Hope we are all well. It is my 36th birthday today and had my first massage for a long time as a treat to myself.
My therapist I have been seeing on and off depending on what I’ve got going on for years (hadn’t been since end of last year after having a surgery that meant I couldn’t lie in certain positions for a long time), she was a physio back in Poland as is super knowledgable about the body, she also uses some more holistic/alternative type therapies alongside her remedial massage. She has been training in Craniosacral therapy and had discussed it with me previously, we had a little taster session at the end of my treatment and gosh did I feel weird!
My eyes had flashing lights and were darting about all over the place, I had transient pains in my head that were fleeting and a bit of tinnitus in one ear. Definitely felt, something… so have booked 3 more sessions around a dental appointment I have coming up.
Has anyone else tried this sort of therapy before? And had good results from it?
I can temporarily increase tinnitus by pressing on my scalp sometimes.
That logically suggests two things to me:
there’s too much pressure in the affected inner ear
there’s some decompensation in the aural processing so that the changes in pressure are not compensated for (so you “hear” them and your brain doesn’t filter it out)
probably a combination of the above.
Might be harmless but I don’t think I’d want stuff pressing on an already over pressurised ear.
The last relapse I had was when a dentist manipulated the jaw muscles next to my ear. I ended up with positional vertigo for three days and neurological irritation for at least two weeks after.
My first episode of MAV was after a dental appointment so I guess you could be on to something there, although presented as a normal migraine from outset and the visual disturbances and disequilibrium are what I’ve been left with, tinnitus is mild and transient in nature… no hearing loss that I can sense either.
I think I’ve lost very high frequency sensitivity. But hard to know because I’ve only ever had a hearing test after the chronic event kicked off. Oops.
To me it makes sense that higher pressure would dampen high frequencies as if you are a scholar of signal physics, it’s always high frequencies which have the least power and attenuate more easily.
My hearing is definitely affected if socially perfect.
I do get distortion at some frequencies and this was bad enough to stop me playing piano.
The good news is I detect a minute improvement over the years I’ve been affected.
I’ve never had a hearing test so tbh I’d never know if I had lost any hearing either (unless it was detectable or obvious) and many years of rock concerts and having my headphones up too loud is probably more likely to have damaged my hearing
Glad to hear it would seem that your hearing is improving, maybe you’ll get back to the piano
I find that my body automatically stiffens my neck up to keep my eyes where it wants them to be for balance, I’m regularly massaging my neck and lower skull.
Funny that they would say that, I’ve had regular full body massages for many years and it’s never caused any issues with my migraine, albeit that was before MAV.
Will monitor my side effects for sure, she’s using me as a case study to finish her training so only paying for the cost of the room we will be using for each session.
Worth a try
A stiff neck can be associated with a vestibular deficit as your brain tries to steady your gaze to compensate. That’s what I experienced too and it was alleviated with Amitriptyline.
I must be getting better because I no longer have stiff neck :).
Yes the doc said that it would reduce the heart rate and minimise the symptoms of stress on my body which in turn should reduce the frequency of migraine attacks, which it has. It hasn’t however really done anything about the symptoms of dizziness, I agreed to give it 3 months and then I will get back to her.
(By then I will also have had a second go of root canal treatment which will address an infection that’s been living right next to my sinus for months and I believe could be making things worse)
Yeah, there’s a good chance disturbances to your middle ear pressure by whatever means could also be a culprit. But if you’ve had symptoms longer than that infection it might not be to blame?
I’ve had the infection longer than the VM symptoms, although upon reflection I have perhaps had warning signs of a vestibular disorder previously, motion sickness, sea sickness, poor spacial awareness etc etc.
I have had anxiety for as long as I can remember and definitely have had a stressy/anxious 2023.
I had surgery in December which had a long recovery period, I was unable to do lots of things I enjoy and as a self employed person, money worries come along with that.
Then I had to spend a significant amount of money having my car repaired when I returned to work, there have been some ongoing issues and every time that engine management light comes on I about have a panic attack.
Then I found the tooth infection, (I have terrible dental anxiety) but broke another tooth before I could get myself seen by the dentist, when she gave me the proposed bill, I about started an only fans to fund the treatment then was referred to a specialist which has only entailed even more costs, add in a broken filling while having my assessment for the tooth infection and there you have it!
Day after having the crown fitted on the broken tooth, migraine aura, migraine headache, bed… dizziness present ever since (that was middle of May) albeit mines definitely seems milder than a lot of folks on here and is mostly experienced while in motion.
Also the specialist basically told me my jaw was out of alignment, I have TMJ and I’m damaging my teeth with grinding. So I’ll need to see someone about occlusion and get a guard for sleeping once my other treatment is done!
I’m a big believer in not letting this stop me doing anything and will continue to do the things I love, even if some of them have to be modified for this annoying affliction.
Plus I’m so exhausted by the end of the day with my eyes working so hard, I’ve never slept better
I am seeing an osteopath for unrelated issues, but on one of my sessions I had some ear and head pressure and I asked if there was anything she could do for it and she suggested a cranial massage. I am not sure it did anything for the pressure, but boy did it relax me, I could have fallen asleep right there . It was fabulous and I felt good in myself for ages afterwards - no adverse effects either, but, as you will know if you have read my personal diary, I have very few symptoms now apart from high pitched tinnitus 24/7 and ear and head pressure when the weather changes, or I have over exerted myself.
I’ve found that head massage is helpful. Helps with my neck pain and stiffness and I think it’s helped with the dizziness most times though once seemed to trigger some mild dizziness
and had my first massage for a long time as a treat to myself.
