Case Report
Year: 2021 | Month: December | Volume: 11 | Issue: 12 | Pages: 96-102
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20211215
Effectiveness of Pranayama (Yogic Breathing Exercise) on Management of Somatosensory Tinnitus: A Single Case Study
Badariya M1, Madhavan Balakrishnan2, Sithara Shanavas3
1,2Associate Professor, Department of ASLP, AWH Special College, Kallai, Calicut, Kerala, India.
3II MASLP Student, Department of ASLP, AWH Special College, Kallai, Calicut, Kerala, India.
Corresponding Author: Badariya M
ABSTRACT
Somatic or somatosensory tinnitus is a subtype of subjective tinnitus, in which tinnitus perception is caused by an alteration in somatosensory afference from the cervical spine or temporo-mandibular area which changes patient’s tinnitus perception in terms of loudness, pitch and localization. A 30-year-old female reported with the complaint of tinnitus, vertigo and reduced hearing sensitivity in the left ear for 7 months. Enduring low frequency annoying tinnitus flare ups with vertigo, vomiting and speech understanding difficulty every 48-72hours. Successive audiological investigations and THI score revealed mild sensorineural hearing loss in the left ear with grade 5 catastrophic handicap. Tinnitus retraining Therapy (TRT) along with pranayama (yogic exercise) was used as a treatment protocol. Nadi Shodhana (Alternate-Nostril Breath- one of the most efficient strategies for calming nerves and settling mind fluctuations) was practised twice daily and during the treatment sessions. Effectiveness of TRT combined with Yoga on a patient with severe tinnitus & accompanying issues was investigated. This treatment strategy proved to be highly effective in lowering tinnitus severity and reducing the accompanying issues with long term effectiveness. As a result, present study enlightens the possible success rate of this treatment protocol for somatosensory tinnitus and its impact on tinnitus recurrence.
Key words: Somatosensory tinnitus, TMJ, Pranayama, TRT, Catastrophic handicap.