The Eight Cervical Nerve and Its Role in Tinnitus

1 - Cause of tinnitus is not mentioned.
2 - Henk koning performed percutaneous radiofrequency of C2 in a previous study: Percutaneous Radiofrequency Lesion of the Superior Cervical Sympathetic Ganglion and Tinnitus.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The eight cervical nerve might be a source of input to the auditory system.

Objectives: The object was to assess the efficacy of infiltration of the eight cervical nerve root for treating tinnitus patients and to find indicators for a successful result.

Design: Retrospective cohort study. Subjects were 79 tinnitus patients visiting our clinic in a three-year period and who were treated with infiltration of the eight cervical nerve root.

Results: Twenty-six percent of the tinnitus patients had a reduction of their tinnitus following an infiltration of the eight cervical nerve root. Most of the successfully treated patients rated the effect of therapy as a moderate reduction of 25% to 50%. Fifty percent of the successful treated patients still had benefit at 6.6 months. In 5% of the patients, their tinnitus was aggravated after the infiltration of the eight cervical nerve roots. Patients with a hearing loss at 500 Hz that exceed the hearing loss at 2 kHZ responded the most to infiltration of the eight cervical nerve.

Conclusion: Infiltration of the eight cervical nerve root reduced the intensity of tinnitus in 26% of the cohort of 79 tinnitus patients with a moderate to good effect. This therapy for tinnitus patients’ needs to be considered, especially in those with a hearing loss at 500 Hz that exceed the hearing loss at 2 kHZ.

 

This makes sense to me:

1) After getting a cervical injection my tinnitus went down to almost nothing and stayed there for a month
2) I have back issues causing pain in my arm, and when that pain flares up so does my tinnitus
3) My ENT has a patient that found someone to do a cervical injection on him periodically just for tinnitus control.

They keep wanting to do surgery to fix my back for good, but I've heard horror stories about how surgical anesthetics and antibiotics can make tinnitus worse. I feel I can no longer take even oral antibiotics or antidepressants for any reason.

 

If this is a "thing," why don't they do more of it?

 

Possibly because spine doctors and ENTs don't talk to each other and since it's not accepted medical practice it's not covered by insurance It's also possible they're concerned about radiation exposure if the procedure is done repeatedly? It's not the nicest feeling but the only thing I actually felt was the IV and the initial Novocaine. My injection was a little bit higher than the study, at C5.

The ENT I go to is nationally known (associated with Northwestern University) so he has some rather well-heeled patients. One of them described his 4000 square foot second home in Chicago as "our little place". And as in the case of Michael Jackson if you have money you can get a doctor to do anything even if it's not accepted medical practice. Obviously if you can get doctor to give you surgical anesthetic to help you sleep you can get a spine doctor to do injections because it helps your tinnitus.

 

Where is this doctor and what is the name of the procedure?

 

It's an epidural spinal injection- it's a pretty standard treatment for arm and neck pain due to spinal issues along with physical therapy before resorting to more invasive procedures; I don't remember the doctor that did mine and it's not important because any orthopedic center does them. The doctor who did epidural injections because it helped the patients tinnitus I didn't ask my doctor because it wasn't any of my business and I don't know if he knew, it was just an anecdote shared by another patient.

The neurotologist I see is at Chicago Dizziness and Hearing. They don't have a cure more than anyone else but they do actually try to work with you, after a couple of visits and a half dozen different drugs I found a mixture of Keppra and Klonopin noticably helps. They are used to out of town patients seeing them but it does take about 6 month to get an appointment.

 

Is it a dexamethasone injection at the root of the eighth cervical nerve?

 

I don't know what I was injected with, some steroid or combination thereof so it could have been dexamesathone, and it was towards the middle, C4 if I recall correctly. For me the positive effect lasted less than 3.8 months, more like two or so.

 

I think the injection to my neck in late July 2023 was to my 8th cervical nerve. I got about 1 day of relief to my left ear tinnitus. I wonder if some injection could be longer acting?