|
You just sent me on a research adventure. I have struggled with chronic neck tension and pain for the last 15 years with no obvious origin event, and sometimes take 2-3 ibuprofen every day to take the edge off, when it's at its worst. Thank you for bringing this up! Background for me for those interested: Within a few years of struggling with chronic pain and tension headache episodes (vomiting, catch-my-breath level of pain for hours), I had my first "vertigo event". I was sitting in a chair in an office in front of a whiteboard, writing and thinking and chatting with a team, nothing special or different. Never had an inner ear issue before this moment. Since then, I have struggled (seemingly randomly) where I have ear fullness (almost entirely without hearing on left ear for a month about 6 months ago, then everything slowly came back, for example), varied tinnitus levels, light-headedness, unable to turn around too fast without losing balance... and it waxes and wanes. Now I am wondering if any of the waxing or waning of these symptoms have anything to do with my usage of ibuprofen. I found a study suggesting this back from 2010 just now, and wonder how I've never connected these two dots. Of course, I have to mention neck tension and inner ear related issue, aren't the only health issue I've had in the last 15 years. I've gained GERD (probably not surprising), hashimoto's and vitiligo, as well as sudden onset of mild astigmatisms after the first few years. I have tried my best to avoid using ibuprofen at all, but it is the only thing that can take the edge off of the neck trouble before it turns into that awful, torturous headache/barf session. PS) I know most folks will see "neck tension" + "inner ear problems" and jump to pinched nerve, spinal damage, ergonomics, posture, etc, but even after a great deal of lifestyle changes, reduced time at an office desk, yoga, Feldenkrais method, numerous physical therapy stints, I am confident that it is not the cause and "how good I am doing posture/movement" has no strong correlation to pain levels or inner ear trouble on any given day - it is seemingly random. PPS) Definitely open to suggestions or ideas, but I will be surprised if something is mentioned that I have not tried or looked into. |
The other thing that comes to mind is Ménière’s disease, a disease affecting the pressures of the inner ear. It's probably also considered if you've seen an ENT. A friend worked on his Ménière’s with diet (low salt, low glycemic index foods), and diuretics, but what is helping now is allergy shots. His ENT noticed that there was a seasonal component to his symptoms and sent him to an allergist. (The first allergist he went to did testing but found nothing; the next allergist found plenty of reactions and hit on an effective treatment.) Actually, his symptoms sound quite similar to yours. The Mayo clinic page on Ménière’s mentions various treatment modalities, though not allergy treatment.