Could It Be Possible That I Have a Torn Sternocleidomastoid Muscle?

@BreachOfEuphoria --- Are you referring to T1 and T2 vertebra and not C1 and C2?
The T2 vertebra helps to support the rib cage. It is small and processes facets that create joints with two of the ribs.

The T2 vertebra is a stable segment of the spine, but can lead to deterioration which can lead to compression. Some causes would be bone spurs, facet problems, osteoarthritis, or injury.

Strengthening exercises and heat packs often help. I mentioned to you that your trapezius and back muscle spasms probably relate to your T. This is why I ask you to check shoulder height and posture in a mirror and then you sent pictures to me by PM. Take a look at the trapezius muscle again. I would also get a second from a neuro - from what you were told by your chiropractor as to see if it's just your trapezius having muscle contractions.

http://www.innerbody.com/image_musfov/musc28-new.html
 
@Greg Sacramento
Yes, T1 and T2 vertebraes was locked to the right. Thoracic section of the spine, no doubt. She told me the last time i was there, back in 2013, that they were also locked back then.
I'll talk to my neurologist as per your reccomendation.

From what angle do you want me to send the picture? Just a frontal photo so you can see how elevated my right shoulder is compared to the left ?
And then a photo of me from the side so you can see my posture?
Do i understand you correctly ?
 
@BreachOfEuphoria Sorry Johan, it was someone else who sent pictures of their shoulders when I ask if one shoulder was lower than the other. I don't need to see pictures, just asking if one shoulder is lower than the another because of your back. There's so much more to consider and I'm not qualified to advice you. My concern is that your chiropractor has told you other things about your neck and later verified test results were noted clean.
 
@Greg Sacramento

You should know i am always thankfull when we communicate.

Because i learn more and more about the human body and how it works everytime. I can tie things i've experienced together.

6 months ago, i did not know which muscles attached to which vertebrae. Now i can open up Essential Anatomy and pinpoint down my vertigo and tinnitus to about 4-6 muscles and nerves.

@BreachOfEuphoria My concern is that your chiropractor has told you other things about your neck and later verified test results were noted clean.

My chiropractor has told me too little i think. I was there on friday 17/08 and also two days ago.

The morning after the 17'th, i got out of bed, i was sitting down and felt the need to stretch. When i stretched, some nerve or muscle got pinched and my whole neck locked again and became stiff. Exactly the same happened yesterday. I have tried this before in 2014, the exact same kind of lock.

Luckily it has not reversed all the progress i've had, it just seems like one of my cervical vertebraes has gotten quite annoyed by the lock.

My only thought in her defence is that, what she did helped but my bed is too soft or my pillow is not good for my neck so my body could not align in the nighttime and then i got a bad reaction when i got out of bed.
 
@BreachOfEuphoria Johan I would continue or start doing the exercises in detail that I gave you. Both are mentioned in the lower part of this article which to me has appeared to be part of your problem. You never told me that you get a locked neck, but I expected that. Also from what you said your chiro is doing.

* Regular stretch exercises
* Strength training to support correct posture

http://blog.starkeys.com/lang/en-uk/2009/02/wry-neck-torticollis.html
 
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@Greg Sacramento

Thank you for the links, these look very good. I just did some of them, can't do more right now. I have been up since 5.30 AM and i have been doing exercises for 4 hours today. But i am going to put them in my daily routine.

I have also been doing exercises since july the 6'th. I have all the exercises i have been doing written down on paper and number of repetitions. I have also changed a lot of other aspects in my lifestyle: diet, number of cigarettes per day and so forth.

Let me know if you want to know what kind of stretching and strengthening exercises i have been doing.

I think the only symptoms i have left now are vertigo or lightheadedness and tinnitus.

Today, my tinnitus was loud as hell when i woke up.

I began stretching exercises and i got the volume down SO SO close to silence.
I have one question in my mind that means a lot to me (i don't expect you to answer, it's just, i need to get it out)
What is the foundation of why the tinnitus is there. I can stretch and stretch and get the volume and intensity down to nearly silence but the foundation is still there and 1 or 2 days without exercises will make it loud again.

Ah well. I got so many good people around me. I'm going to stretch some more now anyways.
 
