Somatic Tinnitus — Chiropractic Success (Initial Report)

I have had severe tinnitus for about 8 months. Before that I had it mildly for several years. I have never been exposed to loud noise. I started to notice that I could greatly modulate the noise by moving my head in certain ways and accentuate it by pushing on the top of my head. I did all the usual ENT/ear tests. ENT was of less than zero help. I’m lucky in that although my tinnitus is very severe, it doesn’t stress me out like it seek to for some people. I can definitely see how some people have such a hard time with it. Most of the time, mine is like a hotel fire alarm going off 15 feet from head. It’s just insanely loud.

In desperation, I started to see a chiropractor recently. I am a huge skeptic of this so, I was reluctant to go , but I had read some web posts that some people had had benefit. I have been going twice a week for about 3 weeks. After the first several visits, I had some mild relief, but I wasn’t really sure. Yesterday, I had an adjustment and the practitioner did a more forceful adjustment while pulling and and twisting my neck. This guy definitely knows what he is doing and specializes in upper cervical care. He was careful not to oversell or over promise that he could effect the tinnitus, which I appreciated.

After this last adjustment, my tinnitus completely disappeared. I have had no days of relieve in 8 months, and I felt the change immediately after the treatment, so I absolutely sure the adjustment caused this. Time will tell if this has a lasting effect. For the fist time in many months I have had a full day of silence and I just wanted to report this to others who have somatic tinnitus so that they might seek out a chiropractor. I think I got lucky in finding a good one. My experiences in the past for other issues were not as favorable.

I’m trying to keep an open mind, and I am hopeful for the first time since I developed this....

 

Great to hear this!

 

I have a friend who told me she found complete relief after chiropractic care. She had upper cervical spine adjustments for C-0 through C-3. It's been on my mind for a while to give it a try, but they scare me a bit. I know my C-3 is hurting, clicking and cracking. Please keep us updated and thank you for your encouraging post.

 

Oh my god, I have the same symptoms as the OP. Tinnitus has taken over my life and I'm miserable.

After 3 weeks the OP's tinnitus disappeared? I'm booking appointments with my Chiropractor tomorrow.

 

I've already said this multiple times, but after I first got tinnitus in 2016, I saw a chiropractor 3-4 times and my tinnitus completely disappeared. I was completely tinnitus free for 2 years, until I got it again in 2018, unfortunately.

 

I am also in MA. Who is this Chiropractor? Thanks.

 

Hi Matt. Can you tell me any more about your symptoms? They sound very similar to mine. I can reduce the noise of my tinnitus by pressing on the two bumps at the back of my skull or pressing on the two big muscles behind my head. Pressing on the top of my head or the back of my head makes it so much louder. Pushing my jaw out makes so much louder.

I have seen a chiropractor four times and he has worked on my neck quite aggressively. But I have not felt any benefit yet. Am I being too impatient?

 

Hi @howrob -- Have you considered a NUCCA chiropractor, which normally does very gentle upper cervical therapies? I've never been able to do well with "aggressive" chiropractic, and have found NUCCA chiropractic and various self-therapies to be much more gentle and effective. Some physical therapists specialize in treating people with somatic tinnitus, so don't exclude them from your list of possibilities. -- Best...

 

I think my nearest NUCCA chiropractor is in London which is just too difficult to reach at the moment. It's over 100 miles.

It's an interesting lead though. Thank you. It is something I may need to do as I think I am slowly losing my sanity. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

How often did they treat you? Onc a week, twice a week?