physical therapy and you might be OK.