I began stretching exercises and i got the volume down SO SO close to silence.
As I'm been telling you for months that in your situation you need to do stretching and posture exercises. ;)
I glad that you are using the ones that I gave you.

What is the foundation of why the tinnitus is there. I can stretch and stretch and get the volume and intensity down to nearly silence but the foundation is still there and 1 or 2 days without exercises will make it loud again.

With you it's deep vertical fiber stress and yours are the occipital nerves that go into the skull as it is with many. Your vertigo and light head is from a mild form of occipital neuralgia. The muscles with association to you are your sternocleidomastoids as they can cause facet joint tenderness which accompanies pressure to occipital nerves. For now, I would NOT advise high pressure therapy to other neck muscles. Just light non trigger point massage. For the sternocleidomastoids, I would just do light pulling.

It will take patience, a daily commented routine of stretching exercises while maintaining good posture habits. If you are dedicated your T may be gone or mostly gone within weeks to a few months. Most of the time there is some hidden hearing loss, but it's crap advice to think that you can't hear silence as in your situation it's obvious that cranial is boss.

I want to add that I would also advice no head or neck twisting side to side against resistance and please never have manipulation.
 
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@Greg Sacramento

Thank you, kind sir.
Listen, i am completely wasted right now. I've had this reaction where i got the same intracranial pressure in my head this night. the same symptom as i got that night where everything collapsed.
The kind of vascular pressure in my left ear and the same pressure.

My body woke me up.

Something in my neck is completely wrong,

It gave me a massive headache and my tinnitus is spiking as loud as it can be.
I'm contacting people around me now, to see if i can get to a hospital.
I'm shaking.

If i don't come back i want you to know that you're a good man. More people like you should exist.
 
Breach I don't know if you had received more than post traumatic vertigo - BPPV from your injury that might had included vascular concussion - ears. There's several related conditions that easy to research, but I'm not qualified to discuss them with you, only a doctor should. You later had MRIs and other tests, so hopefully things are better. I ready think that things will get better, injury can take time to heal, but consider staying in touch with your doctor.

@Greg Sacramento

I owe you a big apology for not reading and reflecting on the post you made here, on june the 9'th.
I'm very sorry i have not responded to this.

I just read up on this and EVERYTHING falls into place.

When i googled "vascular concussion" i got this site as result: https://www.insideradiology.com.au/traumatic-vascular-injury/
"What is traumatic vascular injury to the head & neck?
Traumatic vascular injuries can be either:

  • A blunt injury to the chest, neck or head, which can result in damage to the blood vessels supplying the brain and can be caused by:
  • forceful compression or pressure from a seat belt during a motor vehicle accident;
  • sudden movements such as bending and extending of the neck which may happen during a motor vehicle accident when a vehicle decelerates or accelerates (whiplash), often associated with fractures of the spine;
  • during a fall where the neck will also be subject to similar sudden bending and extending movements, also often associated with fractures of the spine;
  • sporting injuries with similar sudden movements as above; or
  • strangulation."
"A blunt injury to the chest, neck or head" - Exactly what i got
"strangulation" - Same


What are the risks of a traumatic vascular injury to the head & neck?
Stroke is the main risk of a traumatic vascular injury which may be instantaneous or delayed from a few hours to a few weeks or even months after the injury occurs. If the stroke is large or involves the part of the brain that controls breathing or consciousness, it may be fatal. Of those patients diagnosed with head and neck traumatic vascular injury 60-85% will survive and most will do quite well after rehabilitation. Of these survivors, 25-40% will be left with a moderate to severe neurological disability (affecting the structure and function of the nervous system)."

Delayed from a few weeks or even months. Exactly what i experienced. As i described in the topic in "Introduce yourself" Again, things fall perfectly into place.

Thank you so much for helping me when my doctor has not!!

I have been getting the same kind of vascular humming in my ears these last nights that i experienced that night. It always happens when i lie completely straight down. I have to elevate my back and head to sleep properly. It feels like it's not healing properly.

I need to find out what has been damaged in there.

Is there a scan i can ask my doctor to do that shows arteries and veins in the neck ?
So we can get some conclusive results.
 
