Tinnitus from Cranial Sacral Massage: I Desperately Need Help

Hi everyone,

I’ve been reading this forum for a while but just recently made a profile. Almost 3 months ago was the worst day of my life, I went to an Asian day spa and asked for a cranial sacral massage. The woman squeezed my head so hard I almost passed out, multiple times without stopping despite me requesting for her to stop. When I got off the table my ear was ringing. That week it progressed to a fire- alarm level and was so bad for a month I really contemplated killing my self. During that month I was so nauseous, sick, and out of it I didn’t even know what to do with myself. I’ve never had any ear issues before. I took a hearing test and they said I have above perfect hearing— musical hearing in fact. They ruled out ETD with a myringotomy and camera, they ruled out general tinnitus because I’ve never been around loud noise/ concerts/ etc and I passed the hair cell test. They are telling me that I have some sort of cranial nerve damage and that they think I had a mini-stroke (transient) on the table. My physical symptoms (balance, coordination, eye tracking) has gotten better but the tinnitus and head sensations have stayed.

The tinnitus has gone down to a 3/4 but is never a constant pitch. It’s always switching between wooshing, hissing, ringing, parastesis, and really a number noises. I always have electrical sensations in my head. Sometimes it’s tinnitus, sometimes it’s an entire head sensation. I’ve seen so many ENTS and neurologists who just tell me I have cranial nerve damage and tinnitus and I need to live with it.

the thing is, I can’t. I can’t habituate because the noise isn’t constant and it’s always changing. Seeing an osteopath, neurological chiropractor, acupuncture, etc helps but not too much. I need some sort of guidance on how I can possibly try to treat this since it’s somatic, and how to live with it in the meantime. I’ve truly never been suicidal in my life but as a 29 year old female with multiple businesses I really cannot imagine living like this. I had two miscarriages the months prior to this incident, and I was supposed to be trying again during this time and the despair of this injury coupled with my
Wanting to be a mother has made me beyond depressed. I’d appreciate any and all input regarding this. Thank you so much.

 

Are you experiencing any jaw pain?

Are you able to get sleep? If not, prioritize that first to start.

 

Today I did my first post here in another 'Introduce Yourself" thread and I haven't gotten any response for help yet either. So I thought I would respond to yours. Hopefully others with more knowledge/experience here will chime in.

You are lucky that your hearing is perfect. At least you don't have probably don't have cochlear hair damage which I think is irreversible. And you stated that it is 3/4 better and that your balance, coordination, and eye tracking have improved. So maybe you need to give your head more time to heal?

The other thing I gather from your post is that you were under a lot of stress before this happened with multiple businesses to run and two miscarriages. (Not to mention trying to cope with a pandemic). While it is quite clear that the visit to the Asian day triggered the problem, maybe the stress and anxiety are making the tinnitus worse? Is there anything you can do to relieve stress, like exercise or a hobby?

Have you seen a psychiatrist for this? Yesterday I saw a psychiatrist for mine. He prescribed 4.5 mg of Xanax (some during the day and a larger dose at night). Last night I slept much better. Maybe the same will help you deal with this problem until you get well? The only disadvantage is that I don't feel safe driving at this high of a dose, so I have my wife or son drive me places.

My very brief experience with Xanax is that it does not seem to have made much (if any difference) in the loudness of my tinnitus. But it makes me so I don't care or worry about it as much. Its hard to explain. Its more like I am hearing noise rather than there being an urgent problem that I need to address right now.

Believe it or not, before the tinnitus I had (and still have) a life altering medical condition for the past 10 1/2 months -- interstitial cystitis and a hypertonic pelvic floor. Both likely cause by stress, and have made it much worse! I think those two issues, plus some of the meds I have taken for many months may have given me the tinnitus. (I took a lot of Ibuprofen and Naproxen before my tinnitus started).

So like I said earlier, maybe you need to allow your body more time to heal and try some things to relieve stress?

 

Hi @JNV -- My goodness, what a journey you've been on. -- I experienced a severe head injury/whiplash at age 15, and spent the next decades of my life trying to figure out what happened to me, and why I had so many health issues. Turns out, that whiplash dislocated my atlas (uppermost cervical vertebra), which in turn "crimped" or impinged the cranial nerves exiting from the brainstem that send nerve energy to the rest of the body.

I went to many practitioners over many years, and was able to get varying degrees of relief from different modalities. Upper cervical chiropractic worked well for me, but the technique that gave me the most relief, and which I believe released considerably pressure on my impinged cranial nerves, was a technique called AtlasPROfilax.

I made a POST on this forum in which I posted links to several YouTube videos where people shared how their tinnitus improved after getting this same AtlasPROfilax treatment done. I also did a POST earlier this summer on another forum that goes much more in depth on some of my recent experiences with being able to do this AtlasPROfilax treatment on myself. I think both posts would be well worth it for you to take a look at. Of course not saying it's guaranteed this would work for you, but it could give you much to consider as you move forward.

I'm so sorry to hear how a "chance" encounter like you had with the massage therapist turned into such a life-changing event for you. I do hope you can find something that gives you significant relief, or even total recovery. BTW, don't ever believe doctors when they say nothing can be done for you. Their training and experiences tells them this is true, but if a person looks beyond their practitioner's training, there's usually many options to pursue. You also might want to check out the thread I started on DMSO. -- BTW, if you seriously think you may have experienced a stroke, the number one treatment I can think of is HBOT, in combination with using DMSO.

All the Best...

P.S. -- My Search For Tinnitus Relief Led to Discovery Of A Unique Vagus Nerve Stimulation Technique