Ringing Won't Go Away

I can't deal with this by myself any longer. I hope I can find someone who has a similar problem.My tinnitus started over a month ago when I rehurt my neck. I have a bulging disc in my neck. C 3-4, C4-5. I hurt it the first time back in October last year.Had severe muscle spasms that sent me to the hospital. They put me on muscle relaxers and sent me to physical therapy. It helped but I kept rehurting it. This last time was the worst and instead of going back to the PT, I chose a chiropractor.

He's a good one and has helped me a lot. This recent incident has caused some tinnitus in both ears. It was so bad I couldn't stand to lay down on my neck.It was waking me up in the night. When I got up it would get better until it was almost gone. My neck has been swelling a lot and the tinnitus is worse then but when the swelling went down the tinnitus got better too. It gets raging bad after I visit my chiro because it makes the swelling worse. I also have a bulging disc in my lower back that has been swelling.I use lots of ice on my neck and back to get the swelling down in both.

I've had a weird problem with sitting on soft surfaces.Anything with a cushion aggrivates my tinnitus. My neck gets real stiff and the tinnitus starts screaming so loud I can't concentrate on anything. I have to sit on a hard chair with a towl on it so my bottom won't get sore. I don't understand this neck strain I'm getting when I sit down, and I can't find anything about it online thats like this. Its recently been getting worse and its doing it even on my hard chair. I think it may be connected to my back but im not sure.The first time I got bad neck strain from sitting that caused the tinnitus to act up was when I tried to sit on a donut cushion to relieve my disc pain in my back. After that I couldn't sit on anything soft or I'd get the neck strain and loud ringing.

Recently I've been doing a squat for 2 min. every day for my back. Its stretched my back out and helped it a lot. It hasn't been swelling at all since i started doing the squat. I just sit in a squat for 2 min. The last few times I did the squat, I've been getting really dizzy when I stand up. Since the sitting problems got worse I've stopped some of the supplements the chiro had me take hoping it would help but it hasn't changed since it got worse over a week ago. I just recently stopped doing the squat because I think it may have caused this somehow.

Has anybody had anything like this happen to them? Could it be some sort of weird muscle strain? I'm worried that I may have done permanent damage and this screaming in my ears and stiff neck won't quit.

I have really bad anxiety and my husband thinks its what is causing it. but when this got worse I wasn't having any anxiety at all. In fact my neck was feeling good when this got worse.This loud screaming in my ears has caused my anxiety to start up and I know its just feeding it but I'll be perfectly fine and as soon as i sit down it starts up and THEN I get anxiety.Then my anxiety keeps it going all day.

Why does my neck keep getting so strained when I sit down? Did that squat cause this? Will it get better if i stop doing the squat?

I'm taking a break from the chiro this week to see if it will calm down.If anyone has ever had this happen or has advise I would really like to hear it. I'm scared and worried.

 

Welcome @mabear73.

You have arrived at the right place. You will find this an very supportive and sympathetic forum. A place where you will find people who can actually understand what you are going through because they either have, or are going through the same thing.

The good news here is that you will not have to deal with this by yourself. We are here for you. With this forum, you don't have to go at this alone. We have members with expert knowledge ( @Michael Leigh), and members who are extremely supportive, kind, and sympathetic ( @Bobbie7, @billie48 , and too many others to list). I would highly recommend searching out their posts for information and inspirational support.

I, personally, cannot attribute my tinnitus to anything (I have had it my entire life), but I am certain that a number of people here have had experiences similar to at least parts of you own.

I am not a doctor, am not qualified to diagnose anything, and despite my identical twin brother being a chiropractor, I am not necessarily a believer in chiropractics. But, the fact that sitting on soft surfaces aggravates your tinnitus, to my untrained mind, would possibly point to some spinal/cervical issue.

Have you consulted an M.D.? Your case, if it is caused by a spinal/cervical issue, may be curable.

Anxiety and depression often accompany, and can be caused by, tinnitus. The unrelenting ringing can take a toll on one's mental well-being. Hang in there, you will get through this.

I completely understand and sympathize. There are many success stories on this forum, seek them out. Also, many people have learned to habituate (learn to ignore the sound so that it is like it is not even there), or have been cured. There is hope. And, you will always have this forum, and the wonderfully caring and supportive members that comprise this community, to give support as you work through your tinnitus.

Try not to worry (I know, much easier said than done), there is a light a the end of the tunnel.

 

Hi @Kolisar - Since you have had tinnitus your entire life, I am curious to know if your twin brother has tinnitus as well? Although I suppose you may never know the answer... either you were subjected to noise trauma when you were very young, merely had a predisposition toward developing it really early or were simply born with it. There are so many mysteries with tinnitus. Take care.

