Hello all,

For the second time in recent months I awoke this morning with unpleasent dizziness and a tingling / numb sensation in the back left quarter of my head.

To be precise, from the left ear, go an centimetre up and three back and there is the feeling (about an inch squared).

If I look down or up, the dizziness gets worse. If I lay back it gets worse. If I lay back and to the left, WOW!

Now, as I say, I had this about 6 months ago and my aunt (who is an ear specialist) couldnt place the symptoms. They lasted about a week.

I'm thinking 1) cos I drink to much 2) vertigo 3) ear infection 4) brain tumour!!

Your thoughts and experience please???

Cheers

Abbo

It could also be a problem with your neck and the muscles that connect the neck and head. Your worsening symptoms when looking to the left tell me you should go have your neck checked out by a neuro. Tell the neuro. your symptoms and ask to have your trigger points checked. The knots caused by muscle strain can press on the blood vessels going to the brain and affect the blood flow and amt. of oxygen it gets, causing the dizzy spells. My symptoms, like yours, even with the numb spot in the head, were treated with physical therapy, but do return if I over extend myself physically and restrain those muscles. This is also one thing that most doctors miss as the cause, as they think of ear problems, brain etc. My GP( not the neuro. ) missed it for 6 months. It is also common not to have any other distinct symptoms, which is why this can be easily missed. Read rgraf8's story on here if you can. Good luck to you in getting help and keep us posted please on what you find out.

[This message has been edited by Kamden (edited 01-05-2003).]

Hi -- I'm totally new to the message board "thing", but reading through all of these messages has made me feel like I'm not alone and it helps to deal with it a little better.

I have been having numbness and tingling on the left side of my face that is sensitive to touch. They diagnosed me with shingles first and then neuralgia. The weird thing is . . . there was no pain -- it was almost like I wasn't getting enough blood somewhere. Kind of like when you sleep on your hand and you get that numb tingly feeling. Anyway, after many visits to MDs I finally got desperate and started trying other things. The first place was a chiropractor. Wow! What he did was amazing. The first adjustment brought instant relief to the left side of my face. I could touch it, slap it even and not feel a thing that was uncomfortable. I had no idea this was going to be a long haul though. I went through at least three weeks of many adjustments to my neck and lots of pain, swelling and dizziness. I wanted to die. Things are better but I still feel somewhat dizzy in my head--kind of like a vibration in my brain or something. It gets worse when I talk or walk or even write--any movement. When I turn my head to the left, I feel my sinuses drain and a little dizzier than normal too.

In the meantime, I had all the stuff done that everyone does, CT, MRI, blood tests -- to rule out all the scary stuff and we did. They suggested I see a psychiatrist for anxiety which possibly was what triggered all of this in the first place. Stress and anxiety are the source of a lot of people's problems I think and I have a lot on my plate. I've been diagnosed with a lot of mental things at the same time and they are actually working with my chiropractor along with some medication to help me get through this and become normal again.

Have you tried a chiropractor? Have you tried accupressure or message therapy? Do you worry alot or ever have panic attackes --if so, try psychiatric treatment? Overall, the chiropractor has helped me the most I have to say. I've always been scared of them but he worked some magic that has really brought me tremendous relief from this awful problem.

I wish you luck. I wish everyone luck who has any of these uncomfortable painful situations to deal with. It makes you appreciate a healthy, quiet and stress-free quality of life. I know I'm changing mine. God be with you.

Yvonne

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