What is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is noise or ringing in the ears. A common problem, tinnitus affects about 1 in 5 people. Tinnitus isn’t a condition itself — it’s a symptom of an underlying condition, such as age-related hearing loss, ear injury or a circulatory or muscular system disorder.
What should you do if you have ringing in your ears?
You should go to the doctor and get a checkup. There are many, many different causes of tinnitus and it is always best to have a doctor examine your ears.
How can massage help with tinnitus?
Yes, if the problem is muscular in nature. No, if the problem is due to age-related hearing. The answer is maybe yes and maybe no, if the problem is due to an injury. For instance if scar tissue from the injury has built up and restricted movement in the jaw then massage can help reduce that scar tissue and increase circulation in the area. One of the common causes of tinnitus is having a problem with the temporomandibular joint, the joint on each side of your face connected to the lower jawbone. Massage can help relieve hyper-contracted musculature and help alleviate pain and ringing in the ears.
Does Chirpopractic care help with Tinnitus?
I get asked this question a lot and the truth is the same for Chiropractic care as it is for massage or any other type of treatment for tinnitus: There are so many differing causes for tinnitus that the same treatments will not work the same way for each person. It is important to try and find out what the underlying cause of the symptom is and then make an informed choice regarding your treatment.
My understanding of Chiropractic care is that Chiropractors work to treat places in your spine where the vertebrae have been moved from their natural position to one where they create pressure on the spinal nerves. The pressure causes reduced blood flow and impairs the nerves functioning. Research has found that both of these are some of the common causes of tinnitus so it makes sense that taking pressure off of the spinal nerves can help with that awful ringing in your ears.
For a better understanding of what subluxations are please refer to this site and then talk to your Chiropractor:
http://www.echiropractic.net/what_is_a_subluxation.htm
A good site for current tinnitus research is The American Tinnitus Association: