Possible "Neck Issue" Tinnitus

Today i went to dr and started getting my neck looked after. I was given 10 mg of cyclobenzaprine to get things calmed down. My dr said i could take them long term if they helped the T. I have a MRI in the morning and then off to see a neurosurgeon soon. I will keep you posted on the progress and will try to keep track of what works for me.

 

I took 2 doses of muscle relaxers yesterday and by early evening my T had all but disappeared. I am hopeful i am on the right track. It did make me very tired by the evening but i can deal with that for now. I had a cervical mri yesterday and took the day off work to just lay around and relax. I got up today and my T was about 1/2 of what i normally have in the morning. I am supposed to get an appointment with a neurosurgeon soon to see if they can help with some of my neck issues.

 

To everyone having a neck problem related to tinnitus, I tried putting the tiger balm heat pads (the really good plaster RD type) on my neck. It seemed to help because the next day the ringing was greatly reduced. Although there have been other nights where it has stayed the same with such a pad or reduced without a pad, there seems to be a positive correlation between the pad and the tinnitus.
Tell me if this works for you.

 

Thanks for the update eric. I will try that to see. I have been getting blocks in my neck for the past month or so. Last week i was given one into the nerve root at c6/7. I was great for the 4 hours then it wore off. I am scheduled to have ACDF surgery next week to replace a failed disk
http://www.spine-health.com/video/anterior-cervical-discectomy-and-fusion-acdf-video

I will say while having the shots the T goes completely away but it comes roaring back as the shots wear off. Not sure if surgery is the answer but need to have my neck fixed regardless.

 

Having a CAT scan next week. My ENT said that the neck absolutely causes Tinnitus. I have spent countless hours for years doing graphic design and illustration on my computer. Sometimes when I move from the screen for a minute and look at my desk my neck cracks terribly. When I lay down, or sit on the couch my T can be aggressive. But if I get up and walk or do physical activity it can stop. I never was exposed to loud noise during my lifetime. Sometimes when I sit on the couch and I bend my neck around and from side to side the noise goes away for a few seconds. Once I become stationary the T is right back. It remains a mystery for now. Another thing when I am sitting at my computer and stretch my spine, my head throbs with pulse . Don't know if this is coincidence or related to the T but my right eye was hurting this week also, sort of like a pressure hurt. But last year I did have dry eye. I had a treatment called Lippiflow, which took care of dry eye. Now it feels dry again with some minor pain. I stopped taking Lorazepan going on four days. I was on .5 mg for two months to sleep. I am beginning to think this has much more to do with spine, neck etc and not ears alone. Edgar Casey said in a few trances that Tinnitus was related to the spine.

 

Carl, please keep us updated on how and if the surgery helped with your tinnitus.. also what is wrong with your neck? I have bulging disc,at c5c6 and a hemangioma at c5 area.and also narrowing in that area.

 

This is interesting, like Bob Long I too am a professional musician (drummer), I have had T for 25 years, I'm 43 now so I should be getting used to it, recently my T has been getting worse, it's really affecting my daily life, I was convinced that my hearing must have deteriorated, a recent hearing test concluded there isn't much change since my last hearing test in 2003, I have been suffering with lots of neck and upper back pain due to bad posture, after a recent tour I was laid up for a few days with torticollis, and recently a trapped nerve, my neck makes a grinding noise when I move it, I now think there may be link between this and the increased levels of T ?

 

Wow, I thought I was the only one who woke up one day with T and a pulled neck muscle (give or take 1 or 2 days apart). I woke up with my neck chin down and turned to the side, it was terrible. I noticed an improvement of about 50% after 1 week of neck physical therapy but i'm still missing the other 50%. The 2 ENT doctors I have visited do not think its related. The 50% improvement came from going from a high pitch sound to more of hiss but at times its mild.
What has worked for the neck? Who are the specialist for this?

 

Hi, has anyone here had success with their T? I just joined, but haven't seen any updates on this thread since April.

 

I had surgery 6 weeks ago to replace my disk in c5/6. My T did not go away 100% but it is greatly diminished. In fact i only hear it when i lay on my right side. I still think my T is neck related but might just be more involved then one disk. I do know i have a second disk issue but less sever but it is above the one i just had surgery on. I would say since i healed up from surgery my T is still the same pitch but about 70% less volume. If you suspect it is your neck do a lot of research, neck surgery for T is really hit and miss and could potentially be more than just one disk or nerve.

 

Thanks for the update Carl. I just reposted neck muscles causing tinnitus, but do you think yours was caused by compressed nerves in your neck? Did you have problems with your arms or hands? I may need a fusion in the same area as you, but have minimal problems with my arms. I noticed my left hand goes numb once in awhile though. The noise is by far my worst symptom, very debilitating.

Did you have a fusion or a artificial disc replacement? Thanks!

 

my issue started across my shoulder blades. i did have some numbness down my arms and funny bone sometimes would flare up. Was dealing with a disk that was basically gone and had bone spurs facing my spinal cord so they took it out completely. Surgery and recovery were not too bad but still under restrictions. My disk was replaced with cadaver and also fussed. They go in from the front. My biggest issue with the entire surgery was esophagus is moved and with the swelling in the front of the fusion it created a ledge that would choke me with every bite. That lasted about 3 weeks then was fine. That part was painful but disk and incision never hurt.

 

@Carl Horton, Did you have static hissing sounds in your ears/head?

