A 27 year old young medical resident doctor presented in March this year with the complaints of recent onset of tinnitus in her right ear (ringing sound in the ear), unilateral deafness with a feeling of fullness (aural fullness) in the same ear and episodes of vertigo (spinning sensation). She had a recent episode of upper respiratory infection and she attributed these symptoms to it. However, even after the respiratory infection had subsided the tinnitus, deafness & aural fullness in her right ear persisted. The deafness was confirmed by audiometry, which revealed moderate to severe hearing loss. An MRI of the brain, done to rule out any brain related causes for sudden onset hearing loss, was normal. Based on her history, clinical examination and investigations, she was diagnosed to have Meniere’s disease. This is a disorder of the inner ear due to fluid in it that causes vertigo, tinnitus, deafness & aural fullness.
The young lady had tinnitus which was deafening and was continuous during the day and night so much so that she could neither study nor could she sleep. Her examinations were to start in a couple of months and she was very disturbed and upset that she could not concentrate on her studies because of the constant ringing sensation in her ear. Since she did not respond to medications recommended by the ENT specialist, which included steroids, she was referred to the Pain Clinic for alternate therapy.
Examination of the young lady revealed marked tenderness in the bony area behind her right ear (mastoid process) as well as in her neck and shoulder muscles and her neck movements were also restricted and painful. I decided to first relieve her of the pain by administering a nerve block near the right ear coupled with trigger point injections and simultaneously started dry needling to relieve the muscle spasm. This was followed up with another 10 sessions of dry needling over a period of the next two months. Each needling session lasted nearly half an hour. Since she was very tense and apprehensive, she was administered an analgesic tablet and application of a local anaesthetic cream prior to each session to lessen the pain of needling.
After the 1st session of dry needling itself, she had 60% improvement in the tinnitus and the hearing loss markedly improved. Subsequently, the tinnitus reduced to 10% with tinnitus free periods in between and her hearing became normal. Gradually her neck and shoulder pain too subsided and she became her cheerful self once again who could now study with concentration as well as sleep comfortably. In early June she appeared for her exams, and is confident that she will get through it successfully. Listen to her story…