PSA: Electroacupuncture — Be Aware of the Risk of Tinnitus Getting Worse, Permanently

So, here's what you do if someone attempts to perform electroacupuncture on your head and neck related to tinnitus.

Take the electrical pulse generator (mechanism) and bash them over the head with it. Should they make further attempts at treatment, continuously bash them over the head until unconscious.

Electroacupuncture gave me two new tones (high pitch/brake pads grinding, electrical spark sensation/morse code chirping that drives me insane), pulsatile tinnitus, hyperacusis and unique daily ear pain. These have been going on for 1.5 years without an end in sight.

Don't even think about letting some quack do this to you all in the name of Qui, Chi, Chow, Chunk or whatever it is. Regular acupuncture is "fine" as it will more than likely just drain your bank account.

PSA end, newcomer advice begin.

 

Today I went for electroacupuncture. My tinnitus today was the lowest it had been since the outset. I was honestly relieved and even told the acupuncturist how it had dropped in the last 24 hours - I had completely lost a tone.

After a brief session, I left her office and it is now at such a level that it is scaring me, certainly as loud as it has ever been.

I'm writing this for two purposes.

1) I want to contribute a datapoint that my tinnitus got worse exactly after this procedure.

2) I am freaking out because my tinnitus got worse after this procedure when it had just been excellent! I am praying to god this is not permanent.

Did yours ever go down? Today after electroacupuncture my tinnitus is the worst it has ever been... I am honestly scared for my life.

 

All symptoms have lowered but all exist at some level and increase after noise exposure. I think the electroacupuncture "gifts" are also tied to my hyperacusis. I would bet in time it returns to baseline should you not have hyperacusis. Is the increase in both ears or one? What side were the needles placed? Yup, EA is shit.

 

I have tinnitus and hyperacusis in both ears, though tinnitus is worse in the right and hyperacusis is worse in the left. It has since come down, but not sure if it came down to the level of near-silence I was experiencing before I got the acupuncture. It did not induce any new tones, thankfully. I can't say how the trend would have looked had I not gone - whether it would be the same or much better. I suppose I am just thankful that it is not as bad as it was when I made my initial comment.

I would still rank my tinnitus a 6/10 vs the 9 or 10 it was prior. My hyperacusis is maybe a 2-3, with only clinking plates/glasses and other somewhat loud noises causing me discomfort.

 

This is good news!

 

@StubbyJ sorry to hear you have had such difficulty with your adverse reactions from electro-acupuncture. I can 100% clarify that its not just with electro-acupuncture, I have got exactly what you have got just from normal acupuncture, I only had one session too. I started getting a fluttering to my left ear half way through the treatment, told the acupuncturist and she just said it was down to increased blood flow. Well that was a load of BS, as that was the start of my hyperacusis kicking in. I have dull pains and aches on the side of my head with tingling also, and constant high pitch screams/morse code, now in both ears - seems to be getting worse. Avoiding acupuncture full stop is key! I only had very mild tinnitus previously.

 

So sorry to hear this... I have this too recently not through acupuncture and it’s a horrible tone to have x

 

Did your tinnitus ever go back down? Jesus this is horrifying. I just had one session last week and I'm beside myself with grief.

 

@TinaRuns - unfortunately not, the acupuncturist damaged my inner ear, plus has left me with PPPD (constant dizziness). Where did they put the needles?

 

Where were the needles placed on your acupuncture? I've been having electro dry needling in my trap area where there are a lot of knots. I haven't noticed an increase in my tinnitus.

 

Hi. I'm so sorry your tinnitus never went back down. Have you habituated or are you still struggling?

He put the needles just under my ear -- 3 of them, kind of in a direct line below the center of the ear (but on my neck). He also placed several on my earlobes. But I'm connecting the damage somehow to those placed under my ear. The volume decreases a little during the day (still bad but more bearable), but it ramps up like crazy overnight, which we all know is the worst. I'm back to barely sleeping and had to take a Benadryl after 5 hrs last night. I'm hearing a bunch of new sounds, too.

I've been reading all of the acupuncture threads searching for hope. Some say they improved with acupuncture. Some say that they got worse before they got better. I cannot imagine enduring anything again that made your tinnitus worse, so I won't be doing that.

Do you mind my asking where they placed your needles? And what sounds you noticed and when? Have they declined in volume at all?

My ENT says acupuncture wouldn't make tinnitus worse. I know they often don't know (although he's pretty sympathetic, very experienced (retired surgeon), and had tinnitus pretty bad himself). But I just can't figure out WHY acupuncture might make tinnitus worse. If we knew why, then we could try to work on a solution.

Do you have any ideas about why?

