Disclaimer alert! Disclaimer alert! Hey, everybody is Doctor
Jo and Lion Bear, and today I'm going to show you stretches and
exercises for cervical tinnitus, or tinnitus. So let's get
started. So with cervical tinnitus, or tinnitus, it can be
pronounced both ways, but I like to say tinnitus. This is caused
by tight muscles. But it's important to know that Tinnitus
can be caused by many things. It's actually a symptom. It's
not a diagnosis. So yours might be caused by tight muscles,
someone else's might be caused by listening to really loud
music or listening with, you know, headphones for a long
time. So there's a lot of different things that can cause
tinnitus. So what's going on with you might be different with
somebody else. But they're also getting the same thing. Also
it's commonly known as ringing in the ears. But a lot of people
will also hear something like a buzzing or a whistling, maybe
even swooshing or clicking sounds. So it's really those
sounds that are in your inner ear or in your brain, but other
people can't hear. So that's kind of what tinnitus or
tinnitus is. So with the ones that's the cervical tinnitus,
that's those tight muscles. So stretching out those muscles
really can help loosen everything up, and then cause
everything to relax and get that noise to stop. So one of the
things that can cause it is tight jaw muscles or your TMJ
area, muscles in the jaw area, being really tight. So sometimes
just a massage around the jaw area can help loosen things up.
So just kind of here through these muscles, these big
masseter "chop, chop" chewing muscles, just kind of put a
little bit of pressure, you don't have to push really hard,
but you can kind of push up into the jaw line, you can do little
circles going around one way, moving up and down. And really
just trying to get these muscles around this area that are really
close to those ears loosened up. So sometimes just one to three
minutes. Really getting those loosened up will help. So that's
a nice way to start. Another great stretch is an upper traps
stretch. The upper trap muscle comes all the way up into the
cervical spine here. So if it's really tight, it can mess with
the ear canal and cause that cervical tinnitus. So with the
upper trap stretch, just sit on the hand of the side that you
want to stretch. And I would recommend stretching both sides.
Even if you feel like it's just happening on one side, then take
your other hand and just bring it up and over so your finger's
just touching your ear, and then just gently pull over to the
side. So you should feel the stretch, kind of going all the
way up almost behind the ear and then down into the shoulder
area. You can sit on your hand, you can put it back behind you,
or you can just rest it down. But a lot of times if you hold
it down, keep that shoulder down, you'll get a little bit
better stretch. So hold that stretch for 30 seconds, then
switch sides and stretch for 30 seconds on the other side, and
do that three times on each side. If you want to see some
follow along videos where I'm doing the whole routine in real
time, I have a lot of real time videos, and you can check that
link up there. So then the next one is just going to be a
levator scapulae stretch. And so it's the same thing, that
levator scapulae muscle, it is all the way down to the shoulder
blade and all the way up into that neck or that cervical
spine. So it goes up into here and can cause a lot of ruckus
and the the ringing or the buzzing noises up in there. So
with the levator scap stretch, I like to just bring my elbow up,
This is the way I learned it. I know maybe sometimes if you have
some shoulder issues or neck issues, this is difficult to do.
So you can still sit on it or put your hand behind your back.
But I like to do it this way, because that's the way I learned
it. And that's just to keep that shoulder blade down so you get a
better stretch. So if you can't do that, that's okay, you can
still do the stretch without it. Then take your hand and bring it
up in over your head. So not to the side this time, but almost
like a helmet. So you're bringing it up and over, you're
going to turn your head about to a 45 degree angle, almost maybe
like towards your opposite knee. And then you're going to pull
down almost like you're just tucking that nose into your
armpit. And you should feel that stretch all the way going up
into that neck area. And then all the way down to the top of
the shoulder blade right there. And so same thing, holding it
for 30 seconds,
and then doing that three times on each side. So the next
stretch is going to be a scalenes or a
sternocleidomastoid stretch. So the neck muscles kind of in the
front now. So the sternocleidomastoid actually
comes to that bottom of the ear right there, that little bone
that sticks out, that mastoid. And it comes all the way down to
the sternum, and then your scalenes sit right in here. So a
really easy way to stretch those is I like to just take my hand
and kind of hold down my collarbone. Again, you don't
have to do this, but I do feel like you get a better stretch
with this. Then you're going to rotate your head and then look
up. So I'm rotating away and then looking up, and I'm getting
a nice stretch in there and getting a good stretch. If you
don't quite feel a great stretch in there, you can also turn this
way and look up and you're still getting the stretch. I get a
little bit better stretch if I turn away and look up. But you
can do it this way as well and get that stretch. But again,
holding that for 30 seconds, doing that three times on each
side, just making sure that you're keeping these side even.
So the next exercise is going to be chin tucks. Chin tucks is one
of my favorites. You can do it for almost anything; for the
upper body, headaches, tight muscles, tinnitus, or tinnitus,
just really great to help improve your posture and
everything. So it's one of my favorites to do. So chin tucks
for me is tucking your chin in, not necessarily to tucking your
chin down (which you can do for other exercises). So try and
keep your chin in kind of a neutral position. It's not
coming down and back. It's not coming up and back. But you want
your chin just to go straight back, almost like you're pushing
your whole head back. Sometimes I like to tell people it makes
it a little bit easier when you're first learning how to do
it, is to hold your finger on your chin and leave your finger
there as a target. And then pull back bringing your chin away,
hold it for about three to five seconds, relax. And then a lot
of times there's a little bit of space in between, which just
means you're resetting those muscles. I know I was kind of
talking and moving my finger at the same time, but if your
muscles are really tight, sometimes you'll see a big
difference there. But chin tucks should never hurt. So if they're
painful, don't really force it. I know I'm making really big
movements, but that's because I do chin tucks all the time to
keep my neck muscles strong and to improve my posture because
you know, people like to slouch down a lot. So, you know, go at
your own pace. Even if you just have to start with a little bit
you know, don't force it. You don't want it to be painful, but
loosening up all those muscles should really help with the
noise in the ears. So there you have it. Those are stretches and
exercises for cervical tinnitus or tinnitus. If you'd like to
help support my channel, click on the link up there. And don't
forget to subscribe. Where, Bear? Yeah, down there. And
remember, be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.