 

Hey @Carl Horton - Thanks for the update! How did you get your condition diagnosed? Is there a specific doctor you went to see about getting your neck examined?

 

My sound was just high pitch ringing. I discovered it by accident. I noticed on night that if I lay one way it was louder so i started to experiment. One thing that has been steady was neck pain and ear ringing. I still believe it is a neck issue but the disk I had replaced obviously took pressure off something. I went to a neck dr and he was treating my bad disk issue and while i mentioned my T to him he never treated me for T. I think my gain was just a side effect of fixing the disk. Still much much quieter since that surgery. Not gone but i have gone several weeks now without really noticing it. It still is louder if i lay on my right side. I ordered a high-end king bed that should be here in a week too to just get a better laying position and take some of the pressure points in my neck away. My wife and i may switch sides of the bed so I can lay on my left and still cuddle. I hope this helps someone, i still worry that one day just like a few years ago it comes raging back. Not sure how to know if the diminished ringing will last.

 

Thanks Carl for your response! It's encouraging to know what helps others. I hope the dreaded noise never comes back for you. I know most orthopaedic surgeons don't think the neck has anything to do with tinnitus.

 

@Carl Horton this is an incredibly inspiring story. Did your "neck doctor" have a title? I've been to see several doctors - neurologists, maxillofacial surgeons, and even a chiropractor - and they all agree that "something is going on with [my] head and neck area" but they don't have specific suggestions. I'm starting physical therapy next week; it would be great if I can get my neck taken a look at. My chiropractor took x-rays at the start of treatment back in February and found "significant cervicalgia", so her treatments have been all neck-alignment based, and they really help me tremendously.

 

My Dr is a orthopedic surgeon here in Montana. The surgery i had done was as an outpatient. My biggest issue was my esophagus was out of wack for 3 weeks. choked on a lot of food, but nothing really painful. I did a lot of research on this dr since he is new to the area, but he was very very good. I can share his name if you message me and want more info.

 

Thanks, Carl! We've got some great orthos here in Boston, so I'm going to see if they can take a look at some tests I had done early on.

 

Yes it might be a good route to explore. I had ct and ex-rays done. I got to review them with the dr during a pre-op visit. While he was looking at my 5/6 neck issue i was looking behind the ear. There is a massive amount of nerves, veins and so forth in that area. I think that when i lay or my right ear that gravity allows one nerve to settle on top of another. Because i had constant swelling in my neck area it is almost like my deal is something being compressed. Neck surgery would reduce that swelling and "maybe" eased up on that compression. It did not remove it 100% but maybe enough to relieve it. So my T might actually be a physical issue. I may just keep collecting info and talk to an ear specialist down the road.

 

Thanks, @Carl Horton - Out of curiosity, how loud did your Tinnitus get? Was it unilateral or bilateral? Was it a hiss with a tone? Some other sound? And how frequently did it wax and wane?

 

It came on one day has hight pitch. I can hear nothing over 10k in left ear. Once it started it never stopped in over 2 years. Never hissed or any other sound.

 

Interesting. Thanks, @Carl Horton. My doctor reviewed some x-rays, and out of an abundance of caution, has ordered a Cervical MRI for me. She also prescribed baclofen (10 mg), which she indicated might help. It's slightly different from your Flexiril (which the doctor told me had a cardiovascular risk to people with tachycardia histories, like me!), but hopefully it will produce similar results.

 

at the time my Flexeril made my T much worse. Over the past couple months i have been home. Not only did i have my neck operated on i was also in Seattle 5 weeks ago to fix ongoing issues from prostate cancer i had removed 6 years ago. Still c free but there are always issues that crop up down the road. I have been watching everything i do with my neck. Sitting in bed, driving car, **still not able to lift** neck position, reading, on laptop, walking. Just about every movement i make i am making a very big effort to see if T gets louder or softer. I am still convinced mine is in my neck.
Last night was a first for me. I am a side sleeper so i generally lay on the right facing the fan and the T goes up
Last night i started on my left for about 1/2 hour and all was quiet, then i rolled onto my right without the fan on. What happened was i got some clicking noises, click and tone increased, couple more clicks and tone increased. It did this about a minute until I finally rolled back on left side and T went away like a train pulling away from the station, it just quietly faded away.. When I tried again to roll onto the right it was just the opposite.

 

Attacking Tinnitus,have you done anything yet to get neck checked and if so what did doctors say and do?

 

Carl,just wondering if you are still having low tinnitus days?also Carl,did you have tinnitus in both ears or just one ?

 

Yea it is my 2 year anniversary here. I will have my 1 year check up for my neck surgery in a month or so. I am doing really good with that. It relieved all my neck and back pain once i got healed up. T has either been gone that whole time or some days i hear it a little but for the most part i think my neck fixed me up.

 

Yes most days i have no tinnitus. I had it mainly on my left side and interesting enough my spine was pressing up against my spinal cord on my right side. I am still believing my case was my neck.

 

Thanks god someone who believes it too (with the others here in the forum ofc)
As my T started during learning with my neck down but noon of the ENT wanted to believe it, they all gave me stuff for the ears which I told them wont have any effect on my T. Depending on my neck pain my T also reacts to it. However i'm a bit young to a doc and tell them here operate me now (although my MRI showed that my C4/C5/C6 are dislocated)
But thanks god, now there is hope for us who believe that T can come due to neck problems

 

My CT neck shows loss of cervical lordosis due to muscle spasms. I am soon going to start PT and hope to ease my tinnitus a bit.