hearing loss, ear blockage, ear ringing

main symptoms

around the end of summer, hearing suddenly became worse.
the symptoms gradually worsened. a feeling of blockage in the ears and ear ringing also appeared.
when she went to an otolaryngologist for a hearing test, she was diagnosed as having difficulty in hearing high-pitched sounds.
the symptoms tend to worsen, especially in the evening. she feels better in the morning.
she is taking steroid medication, but there is no improvement at all.
she came to our clinic after learning that acupuncture is effective in treating ear diseases.

visual observation and palpation

there was no noticeable abnormality on visual observation and palpation examination, although swelling of the neck was observed.

treatment

acupuncture was performed on each muscle, one by one.
number of needles used: 20
acupuncture needle gauge: 0.14mm (thin needle)

treatment results

in this case, there was no noticeable muscle tension, and the only symptom was an objective finding of "a large amount of swelling in the neck". however, there were many symptoms such as (1) hearing loss, (2) ear blockage, and (3) ear ringing. considering the possibility of autonomic nervous system malfunction due to swelling in the neck, i treated her with 20 thin needles to remove the swelling. from the next day after the treatment, her symptoms eased up and decreased to about 2 if the initial subjective symptoms were 10.

the symptoms disappeared after 3 treatments, but as soon as the swelling was removed, stiffness in the neck became noticeable, so i am now intensively treating those symptoms.

Summary

swelling of the neck

swelling is associated with the feet, but the neck can also be swollen.
however, swelling in the neck is often overlooked because it cannot be recognized visually.
while swelling of the feet is like a pool of water, swelling of the neck is called "myxedema," which means that the muscles themselves have become swollen.
there may be strange lines and wrinkles on the neck, or you may not be able to see any hardness when we palpate the neck.

after the swelling of the neck is removed, the hardness can finally be seen, as in this case.

≪treatment points for swollen neck≫

when the neck is swollen, it is not a good idea to massage it too hard.
it is best to first use acupuncture to improve circulation and remove swelling, and then use trigger point massage therapy to treat the muscle connections.

some people say that neck massage is not good, but it is more accurate to say that neck massage is difficult, and it is not good to use proper techniques.
since the neck is made up of many small muscles, it is better to precisely feel the trigger points formed in the connections between the muscles rather than pressing the muscles.
pressing a muscle can cause muscle reflexes, which is one of the reasons for rubbing back.
muscle connections do not cause muscle reflexes and therefore do not cause rubbing back.
trigger points are often formed in the muscle connections.

this is the key to neck treatment.

Case Reports