Tinnitus Spike After Neck Pain and Adjustment

Hello everyone,

For background, I have had tinnitus for 10 years, it started randomly one day, in a period of time when I had lots of anxiety and depression. I have no hearing loss, nothing is wrong with my ears, MRI is ok. Over the years I habituated and the sound bothered me only in short spikes. It wasn't very loud or bothersome.

Two weeks ago I was sitting for a few hours with my neck in a bad position. When I got up my T was immediately worse. Ringing 10/10, also voices on the TV were glitched, like some frequencies were distorted. I hopped in a shower, went to sleep with white noise and in the morning, the sound distortion was gone, however the ringing was still much louder.

I rested my neck, did some stretches. Few days went by and he ringing was still spiked. I went to get a massage, thinking it would relieve the muscles, but that just made it worse.

I then thought it would be a great idea to visit a chiropractor, because he has helped me in the past with other issues. He adjusted my neck and spine. I went home, everything was sill the same volume.
But in two days I developed new sound, very high pitch, like jet engine, covering almost everything. I was terrified, anxious and that just made it worse. I could hear it on a busy street, not much could cover it.

It's been a week since the adjustment and the sound is still here. I feel like it's reactive though, because sometimes, when I'm distracted I can't hear it at all. And then I notice I can't hear it, it stays like that for a few minutes and then it comes back. It also spikes in loud environments. At home I feel like it's quieter but still noticeable. The ringing is still louder than usual.

I visited my ENT, they got me some vitamin B, ginko biloba and betahistine.

I'm panicking a little bit because I did so much mental work to get to the point I was before all this. I feel like I'm at square one again and can't imagine living with this new intrusive sound forever, just because I had a neck adjustment...

Is there something I can do about this new sound? Is there a chance it will go away? Is it a spike or just a new normal?

Thanks for any advice.

 

Hello Martina,

Sorry to see you here.

Most spikes settle down in a few weeks to a few months. Your spike is new and there is a perfect chance it goes away.

Have you had a hearing test after the spike? It is good to know if there is something going on with your hearing. But most probably everything is fine and an audiometry can reassure you that this spike will most probably be temporary.

There are lots of things beside noise that can spike tinnitus. Blood flow, diet, neck tension, and anxiety to name some.

In my case, walking always has positive mental effects and sometimes softens the noise.

I recommend meditation for now which can calm you down. Also, masking may be helpful until the spike is gone but be careful that the masking noise does not make things worse for you.

 

Similar thing happened to me regarding neck position. I had the hissy tinnitus in both ears from bad cold and ETD.

In November 2022 I was shopping with my mum and turned my head very quickly to respond to her about something. At the time I had a 5 second complete drop in hearing and mad loud ringing. It resolved in seconds.

However, the next morning I work up with a loud pure solid tone in my right ear. It is so loud I hate it.

I’m sorry you are feeling low too.

 

Hi Martina,

I am quite new to this forum and searched relevant cases to mine. I saw your post and have my answer I think. I have been suffering from tinnitus since August 2022. I would say moderate tinnitus with hyperacusis and sometimes noxacusis. My tinnitus is on the left side and for months I have also been hearing the sound slightly on the right.

Last Tuesday I had a manipulation of the cervical spine and also a treatment of the jaw and neck by an osteopath who is also a chiropractor. Since then my tinnitus is much louder and aggressive. After the osteopathy I had sore muscles and the tinnitus was louder and my ears were very very sensitive. I had the feeling that the nerves in my head were going crazy. The sound in the right ear and the sensitivity have improved, but the sound in the left ear is still high and very aggressive.The osteopath said that in rare cases the worsening of symptoms can last 2 weeks. I am scared and not sure if the osteopath has worsened my tinnitus permanently.

Now is day 9 and the left ear is a little bit better and the tinnitus is not so aggressive, but still higher than it was before. So I will wait.

I'm sorry for you. Drink a lot of water and take Magnesium. Ginkgo biloba spikes my tinnitus. I would skip all supplements for 1 week and just take Magnesium. Protect your ears and you can put a warm, heated cushion on your neck and stretch your neck gently. Fear and stress makes the tinnitus more aggressive. Try to keep calm even if sleep is not possible at the moment.