Hearing plays an essential role in your everyday life. It’s key to communicating with others, hearing potential danger (like cars), and supporting your physical balance. When your hearing is impaired due to illness or injury, it can affect your safety and ability to communicate (hear) others effectively. Tinnitus (a ringing or buzzing sound in your ears) affects 10-25% of adults. Ear pressure is more common and temporarily affects most people at one time or another (such as during altitude changes or illness).
If your Tinnitus or ear pressure doesn’t relieve itself, an Osteopath can help you find relief. Keep reading to learn more about these two hearing conditions and how osteopathy can help you regain proper body functioning and quality of life.
Understanding tinnitus and ear pressure
Tinnitus and ear pressure can affect daily life and cause physical or psychological stress. If not treated, both can affect one’s ability to hear clearly and cause physical pain and discomfort.
Here’s what you need to know about identifying these two conditions and their causes.
Tinnitus
What is Tinnitus? Tinnitus is a condition in which you hear noises inside your ear. These noises may sound like ringing, whistling, low growls, high-pitched sounds, or hissing. While you may experience some temporary ringing in your ears (like after going clubbing or to a loud concert), Tinnitus symptoms or vertigo lasting more than three months are considered chronic.
Causes: Tinnitus can be caused by many influences:
- Loud or noisy environments
- Head, neck, or ear injuries
- Hearing loss
- Ear disease or infections
- Anxiety or emotional stress
- Poor posture
Ear Pressure
What is ear pressure? is when you feel pressure or “fullness” in your inner ear. It’s actually a blockage or injury in the eustachian tube (between your middle ear and the back of your nose) in your ear. This part of your ear opens and closes when you chew, yawn, or swallow. You may have ear pressure if you also have:
- Cold symptoms
- A reduced sense of smell
- Pain or swelling around your forehead, eyes, or cheeks
- Headaches or toothaches
- Bad breath
- Dizziness or vertigo
Causes: Ear pressure is often triggered by:
- Colds or the flu
- Sinus infections
- Allergies
- Foreign object obstructions in the ear
- Earwax build-up
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders
How Osteopathy can help
Tinnitus
Osteopathy can help you find relief from Tinnitus symptoms through gentle massage, manipulation, and stretching of your muscles and ligaments. Cranial Osteopathy, which involves osteopathic practices focusing on your spine, sacrum, and skull to restore your body’s balance, is often recommended for Tinnitus.
Your osteopath will perform non-invasive, gentle manipulations to:
- Help improve blood flow and circulation to your ear
- Clear blockages and promote healing of any damaged tissues
- Reduce muscle tension and stress (caused or triggered by Tinnitus)
- Support overall good health, body alignment, and function
Ear Pressure
When ear pressure becomes a persistent issue, an osteopath can help you find relief. They use myofascial or cranial release techniques to unblock and balance your Eustachian tube, often by manipulating your mandible, head, and neck. These gentle manipulations, tailored to the cause or specific location of the ear pressure, can ‘unstick’ ear functions and ensure free movement of the bones and muscles in and around your ear, providing relief and restoring normal function.
If an ear infection causes pressure, your osteopath can ensure proper drainage of the ear and throat. They will also check your head, spine, and ribcage mobility. To support your holistic health and well-being, your osteopath may also recommend techniques to ensure a properly functioning lymphatic system (to boost your immune system, making you less susceptible to future ear infections or viruses).
If postural issues contribute to ear pressure, your osteopath can help you realign your physical body to support proper functioning.
What to expect during an osteopathic appointment for Tinnitus and ear pressure
Your first visit will often be longer than a typical visit. This gives you more time to share your medical history with your practitioner, discuss your symptoms, and discuss any existing diagnoses or conditions. Your osteopath will also comprehensively assess your current state of health.
Your osteopath will recommend a customized approach based on the location, causes, and symptoms you’re experiencing. This approach may include suggestions for other complementary therapies (such as acupuncture) to support your health and well-being.
The frequency and duration of sessions will also be customized for your needs. You will likely visit more often for your first few visits (often weekly) and less often as the healing happens. Always follow the care instructions of your osteopath and book follow-up appointments in a timely manner to speed healing.
At-home exercises for ear pressure discomfort or blockages
In addition to in-clinic osteopathic treatments, your practitioner may recommend some exercises for self-care at home. These exercises aren’t meant to heal your hearing injury but to alleviate the symptoms between appointments.
Here are some Tinnitus exercises they may recommend:
- Shoulder shrugs
- Shoulder rolls
- Neck rotations
- Head tilts
- Head nods
- Jaw opening
- Chin tucks
- Home massages (of your scalp, top of head, neck, ear, and jaw)
Due to the delicate nature of your body’s ear canal (and related functioning), it’s important that you see a licensed and experienced osteopath for treatments and suggested at-home exercises.
Where to find osteopathy in Vancouver
In Vancouver, locals come to Thuja Wellness to find relief from Tinnitus and ear pressure through osteopathy. I take the time to discuss your medical history and current health and well-being concerns to develop a personalized care plan that utilizes gentle osteopathic techniques.
Our ultimate goal at Thuja Wellness is to help you return to your day-to-day life, free from the physical and psychological stress of ear pain or dysfunction. Let us create a personalized care plan to meet your health and wellness needs.
Start with a complimentary 15-minute phone call consultation to discuss your needs.
