Slowly Losing the Will with This...

Hello everyone. Newbie here with first post. Warning - it's going to be a long one. Some of this may not be at all relevant to my ears but I figured I'd give a history.

I’m 47 and until March this year, had kept myself reasonably fit. I had been running 3 times a week and regularly lift weights. The only thing I have historically had is a bad case of labrythitis about 7 years ago but I’ve not had it since.

Back in March I had four migraines with aura. I'd never had migraines before so these came as a real shock. I went to see a GP who just told me to get on with it and said it was probably caused by stress as my son has some ongoing medical issues. In between the migraines I had this strange feeling around my right ear that and as I didn't know what it was, I explained it to the GP as a 'headache behind the ear'. The GP gave me some Amitryptiline which I didn't take as I don't really like taking tablets. One day at the end of March I woke up with a completely dead left arm. The GP told me to go to A&E and I had a CT scan to rule out a brain tumour as my father died of this. Nothing showed up on the scan and I was sent home. I haven't had any migraines since. My anxiety at this point was through the roof!

Over the following month I saw about 5 different GP's about this 'headache behind the ear'. I explained that it was throbbing and asked if I had an ear infection. Each doctor said there was no infection and either sent me on my way or gave me tablets to take (Naproxen being one of them and a beta blocker being another - I didn't take those either).

The dead arm that I had at the end of March never returned but I did have some strange sensations in my arms. Not muscular pain, more of a shooting pain. I saw a physio who wanted to look at my lymph nodes and when he touched in my armpits there was sharp pains. He asked if I had any cancer in the family and suggested I see a GP for a breast check. My anxiety levels were stratospheric at this point. I saw a GP the next day who did a breast check and checked my lymph nodes and suspected that the reason the physio had triggered pain was tense muscles.

The shooting arm pains didn't go away so I visited an osteopath who said I had a chronic stiff neck and the migraines were likely to be occipital neuralgia. He also said that the stiff neck could cause the dizziness. I had a Cervical Spine MRI last week and have been told that I have bulging discs at C5/C6 and this is pressing on a nerve and the shooting pains were basically as a result of that. Apparently with lots of rest, this shouldn't give me too much grief. I only really mention this because of my issue with anxiety.

The osteopath did suggest that I gradually get back into running again in the hope that the PT is caused by anxiety. I have been to the gym 3 times in the last week (gentle sessions with no weights only) and have to say that on days when I’ve been to the gym I feel great.

Still going on at the same time as my neck issues was the 'headache behind the ear'. The latest doctor I saw gave me a diagnosis of PT and told me it'd probably clear up, smiled at me and opened the surgery door. This was about 8 weeks ago. It's only in my right ear and is definitely improving since having the MRI so I'm wondering if the PT has been caused by neck problems and then exacerbated by extreme anxiety.

If I touch my neck, my ear lobe or my temple I can stop the pulsing (it only takes a light touc). Similarly, if I wear a headband that covers my ears, it also reduces it slightly. I can also stop it if I lay on it or bend my head towards my right shoulder. It's not worse at night like many of you seem to suffer with. When I wake up in the morning it's non-existent until my day gets going. When the PT is going on mildly, I can make it worse by turning my head to the left. It’s also worse when I’m sitting at my computer but much better if I’m up and about. That’s why I’m wondering if this is related to my neck.

In the last couple of days I have begun to suffer with ear pain, fullness and sensitive hearing. This sucks.

I've been reading up on the physical symptoms of anxiety and everything I've been suffering with could, in theory, be down to that. Even the shooting pains down the arms could be linked to anxiety as well as the sensitivity to certain sounds. I’ve also been reading about stiffness of the SCM and scelenes muscles and stiffness here can also give many of the PT symptoms I’ve been having.

So, my questions to you very knowledgeable people is:
- Could a chronic stiff neck cause the PT hence it being better in the morning when I’m relaxed?
- Do you think the PT is worsened by the anxiety over my son and my suspected brain tumour/breast cancer?

None of the GP’s I’ve seen seem interested in referring me to anyone so I have asked my osteopath if he can do a referral for me. Bearing in mind the ear fullness and sound sensitivity is the more annoying problem at the moment would an ENT person be best at this stage?

Any thoughts or anyone else had anything similar?

Vicky x

 

If nothing showed up with the CT I'd forget about having a brain tumor. Dont stress about that. If you dont feel any lumps in your breast then I wouldnt stress about that either. I dont know what is going on with your son but it seems as if that's causing you some stress and you said you have a stiff neck. I've read that PT can be caused by neck problems, misalignment and TMJ issues. Stress can cause that too. I'm not a doctor but it seems like your culprit could be stress. You said you dont like taking pills and I agree, I wouldnt take pharmaceuticals for stress either. I take CBD oil for anxiety and I really feel like that helps a lot, and helps my sleep like a rock. That's all I can recommend.

 

@JohnAdams
Does the CBD oil have any effect on your Tinnitus volume?
Louder - Softer?

 

Directly, I do not believe so. Certainly not louder for sure. I do believe that it helps with anxiety, and really helps me sleep and those things seem to be what impacts my tinnitus in a positive way. What's really weird is that my T goes away, many nights completely, when I'm asleep. I know this because I will get up to get water or go to the bathroom and when I lay my ear on my pillow there is often times silence.

 

@Greg Sacramento might be able to answer this.

Isn't it the case that you can stop worrying about having a brain tumor, since your CT scan was clean?