 

Hi @mabear73 - I'm sorry to hear of your present difficulties. Although I can add nothing further to what @Kolisar has already said, I agree that you should consult your doctor, explain all your symptoms and he can then make referral(s) to those specialists he feels who would best serve you. One of the physicians may suggest you take an MRI to determine what is occurring with your neck and back.

I realize you are experiencing great discomfort presently but it would be best if you can at least try to reduce your stress level since we all know that this can exacerbate any existing physical condition. I hope you can find relief soon and keep us posted.

Sending best wishes,
Barbara

 

Thank you for answering my post so quickly! I have had 2 MRI's.One for my neck and one for my back.They each showed bulging discs in both and the chiro took an x-ray of my neck before he did anything to it.Thanks to him I can now move my head much better.When he showed me the x-ray, he explained everything with my neck very well.I have a disc that is collapsing and squashing down causing a bulge.It pinches a nerve that causes a lot of pain when it acts up.Its definately an issue with my spine, I'll talk to my chiro about this the next time I go in.Its just really scary when it happens.It makes me feel like I'm not in my body.It makes me light headed and things seem weird.I can't think straight or focus on anything.It seems to just take over when it happens.I feel out of control because I can't figure it out.I have exercises I do every day for my neck but it doesn't help the ringing.I hate going to bed at night,its miserable and takes me forever to get to sleep.If I can at all.As soon as I lay my head down it starts screaming.I feel like I'm losing my mind.I keep aggrivating my neck on my pillow.I pretty much don't sleep on a pillow. I sleep way down at the bottom of it and use a sheet to cradle my neck and sides of my head.Its the only way I can figure out how to sleep.My neck has lost its curve and it can't handle a pillow with any thickness to it.I sleep on a soft memory foam mat for my back and I have the pillow butted up against it.I sleep as flat as I can get.I try to get my ears lined up with my shoulders so I don't cause any more strain but I think its getting strained anyways.I fight with it every night to get it comfortable.I dread going to sleep.

 

Hi again @mabear73 - If you are having difficulty sleeping, it might be a good idea to mask with a fan or a sound device which features pleasant music or the sounds of nature.
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Here is a past post by @billie48, someone who is very knowledgeable:

I wish to add some suggestions in masking the new spiking T. Firstly, most spikes will settle down after some time. So don't panic and get too anxious. Anxiety and stress are bad for T. So for the time being, perhaps try masking your T. Even partial masking is better than nothing. Give the brain time to absorb in the new T level by masking as you go. Here are some masking ideas:

1) At bed time, you may want to consider a sound machine or sound pillow.

2) On-the-go, I used to have an ipad. Nowadays, people can use smart phone.

3) If you have PC speakers, consider these masking sites:
TT's own audio player with great masking sounds:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/audioplayer/

If you need more masking sounds for PC, here is free ‘aire freshener’:
http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html

Rain sounds are soothing indeed. How about making your own rain sounds with this rain generator:
http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/rainNoiseGenerator.php

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In addition, do a search on the forum for masking/sleeping and you will have more suggestions to consider.

Take care and I hope you feel better soon.

 

thank you so much for helping me, you guys have made this much more bearable. It's nice to be able to talk to people who are dealing with this, too. I never imagined it could be this bad and intrusive. Thank you for the links I'll check those out.I also went and read billie48's story.It gave me lots of hope that I'll be able to deal with this in a better way instead of panicking constantly over it. I have severe anxiety, too and this has just made it spike to levels I have never experienced before.My husband is beside himself, he just doesn't know how to help me. I hope I can figure out what is going on soon or learn to live with it.I've had a major spike in the T since my last chiro visit.I'm hoping if I skip this week's visit It'll calm down.If it does, I don't know if I'll go back at least for a while.

 

@mabear73 ,
I have Ostio arthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis in my back ,neck,hands ,knees and most joints and spondilosis .
You might find a TENS machine helpful for pain and tinnitus...
Love glynis

 

Yes in fact I have thought about getting a tens machine.They use one on me at the chiro.I have bad muscle spasms on my left side of my neck because of the pinched nerve and its been helping with that a lot. I'm on myscle relaxers and I was hoping to get off them soon.I would have to get a much cheaper one though, but I have thought about it.

 

@mabear73 ,
This is the link to the one I have.
Med-fit 1 Duel TENS
http://www.med-fit.co.uk/tens-and-stimulation/tens-machines.html

 

Hi @Bobbie7. Sadly, I am not close to him (or pretty much anyone). And as strange as it may seem, I have no idea. I just phoned him and asked, The answer is "no". Interesting. I am now very curious how I ended up with it and he did not.

 

Thank you glynis for the link.These are the nice portable ones too.I was curious about those.They aren't too expensive either!

 

I've been using the Salonpas patches. I used them again last night and woke up to the ringing very loud.I think they may be making the T worse but I don't know for sure. Has anyone used these patches and had this happen?