Tinnitus

Can acupuncture make tinitus worse. I had three sessions and I did feel a slight relief however the morning after my third I woke up with a screaming ear. I cancelled the next two appointments I had scheduled.

 

My tinnitus started last spring for no apparent reason, no stress  etc it disappeared for a few months and returned in October. As usual the GPs can't do anything for you. I have a problem with my eustachion tubes but it's not serious however it has also been bothering me since October . I should mention my tinnitus is only in my left ear and I did have an MRI done in September.

 

I am stuck for answeres and I am now in severe discomfort . I was unable to go to work this week.

 

Thanks

 

Mike Stokes


Comments

Chad Dupuis's picture

Acupuncture is very often

Acupuncture is very often helpful for tinnitus, particularly of the acute variety like yours.  Changes in pitch following treatment are not uncommon until it resolves completely.  In most cases (generalizing here) a change in pitch is a good sign that you are moving towards some resolution.

Now it is possible that with too heavy needling technique (i.e. over stimulation) it could (very rare) make it worse.  If you feel the techniques were a little strong overall you could find another practitioner with a more refined technique.  You should continue with acupuncture, however, not least of which because it is probably your only viable treatment option.  I want to make the point that just because it got a little worse in the short term may not at all mean that the practitioner is treating you incorrectly - in fact it may very well mean they are doing the right thing.

The truth is there are a lot of reasons for acute tinnitus including (very rare) neuromas, etc. that can react unpredictably to any treatment (or on their own).  Now it sounds like you have had a good workup and the MRI would generally rule out the worst causes.  The best is to work with someone you are comfortable with and communicate these issues with them.  If you are not happy with their answers find another practitioner.  I, along with most practitioners, however, often have conditions get a little irritated before they get better.  Sometimes I didn't expect it and other times I did and often tell people in advance what may happen so they are not surprised.  Personally I always tell my tinnitus patients that the pitch will change one way or the other and may get a little worse in the short term.  One of the best things about Chinese Medicine is there are a thousand ways to treat any particular condition and some people will react differently to one of those ways.  All practitioners to varying degrees can treat a particular condition from a number of angles so proper feedback (especially bad) is important for them to adjust the treatment method.

Feng Mei's picture

There are 3 kinds of reasons:

There are 3 kinds of reasons: 1, Liver wind or fire, 2, kidney deficiency, 3, spleen and stomach damp heat. the high sound ( scream sound) is more like Liver fire or wind. if acupuncture no good for you, try feet massage with head and ear tuina.

Beny Lotringer's picture

As already said before, you

As already said before, you might have had an over-stimulation of some points, that worsened the tinnitus sound. I'd like to suggest a treatment that would strongly consider Liver Wind & Fire issues hence - removing repressed frustrations, anger (maybe not expressed...), etc. as these issues contribute strongly to unbalance blood circulation to the head/ear area, and if, as you mention, you have a problem with your middle/inner ear construction (what sort of problem?), the overflow of blood may be the cause of the "screaming" noise. What comes to mind is also the possibility of you being "stuck" (blocked) with "dampness", resulting sometimes from an inapproporiate dairy diet (f.e.), that blocks turbid energy (stomach) in the head, that won´t flow downwards and charge heavily the blood in the head. I´ve been treating lately quite successfully a patient  with tinnitus, in both ears, and in 2 sessions the right ear was totally free and the left good on the recovering process...:-) DON´T give up on Acupuncture for Tinnitus, as Allopathic Med. DOESN´T have an answer to it, Acupuncture DOES!

All the best,

Beny

Mike Stokes's picture

Well i went back and tried

Well i went back and tried another 4 sessions. NEVER AGAIN!

 

It's now worse than ever and my head feels like it's going to explode. I went on Monday and it's getting worse every day. Just like it did in December after 3 sessions.

 

I don't eat dairy for that reason described I also switched to a gluten free diet  years ago as recommended ny my Naturopath for my sinus problem

 

I give up. Just resigned to living in this HELL!

Chad Dupuis's picture

I'm sorry to hear of your

I'm sorry to hear of your experience but as I and others have counseled you (perhaps not as directly as I'm going to now) you need to see another practitioner.  There are a thousand ways to practice acupuncture and an infinite number of techniques - generally these types of responses are very rare except in practitioners who use very strong manipulation/needling techniques, too many points, etc.  

The truth is that acupuncture is about the only thing available with at least some supporting research and years of clinical evidence for helping with tinnitus.

Believe me if there were other options I would tell them to you.  I, and I'm sure others here as well, have nothing but your best interests in mind.  I'm not recommending acupuncture because I know it "should" work or just so you become a "believer" - I'm far too conservative for that and am generally against many "alternatives".  For tinnitus, however, particularly of your variety, it's most often very effective in the right hands.  So as clearly as I can say it - see another practitioner (ideally find someone who also practices "tuina" massage).

On your own you can read our tinnitus treatment section for ideas, I've posted our tong ren therapy treatment for tinnitus article which can be used with our system but also simply with massage particularly in the "main points" (see article), and our system of healing is also available online for free via tongrenstation.com

Beny Lotringer's picture

Tinnitus

Hello again,

I was sad to learn that again you had a bad experience with acupuncture treatment for your tinnitus problem. As was said before by Chad, you may look for another practitioner, as not all, may acheive the same results, for different reasons...

As I cannot offer you a personal treatment, and assessment, and if nothing else works for you...I'm enclosing a link of a site that contains a Tinnitus software that you may try for free, based on the principles of using certain sound Frequencies, that may help.

All the best,

Beny

http://lets-beat-tinnitus.co.uk/blog/free-tinnitus-pulse-therapy/