This may be purely coincidental, but a discussion I was part of in another thread made me realize something... every health issue I have is always on the left side of my body. Anyone else have this problem? My CH is in my left ear. I have had Bell's Palsy twice on my left side (and yes, I know it is thought to be caused by the herpes virus). A year before my CH started I was getting terrible pain in my left shoulder at work every day and by the time I would leave work I couldn't even raise my arm. I ended up getting a cortisone shot in that shoulder which helped (that was 6 months before the ear symptoms). I have trouble with my left knee. The past month or so I have been getting sore knuckles on my left hand occasionally, to the point where I don't want to move my fingers. I know I could be "looking" for things on my left side, but I really don't think that's it. I can't think of anything really that has been wrong with my right side. Thoughts? And be honest. You can call me crazy if you like. :-\
I don't think its crazy and I have read somewhere I will try and find it again that they discovered HSV can be found anywhere in the body not just the places we think. Maybe that's whats going on with you and its causing inflammation all over your left side, since HSV attaches to a nerve, like shingles is on one side of the body? Just a wild guess on my part.
We are very similar. Shoulder pain, one leg shorter, hip clicking, droopy eye lid, facial sensitivity years before hearing loss on right side. I've been going to a nucca chiro since the hearing loss. All symptoms have greAtly improved. The primary alignment tests the nucca chiro will do is leg length inequity, hip and shoulder tilt.
I just realized I left out one of the big issues. I have TMJ on the left side. I wish I could edit my original post. Ah, oh well. Vicki, that is definitely interesting. I have taken Acyclovir before but didn't have any improvement. Granted I did not take it for very long, only about a month and a half before I got pregnant and had to stop taking it. Mustang, that is also very interesting. It was actually in the thread about chiropractic care that I started to really think about the fact that everything happens to my left side. I have thought a lot about trying NUCCA but always "chicken out" or get caught up in some other treatment I want to try. There are a lot of doctors in the area that do NUCCA and I don't know where to begin. I did find one that specifically mentions Meniere's as something he treats... unfortunately he is not in my insurance network. I guess I am afraid of cost. I know it can get kind of expensive. The money is totally worth it if it helps though. Every time I think I am ready to try it I read some negative comment from someone about NUCCA and it scares me away. It really seems to be a polarizing topic. I do believe it could help but nobody in my family does the chiropractic thing and they are all skeptical. It would be so much easier to "take the leap" if I had someone in my family to say "Hey, I think you should try it".
Nucca does cause some major upper body changes, shoulders neck and jaw. It's a leap of faith, just need to find a good chiro and communicate with them. Its your call if you think things are bad enough. Getting you TMJD addressed by a specialist might be a more convetionAl less risky route. Do you ever get pain or tickling in your ear when you are chewing hard or like biting into an apple?
The changes I mentioned to neck, shoulders and jaw occur gradually as your body corrects and settles. The actual adjustment the chiro does is extremely gentle
I have thought about looking into getting treatment for my TMJ. Its been a long 2 years of trials so far... what to try next? If only it was more clear-cut. Sigh. Thank you Vicki and Mustang, both. I truly appreciate your feedback. It is nice to have a place to come to where people know what you are going through.
In my twenties and early thirties I suffered a lot of headaches. Then as I was playing (gigging) two nights a week at a lounge I met a Chiropractor and we became friends. He would give me free adjustments in the middle of my upper back and neck. And after awhile I became headache free. There is a lot to be said about your spine being perfectly aligned. I use to call them chiroquackers until I actually had the experience. Yes, I believe in them.
RedBird - for Nucca i can tell you from first hand knowledge/experience that there is nothing to be afraid of, or chicken out of. There is no pain involved. The intake xrays and exam that they do is actually the most expensive piece (here in VA at the new dr that is not part of my plan it cost me $200). From those tests they can actually even figure out how long your body was out of alignment. (Mine was over 25 years!) Also the goal of Nucca is to get your body back into alignment and "retrained" to hold that. I wouldn't worry as much about whether the specific dr mentions meniere's as much as confirming their specific training in Nucca. If you can find a dr part of your insurance that will do the most to offset the initial costs. When I started I was looking for anything that could help and figured "can't hurt". When i moved to VA I went for over a year without Nucca before I was able to find and get started with the only one near me (still an hour away). But it is worth the drive, I don't have near the headaches or body aches that i used to. Good luck. Oh, one other piece that i have found (based on 3 Nucca drs I have spoken with) they seem to be more willing than most to figure out reasonable costs to ensure that you keep up with treatment instead of just a huge bill.