 

@Bill Bauer @ @Vicky17 PT can be caused by many things, but often it deep nerve fibers. With the neck it can be just nerve fibers that extend to the bottom of the scull.

The first thing that a doctor will do is examine your body language for stress and anxiety. Doctors hate for patients to self diagnose or quote research found on the net or even from places such as this site. They only want to hear about pain and that is why patients are next send to a pain doctor which often is useless for someone with tinnitus. Often pain doctors will recommend mediation. Physical Therapy and acupuncture is about the only other direction within the mind of a neuro.

Many neuros will not order MRIs or CT. A good neuro will perform a long physical exam first that will include listening to your heart, eye movement exams, reflex exams, watch my finger move exam and many other coordination exams. In most cases this will tell if there's neuro problems and that would include a brain tumor.

Many neuros believe that tinnitus is usually only caused by a few things which are physical injuries, muscle spasms, toxins, infections and hair cell damage. With the neck many neuros believe only nerve fibers and muscle spasms can cause tinnitus. Many neuros do not believe that disease, degenerative diseases, acoustic shock or tonic tensor tympani has anything to do with tinnitus. I could not disagree more. I had neuros tell me that some hearing exams can increase tinnitus. With some hearing testing I don't disagree. Most neuros do believe in hyperacusis. How many doctors or even ENTs will tell you that continued exposure to loud noise is bad - not many.

Most doctors are stupid when it comes to tinnitus and many of the regulars here know more. For doctors it's about time and costs. How many neuros know about physical tinnitus research studies and treatments - not many.

For most forms of non hearing loss tinnitus with physical neck soreness, posture exercise is a safe first step. Exercise by rubbing under the chin, throat to the ears for TMJ.

 

Hi @Vicky17, I can relate to much of what you wrote. One of the best things I ever did for my neck was a specialized therapy called AtlasProfilax. The link will take you to a post of mine, and there are several posts after detailing my experiences with having had this done. It was also one of the very best things I ever did for my overall health.

I also regularly apply DMSO on my head, neck and ears to improve circulation (should improve PT), and reduce inflammation (and pain). I also do a reflexology TOE TWIRLING TECHNIQUE that works remarkably well for breaking up pain, tightness and tension in my neck.

Like you, I have an aversion for drugs of most kinds. I truly think our hands our our best allies when it comes to issues like you describe. Rule of thumb, "If something hurts, rub (or massage) it." Cheap and effective. And helps us tune into our bodies, which is something anybody with tinnitus can always learn to do better. I find it rather amazing the things I keep learning about very specific areas of my ears, neck and head, as I massage them twice a day minimum, and it does help me keep a sense of equanimity as I traverse this difficult challenge in my life.

 

It appear that you had an injury of falling down or another type of accident most likely within the last fifteen years. I don't think that you have true occipital neuralgia, but you may have some peripheral nerve problems - these would be nerves or nerve fibers from your neck that go into the scull. This would be a cause of all of your complaints, but this problem is secondary in relation to something else. MRI sequences are not able to visualize the structural anatomy of the occipital nerves, only secondary causes. I will talk about what I think is primary cause.

All your problems as primary appears to be from cervical nerve pain in which is a given. When a nerve root is compressed or pitched - C5/C6 and pressing shooting pain can happen - plus PT. This can radiate all the way down into the arm, aggravated by neck movement. The nerve root can be irritated by compression bulging of the part of the disc that lies in front of the nerve - the lateral portion of the disc, not the central portion. So now peripheral nerve fibers can come into play (mentioned in first paragraph) as secondary to this primary problem of bulging discs - nerve.

Your SCM muscles and other muscles may be secondary only to trauma, but you would need eye pain in this particular situation for them to be second string players.

Change position frequency or at least on occasion when sitting or sleeping.
Try a small pillow or towel roll to support head/neck when you are sitting or laying roll.
Consider some chin tuck exercises.
Later unless pain is received - try moving head slightly to side (best side first), bring ear to shoulder, bring shoulders down and hold for 5 seconds.

It doesn't matter if you have bulging discs to see recovery and you can. The nerve at C5/C6 even if pitched between should move off with exercises above. It may take time and other exercises may have to be added. I didn't talk bone spurs which I doubt is a problem, but if so they should also move away. I would try some exercises - some therapy before you hit 50 because arthritis could set in where your bulging discs are.

Write back with any questions - All this is just my opinion. I am not a MD.

 

Hi Greg. Thank you so much for your advice of which I agree with all of it. I too have felt that the PT is due to the C5/C6 issue and as I have been having less and less nerve pain over the last week or so I'm expecting that the PT will diminish. The neck MRI didn't show any bone spurs. Do you think that the ear fullness will also reduce in time? With regards to accidents I have been shunted up the back end in the car twice within the last 20 years - the last one happened in 2013. Thank you again for your valued advice.

 

Yes, I was given the all clear so not worried about that now. I purely mentioned it to explain about how anxious I'd been and to find out whether anxiety had an effect on PT.

 

@Vicky17 Hi Vicky

Yes I do. Many things can cause ear fullness like acoustic neuroma, vestibulocochlear dysfunction, ETD, TMJ, allergies, presbycusis, infection, viruses, ear wax, allergies, etc. - Most Physical therapists can help if needed.
Wishing you the very best.

I should add for new posters that ear fullness often or will settle down, but it can come and go at times.