Pain in relationship to Tinnitus and Hearing Loss


Author: Henk M Koning1, Bas C Ter Meulen2

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Pain therapy, Pain Clinic De Bilt, De Bilt, The Netherlands.

<sup>2</sup> Department of Neurology, OLVG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Conference/Journal: Int Tinnitus J
Date published: 2022 Mar 3
Other:
 Volume ID: 25   ,  Issue ID: 2   ,  Pages: 124-128   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.5935/0946-5448.20210022.   ,  Word Count: 186  
    Introduction:

Cervical and lower back pain are noteworthy in the manner of development of tinnitus.



Objectives:

The focus of this research was to indicate the consequence of the severity of neck pain and pain of the lower back and/or lower limbs in tinnitus patients.



Design:

A retrospective analysis of 61 patients with tinnitus as main complaint during a three month period.



Results:

In this study, we found two groups of tinnitus patients defined by the existence of postural instability. Patients with tinnitus and postural unsteadiness were characterized by predominant female, self-perceived hearing loss, a higher intensity of tinnitus, cervical pain, and pain of the lower back and/or of the lower limbs, and more hearing deficit from 250 Hz to 4 kHz.



Conclusions:

In patients with tinnitus one should be aware that hearing loss can be a consequence of high intensity cervical pain. Stimulation of the proprioceptive input pathways due to cervical pain can result in a higher intensity of tinnitus and a hearing loss in the range of 250 Hz to 4 kHz.



Keywords: Tinnitus; cervical pain; dorsal column nuclei; hearing loss; lower back pain; proprioception.



PMID: 35239293 DOI: 10.5935/0946-5448.20210022