• Ferranti M
• Keene K
• Prothero C

• Adult
• Diversified Technique
• Flexion-Distraction Technique
• Hearing
• Hearing Loss
• Open Access Document
• Supine Position
• Tinnitus

Introduction: While chiropractic care is often associated with the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions, there are other, non-musculoskeletal conditions which may benefit from spinal manipulation (SM). This paper reports on the return of hearing in a woman treated with chiropractic adjustments after 8 months of lack of improvement through allopathic care. Pre and post audiograms were used for comparison.

Case Presentation: In this report, a 46 year old white female with neck pain, tinnitus, and hearing loss was treated with cervical spinal manipulation with positive results. A pre-treatment audiogram indicated low-frequency hearing loss, worse in the left ear.

Intervention and Outcomes: After being unsuccessfully medically treated over an 8 month period, she sought chiropractic care for the above symptoms. After 3 chiropractic adjustments, her hearing and associated symptoms were significantly improved. She received 12 treatments over a 4-month period. When asked to rate her hearing and fullness sensation in the ear on a Patient Specific Functional Scale with a 0-10 measure, where 0 is no deficits and 10 is completely impaired, initially she rated her symptoms as 7, and 5 months after the conclusion of care, her rating dropped to 1. Following treatment her audiogram was normal.

Conclusion: This report details the condition and treatment of a female patient with cervicalgia and associated hearing loss (HL). Possible mechanisms for these results are discussed. This case along with others previously published,1-4 aid in the consideration of (SM) as a possible intervention for HL associated with cervicalgia.

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