@BreachOfEuphoria Hi Johan: It's been several months so you are so beyond this now. The day some time ago when you were lying on the couch and got up quickly to sit at the table for dinner was concerning as to what you described. That's now history. An assessment of your cervical spine and facial was made. Nothing from that shows neurological. There's no blood vessels problems. Migraines, sleep and mood dysfunctions are common with just having tinnitus. You can walk straight with no dizziness. You can type messages here and your short term memory is fine. I'm sure if I was to place fingers up in the air that you would be able to tell me how many.

What you still have going on is nerve fibers (mostly occipital) and a minor facet joint situation. A few months of posture improvement and stretching plus time will make it as good as it gets for you minus any hidden hearing loss.

The humming is from anxiety. For it to be vascular you would have such a headache.
 
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@BreachOfEuphoria Hi Johan: It's been several months so you are so beyond this now. The day some time ago when you were lying on the couch and got up quickly to sit at the table for dinner was concerning as to what you described. That's now history. An assessment of your cervical spine and facial was made. Nothing from that shows neurological. There's no blood vessels problems. Migraines, sleep and mood dysfunctions are common with just having tinnitus. You can walk straight with no dizziness. You can type messages here and your short term memory is fine. I'm sure if I was to place fingers up in the air that you would be able to tell me how many.

What you still have going on is nerve fibers (mostly occipital) and a minor facet joint situation. A few months of posture improvement and stretching plus time will make it as good as it gets for you minus any hidden hearing loss.

The humming is from anxiety. For it to be vascular you would have such a headache.

@Greg Sacramento
I am thankfull for your help but i can't let you write that without responding honestly.
I may have PTSD but the humming is not from anxiety. No neurological test where done. No scans of arteries or veins was done.

I am not going to burden you anymore. Let me update the topic when i have had some tests done.
 
@Greg Sacramento
Update:
I got ultrasound on the knot. It's lymph in the knot.

My C1 or Atlas if you will is definitely not moving around as it should. As far as i have understood it, is that all the other muscle problems i have is not going to get better if the C1 is unaligned or is not functioning as it should.
 
@BreachOfEuphoria Hi Johan: I really doubt that C1 was injured as this happens only 2% of the time.
https://www.spinalcord.com/blog/c1-and-c2-vertebrae-the-basics-behind-the-worst-spinal-cord-injuries

What is a small problem is your atlanto occipital joint. Your jaw was/still is? clicking and you felt that your jaw was unaligned.
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Atlanto-occipital_joint

I ask you to consider a thin mouth guard. You have said that it helps.
I ask you to consider occipital stretching. You said:
I began stretching exercises and i got the volume down SO SO close to silence.

I gave you a link for the trapezius in post #32 above. Your T1 T2 problem is from bad posture. This probably goes back years.

I would continue to relax the shoulders while doing the stretching of the sub and occipital complex.
Use correct posture while sitting and walking.
Continue using a thin mouth guard.

This all ties in together and you have seen excellent results, but correct posture is so very needed.

Continue to use a small soft pillow under neck while sleeping.
Use a warm towel before activity such as when cleaning your room. Use a cool wet towel afterwards.
Use a proper headrest position while driving.

Check for any side effects, but consider these valuable supplements.
Magnesium Chelate/calcium
Alpha-Lipoic Acid
B 12

Stay in touch.
 
I think it's more connected to the temporalis muscle and can be unwound with arm over head pulling foward and in circle motions.
I have seen this user in here that is very helpful towards other users and has a lot of useful knowledge and i hope you don't get angry with me if I try to summon you to this topic @Greg Sacramento
I created this topic quite a while back https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/need-advice-and-maybe-guidance-if-possible.24353/#post-300014

Does anyone know if it's possible to tear the sternocleidomastoid muscle?

In this topic I wrote: "Some days after this incident my lymph node close to the ear lobe got swollen. It's swollen but it's not tender."

It was never a swollen lymph node. It's 100 % not a swollen lymph node. It's muscular tension or the muscle has gotten somewhat torn from either a herniated disc or my head being punched and then the sternocleidomastoid muscle has been over-stretched beyond its physical limit.