 

It's been horrendous, I am still very much struggling, it's like I've had my whole life taken away from me. I've not been able to do anything really for the last three months. What is worse is that I didn't even need the acupuncture in the first place, it was just a tiny bit of ringing that I had for not even two weeks. I had visited the audiologist and it was more about him freaking me out because of having mild/moderate hearing loss in both ears, but that wasn't showing up on my tinnitus levels back then so I should of just concentrated on what I was actually experiencing rather than fearing what could possibly happen, hence looking for 'quick fixes' because I was worried about the mild ringing getting worse. This has certainly been a huge lesson to learn and massive obstacles to deal with.

The acupuncturist put three big needles on the crown of my head, biggest mistake to of done. I haven't a clue why she put three, I know Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncturists do often treat the head when they work on conditions but three, all close to one another too, I am not sure why she did that. The tinnitus hadn't increased until the early hours of the next day, I was woken up by a tortuous sound in my head and then from there the nightmare began, they were screams, screeches, musical tinnitus, drilling, all sounds fluctuating between the head and ears, she also gave me hyperacusis. The tinnitus was very severe at first but after I managed to calm myself down, I did notice the volume slightly decreased, from a piercing sound to a slightly softer one, it was still bad though, but over the time I was able to manage it better despite it still being very loud, no means habituating to it, very much constantly fixed on the noise every minute. Then I get COVID-19, which has been another huge obstacle to overcome, this unfortunately worsened my tinnitus and hasn't decreased in volume since, plus it's added some new tones, including a loud engine humming that is vibrating my whole head.

I think with yours, you will be fine, the fact that you have already started to notice that the volume has decreased is a good sign, give it time. You are only a week in aren't you? My ENT also said the same thing, that acupuncture can't make it worse but I disagree with that statement. I think acupuncture has it's uses for pain relief and that's it, it should never be used on tinnitus, it's too complicated of an area to be worked on. I would love to know the answer to why acupuncture can make tinnitus worse myself but it is such a grey area. My brain is truly frazzled from doing so much research and getting no where. Have you followed up with your acupuncturist and explained what has happened?

 

Oh Jesus I'm so sorry. That sounds so much like exactly what happened with me, except I've had horrendous tinnitus in the past -- but I had surgery to correct and was just finally feeling better a couple of months before this happened.

But I had dental drilling two weeks ago (root canal re-do), which very depressingly increased my tinnitus to medium (was improving some though). I was in the midst of hoping that would improve. And I didn't even go to this guy for acupuncture! I also thought I caught COVID-19, and was having headaches I didn't have before. So a friend suggested Chinese medicine might help. That's what I wanted to try. When I arrived, I learned that he performed acupuncture, so I thought it might be worth a try.

Then exactly like you -- the rest of the day was fine. Then I woke up early the next morning to a variety of very loud noises. I knew instantly that the acupuncture was the reason. I am very careful in life, eat healthy, exercise, and avoid loud noises totally. So I know something was terribly wrong.

Those freaky noises have mostly subsided but the volume now is higher -- definitely enhanced.

Were you vaccinated from COVID-19? I'm just wondering if that gives any protection from tinnitus worsening. I understand when people with tinnitus don't get vaccinated. It's terrifying because the vaccines can make tinnitus worse for sure. After a lot of thought, despite being pro-vaccine, I decided to get my booster in December. I was just too worried that vivid might make my tinnitus worse.

Have you tried taking NAC, Tinnitus Formula (Arches), and maybe Curcumin, B12, and Magnesium?

You will get better. I am extremely depressed but it DOES get easier. I have good moments in life. The worst for me right now is that even my machines don't block the noise (they did before). And the sound is there first thing in the morning pretty loud. Before mornings were very tolerable and I didn't even need the speakers until mid afternoon. My tinnitus gets worse as the day goes on. Now I immediately need my speaker right beside me before I even get out of bed. And sleeping had been much better but is suffering again -- waking often and not sleeping enough. That's the worst. And I refuse to take medication that could make it worse and have other bad side effects. I'm a runner and that helps with anxiety and depression but it isn't enough.

I just started the supplements after as long break from them. And I'm hoping and praying this will get better. All of my previous spikes eventually went back down but I'm really worried about this one - two punch from the dental drilling + acupuncture. It's definitely not subsiding the way it usually does. I've had a few spikes that lasted 1-2 months from medication. I just have to pray this falls into the same category.

One other thing. My ENT is really good, very experienced, and has bad tinnitus himself. He's extremely well-respected by other doctors in my community. He says that there is a very promising tinnitus treatment with a high cure rate in clinical trials now, and maybe ready to go by 2023. That date might change because of COVID-19 issues. But still. He said there have been many trials but this one supposedly is really helping a lot of people. So there is hope.

