Tinnitus After Neck Adjustment by Chiropractor / Vocal Nodules

[Javed Nasir]

Back in October 2021 I had a bad bronchitis infection which led me to have severe inflammation and a vocal nodule.

Unrelated, I went into my chiropractor for a routine shoulder adjustment. Hearing my voice he suggested that he could cure my vocal issue with a neck adjustment. I was extremely hesitant but in the end let him adjust my neck. I developed tinnitus since then, and now my vocal issue won't heal either and every time I talk for more than 2 minutes I get ear and neck pain. There is a pressure in my ear like it's full and a constant ringing.

Has anyone experienced anything like this?

I'm scared I won't be able to talk anymore... Please help. I'm really scared.

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. It seems that the neck adjustment may damage either neck muscle or the spinal column nerves. You may need to see a physiotherapist or other chiropractor specialized in upper cervical adjustments. You can read up on them or call some of them to see if they can help. As far as I know they use special equipment and they don't do sudden and jerky adjustments. Good luck. Take care. God bless.

 

[Leila]

Hello @Javed Nasir, I'm sorry to hear about your tinnitus. I've got my first tinnitus noise because of a chiropractic move, too, so I know your pain. In my case, the person who did the damage (a physiotherapist who wasn't even allowed to do these kinds of adjustments, as I've learned later on) refused to acknowledge that something he's done could have caused my tinnitus. When I went to see an actual chiropractor, he told me that, unfortunately, tinnitus is a rather common byproduct when it comes to the manipulation of the head. He told me that sometimes it goes away by itself, or after another adjustment or two, but that there's also the chance that it's something I'll be stuck with for good - which I have been ever since.

If you still trust your original chiropractor, I'd suggest you talk to them about the damage his adjustment did to you and find out if they feel confident to correct what went wrong. If there is no trust between you and this person anymore, go with what @billie48 suggested and ask around / check evaluation portals online and find a chiropractor who is specialised in upper cervical adjustments and hopefully they'll be able to help.

I know it is horrible to have this noise in your ear / head 24/7 and without warning, but try to keep as calm as possible and don't focus on the new noise too much. Mask, if you can. Because the more attention you pay to your tinnitus noise the louder it seems to become.

All the best,
Leila