A friend took some pictures of the muscular (tendon/ligament) lumps I have had since this happened.
View attachment 17598

View attachment 17600

This lump is very slowly beginning to "fan out". It has made these small "sidelumps"

I have more and more days where my tinnitus is very quiet after I wake up. And it stays very quiet until I use my sternocleidomastoid muscle too much.
oooh occipital stretch is a good idea
 
@BreachOfEuphoria Hi Johan: I really doubt that C1 was injured as this happens only 2% of the time.
https://www.spinalcord.com/blog/c1-and-c2-vertebrae-the-basics-behind-the-worst-spinal-cord-injuries

What is a small problem is your atlanto occipital joint. Your jaw was/still is? clicking and you felt that your jaw was unaligned.
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Atlanto-occipital_joint

I ask you to consider a thin mouth guard. You have said that it helps.
I ask you to consider occipital stretching. You said:


I gave you a link for the trapezius in post #32 above. Your T1 T2 problem is from bad posture. This probably goes back years.

I would continue to relax the shoulders while doing the stretching of the sub and occipital complex.
Use correct posture while sitting and walking.
Continue using a thin mouth guard.

This all ties in together and you have seen excellent results, but correct posture is so very needed.

Continue to use a small soft pillow under neck while sleeping.
Use a warm towel before activity such as when cleaning your room. Use a cool wet towel afterwards.
Use a proper headrest position while driving.

Check for any side effects, but consider these valuable supplements.
Magnesium Chelate/calcium
Alpha-Lipoic Acid
B 12

Stay in touch.

@Greg Sacramento
Thank you so much for your suggestions.

Yes, the jaw is still clicking, just not that much anymore. I'm sleeping with the mouth guard and it's helping and I'm doing a very effective exercise where i train the temporomandibular joint to function properly.
I did a deep massage of the deep masseter muscle yesterday. It was heaven.

I will have to buy an external keyboard so i can stack my laptop so it is in proper height.
Maybe i will also have to buy a new chair.

Magnesium, i have begun taking.
I think i have enough B12 in the deposits of the body. Every time i take B vitamins, my urine becomes neon-yellow.
Should i take them anyway?
I will buy the Alpha-Lipoic Acid.
I also have great experience with Serrapeptase as a anti-inflammatory and it seems to actually break down adhesion's.

I need to get some things ready so the field is clear and then i am going to go all-in with your suggestions.

I think it's more connected to the temporalis muscle and can be unwound with arm over head pulling foward and in circle motions.
oooh occipital stretch is a good idea
Thank's for your suggestions. Ahhh yes, occipital stretch seems like something everybody living the modern stress-filled, neck bending life could use.
 
I'm afraid that the lump on my temporal bone is scar tissue on the SCM.
I know that you have identified your mastoid process yourself by touching the area behind and a little below your ear.

Then when you walk your fingers down a bit you may feel a softer area. That is where the SCM attaches to the mastoid bone. A few fibers of the SCM also insert on the bottom of the occipital bone, which is located right next to the mastoid process and forms again at the bottom of the skull.

It would be more likely that fibers are inflamed causing a lump then actual scar tissues. These fibers could associate to injury or maybe even neck treatment exercise when the neck was still in a stage of tender trauma.

The best treatment is to use either hot or cold compress. As to which is better is from a single trial to see which is appropriate.
 
@Greg Sacramento

Thank you for your answer.

What i'm worried about is if some of the fibers have been torn off, will my body reattach it at the right place? I can understand from some medical ressources that people who have their sternocleidomastoid muscle injured/partially torn keep on having problems with that muscle forever, untill they get it fixed with a pretty low risk laser-surgery.

Do you know if it's possible to tell if it's reattaching in it's natural place ?

I have had a lot of bloodtests done. There's some values that are too low and some are too high.
I can post them later.

I've also made a lot of progress physically and with some of the many symptoms i've had. Some have dissappeared completely and some are better.
My baseline tinnitus is much better than a year ago and i get more and more days where i only hear some faint white noise.
 
Fibers will heal. What are your low blood test value? You received an injury without trauma of bones, discs or joints, just soft tissue and we discussed months ago it will take time for healing. If you did the therapy that we discussed back then - that with time as said should knock your T down to nothing.
 
Hi, I am having MEM(likely Dysacusis) that seems to be related to my neck/shoulder area. I found that behind my affected ear, the bone(mastoid bone I think it's called) seems to be protruding compared to the other side. More recently, I felt some sort of muscle/vein sticking out below the mastoid bone as well. In fact, that area was also reddish at the same time.