And even that never happens. You will get better. It takes a long time but some aspects get easier. A lot of my life is still very affected. But I do have some good times. It helps to be around other people, do a project, or get outside. I know that's easier said than done.

 

Oh and I did just now tell the acupuncturist what happened. He said he's never had anyone have a bad reaction.

I am also dealing with some digestive issues caused by harsh antibiotics I took last year (normally I'm very healthy so all of this has been hell, to say the least). But I decided to go back to acupuncture with the hope that he could possibly help my digestive issues and anxiety / depression. But I told him nothing above the neck or on the neck. I allowed one needle on the center of my throat because I've had phlegm in my throat from the digestive issues. But otherwise nothing on the neck or head or near my ear.

I just finished so hopefully tonight will be calmer.

He asked if he could do acupressure on my head and near my ears. I declined near my ears, although that was tempting because I guess he thinks it might help -- and I can't imagine any pressure around my ear would hurt anything. But I decided to be ultra cautious and decline. On my head, he basically just rubbed lightly on the crown of my head. There's no way that could hurt, I don't think. I do much more just washing my hair!

 

Hey, gosh you sound like you have been through it too! frustrating with the dentist and then the acupuncture... What actually caused your tinnitus originally?

Yeah I am like you, very cautious, eat well and clean, meditation, yoga, walking etc... I actually am against the vaccine so didn't want to take that as also heard it can make tinnitus worse, had no idea that the virus alone can cause permanent worsening of pre-existing tinnitus. So frustrating, as it was the physiotherapist that gave me COVID-19, other than that I hadn't even been anywhere, talk about a bad case of luck. As I start to pluck up the courage to venture out again, boom - COVID-19 then attacks me! back to square one.

In terms of supplements - I take Ashwagandha, Multivitamins, Probiotics and Turmeric/Curcumin/Chia seeds. I was taking Magnesium Citrate, but that seems to aggravate my tinnitus.

I am actually contemplating on giving Nicotinamide Riboside a try, have you heard of it? it's expensive but there was some guy on this forum that said it was really helpful with his tinnitus. It's expensive but definitely worth a try. I also have been looking into Liam Boehm, I know a lot on here think he is a scammer but when doing some research into the things he suggests, he does have some strong points that could possible help reduce the tinnitus, i.e meats, fasting etc so will see if any of that helps too. I also want to try in particular the fasting for my eye floaters that I got from the acupuncture, which I think there is a direct link with tinnitus. It's like I went to the acupuncturist and she actually gave me proper tinnitus along with hyperacusis, bizarre what needles can do hey. From doing a lot of research over the last few months, and reading so much of peoples stories on this forum in particular - my symptoms seem to resemble an acoustic trauma/damage, but for me it's without the 'noise induced' but basically she has damaged my nerve.

So you use masking for the majority of the day then? I can't do that as it seems to aggravate my tinnitus and then makes it louder, I've gone back to not watching TV or listening to any kind of music as that is what helped decrease the tinnitus last time, and then I slowly introduced more sound when I felt my ears can tolerate it again. I do sleep with the window open though and have at least a bit of natural noise in the background, i.e hearing the cars in the distance on the road. I am also like you with regards to not taking any medications, I won't! the only pill I take in an emergency for sleep is Zopiclone. I take a few here and there once in a while depending on how loud my tinnitus gets - basically when it fluctuates to my head and makes the most horrendous sounds . I had to take quite a few at the beginning as you can imagine, adjusting to full wack tinnitus was hard so these pills helped but they are not for regular use so I came off them as soon as I could. I can sleep naturally though most of the time, but been waking up with pure anxiety most of the time in the mornings due to the noises, I mostly get the musical tinnitus in both ears with new tones of constant high pitched frequencies/low frequencies, this was from COVID-19. I hear the tinnitus over everything, I can't mask it even if I tried.

That's really interesting information about what your ENT says, I have been looking into the Otonomy treatment, that looks promising - is that the one he is possibly talking about? I appreciate you mentioning that though as it gives me a bit of encouragement and hope. I have been so depressed since this whole ordeal, also had PTSD from the whole trauma of the acupuncture session. I still get angry at myself for doing such a stupid thing!!

Ah so you went back to the acupuncturist and had another session, but yes it's good that you didn't let him anywhere near your head. So how is your tinnitus levels now? how are your migraines? I have had the last two days of terrible ones - I actually need to have an MRI which I have been putting off due to the loud noises it makes. I have been researching machines for the last few months but can't find a machine where they will let me use double protection, only earplugs. So frustrating!!!