Just like OP, I feel that my Dysacusis seems to get better in when I'm lying down, so I may be going through something similar as well. I've never thought about this particular muscle being a possible cause before coming across this thread.

The thing is, can the Sternocleidomastoid Muscle cause middle ear issues?
 
The sternocleidomastoid can relate to any discomfort from the shoulders up. It can cause sinusitis or sinus problems.
Mastoiditis is usually a complication of a middle ear infection and the causes are largely the same as the sternocleidomastoid, but infection to the ears is usually fluid travel from facial. Bacteria are the main pathogens that cause an infection, but in some rare cases fungi may be involved. Also swelling in the region of the mastoid bone. Bad posture can add to the swelling.

A CT or MRI is needed to conform. A discussion with your doctors needs persistence from your parents.

Antibiotics may be needed if confirmed.
 
What are your low blood test value?

@Greg Sacramento
Thank you for the reply :)

These are the different blood tests that are outside the margins they should be in.

From the 14'th of march 2019

Eosinofilocytter;B(danish)
eosinophilic leukocytes: 0.6
(normal area; 0.0-0.5)

Monocytter;B
Monocytes: 0.8
(normal area: 0.2-0.8)

Urat
Urate: 0.18
(normal area: 0.23-0.48)

Urate was at 0.20 on the 15'th of february

Cykl.citrul.peptid-IgG [CCP];P
Cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody(IgG): 50.5
(normal area: <5)

CCP was at 45.9 a month before



I have been having so many problems with my stomach and a very weird pattern of toilet visits so i have taken a stool sample. They have looked for bacteria and parasites.
They found Blastocystis homini in my stool.
 
Fibers will heal. What are your low blood test value? You received an injury without trauma of bones, discs or joints, just soft tissue and we discussed months ago it will take time for healing. If you did the therapy that we discussed back then - that with time as said should knock your T down to nothing.

@Greg Sacramento
I answered you way back and you never replied.
 
@BreachOfEuphoria

My guess from your blood work (past and later) is that you came across a parasite - maybe from water, but it could even be contamination from a toilet. If you still are having stomach problems and maybe with that neck soreness, then something contaminated is being digested or intake thru nose - for example - allergenic or contaminated pond water. Wash hands whenever touching anything contaminated as you may have a slight acceptability. Wash fruits.

All in all, your blood tests are not concerning, other than a (small) amount of contamination having gotten into your system. We all have this happening from time to time.

How are you doing otherwise?
 
Johan - I wrote this to you August 30, 2018.
What you still have going on is nerve fibers (mostly occipital) and a minor facet joint situation. A few months of posture improvement and stretching plus time will make it as good as it gets for you minus any hidden hearing loss.

You wrote this on March 21, 2019
I've also made a lot of progress physically and with some of the many symptoms i've had. Some have dissappeared completely and some are better.
My baseline tinnitus is much better than a year ago and i get more and more days where i only hear some faint white noise.
I was so happy to hear this.
Minor facet joint situation - continue to do go easy does it with neck - continue to gently use exercises that we discussed on threads and by PM so that arthritis does not register as a concern with CCP combined with other blood test results. Maybe try a drinking water filter per labs as well.
 
@Greg Sacramento
I'm very happy to hear from you again :) Thank you for replying.

I have something very important to tell you.

I started running, swimming (crawl) in autumn 2018. It helped a lot but unfortunately i also began waking up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat. I noticed that it seemed that most of the sweat came from my neck and upper torso. It was cold sweat, fever.

In autumn 2019 i began to get a bad feeling about an old root-canaled molar in my upper jaw.
I quickly made an appointment with the dentist. When i came to the appointment i told him i suspected this old tooth was not very healthy.

He had a device where he could send a little electricity (few milliwatts maybe..) through the teeth. He tested the two healthy teeth besides the "sick" tooth. When he sent electricity through the healthy teeth, all i got was a very mild pain only lasting about a second.
Then he tested the "sick" one. When he sent electricity through it, i could feel the electricity running from the jaw, over the ear and can you guess where it landed? At my C1-C2 vertebraes.

And when the electricity landed there, i got a small sweat reaction from my vertebraes.

He took an x-ray of the tooth and the jawbone. He got very serious when he saw the x-ray. He told me that bacteria had travelled through the nerve canals of the tooth and it had continued to infect my jawbone.

He told me i need an operation to get it sorted. Only their jaw-surgeon was allowed to make these operations.

I booked another appointment as quickly as i could and when i walked in, they wanted to take a CBCT-scan of my jawbone/face. They looked at the scan and the surgeon told me that not only has the bacteria eaten through the jawbone. I had continued onward and penetrated my maxillary-sinus. Finally i understood why i had devoloped so oily skin in the face and why i had so many pimples and weird skin symptoms in my face.

After the operation, i began feeling much better. But only for around three days after. I realized (when i was out running) that my right longue had not been working as it should for 2 years. One night the longue decided (to try and fight infection maybe) to go into a very painfull cough and i bent my lower rib because the cough reflex was so strong.

Since the operation of the jawbone all of the following symptoms have dissappeared.

Hyperacusis


Severe panic attacks :thankyousign:

A general feeling that i was slowly getting more and more crazy (I thought that syphilis was slowly crawling into my medulla oblongata). And i WAS getting more and more crazy and irrational. My actions showed that.

Floaters

My swallowing reflex is close to working perfectly. I very rarely swallow food and water into the windpipe anymore.
In 2017/2018 (in the midst of this tragedy) i swallowed pure vodka into my windpipe. I was crawling to the bathroom sink while i was gasping for air at the same time.
 
@BreachOfEuphoria

My guess from your blood work (past and later) is that you came across a parasite - maybe from water, but it could even be contamination from a toilet. If you still are having stomach problems and maybe with that neck soreness, then something contaminated is being digested or intake thru nose - for example - allergenic or contaminated pond water. Wash hands whenever touching anything contaminated as you may have a slight acceptability. Wash fruits.

All in all, your blood tests are not concerning, other than a (small) amount of contamination having gotten into your system. We all have this happening from time to time.

How are you doing otherwise?

Otherwise, i have a lot suicidal thoughts and my life just revolves around doing exercises for the neck, shoulders and jaw, eating healthy and trying to smoke as little cigarettes as possible. I have been smoking 10 cigarettes a day for many years. I pressure myself to only smoke 7 a day now but nicotine addiction is terrible. I have bought nicotine gum. Those cigarettes are good for nothing, money literally up in smoke. Here in Denmark, the price of cigarettes are going up up and up so there is a lot of motivation to cut heavily down or completely stop.

How are you doing? I hope you are keeping safe from the corona-virus and i hope your health problems have gotten better or at least not worsened.


I HAVE the parasite, it's living in my intestines i'm afraid. I know it all to well. At least it's a protozoan and not a worm. It seems to cause disease for some people and not for others. Our national center that test for pathogens, found it in a stool-sample of mine around 2011/2012.
It is this one https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...ominis-infection/symptoms-causes/syc-20351205

I'm following the advice from the link i just posted and i am also trying to kill it off with pineapple, sun flower seeds, i just need some timian-oil too. It's working but i think it is going to be hard to eradicate it from my intestines completely.

Speaking of smoking. I've had a cannabis-addiction for many years. It has helped a lot on my OCD-symptoms and clinical depression symptoms i've had since age 12.
It's working great on anxiety short-term but it's very bad for my anxiety long-term. It's generally not very good for my mental health because i smoke EVERY night (nearly all year round) when i'm done with the chores of the day.

It's illegal here in Denmark so it's pretty stressing to get ahold of something that is good quality.
And because it's illegal, it's of course an unregulated market so the danes are sold a lot of hashish from Morroco that contains who knows what. People lab-tested some and there was found traces of old car tyres, petrolium and lots of other nasty stuff.

It's very hard for me to stop my cannabis-intake.
It seems to lower inflammation in my body and all the tight and injured muscles loosen up when i smoke cannabis/hashish.

But it's also stopping my saliva production in my mouth completely. I go to bed after and i'm lying in the bed all night with a completely dry mouth and throat. It does not seem like it's helping my neck issues.

And it seems it can provoke my dust-mite allergy. Can this be possible?
 

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