Functional Medicine That Sees the Whole Picture

My ears started hurting really bad in October/November of 2011. It was an almost constant intense pain that felt like something sharp and hot or cold was being stuck deep into my ear. I could not listen to music anymore, or play the piano, no more movies and certainly no parties or large groups of people. Cold air caused  more pain as well as any metallic sounds or the tinkling of glassware. I spent most of my time in my room in complete silence, often with a pillow over my head. The only thing that really helped was heat and silence. Even taking something like Advil or Aleve did not help much or for long. I did not know why this was happening, and all my doctors were saying that it was Trigeminal Neuralgia and that I would have to live with the pain for the rest of my life. This is not what a 20 year old wants to hear. Especially one who loves playing or listening music as much as I do. A friend of mine suggested that maybe a chiropractor could help, as something might be out in my neck that could be causing all of this. I went to a chiropractor a few times, but nothing really happened except the pain got worse. As the months went by I turned into a recluse, I never went anywhere, never did anything. The pain kept getting worse until I could not sleep at night because of it, even people talking to me made it hurt more. It started moving into my face, right along my cheekbones, and the right side was always the worst. I could not go outside in the cold without something covering my ears and face from the bridge of my nose down. Finally in August 2012 I visited the friend who suggested the chiropractor in the first place. She took me to her chiropractor’s office and I saw Dr. Malori Tinsley, a doctor who worked in the same office. Dr. Tinsley knew within minutes what was wrong with me. Shortly before the pain started in the first place I had hit my head really hard. I did not remember this at first, but when I did I realized that it had hurt an awful lot but I had not had time to think much else about it when it happened. Dr. Tinsley told me that I had collapsed my sinuses and that this had caused blockage behind my ears, thus the pain. She told me a few things to do, gave me a new diet to try, and told me to come see here again. After that first visit I felt so much better. I was amazed at how much easier it was to do things without that constant pain in my ears. After a few months of visits every few weeks I was almost back to normal. Now, a little over a year and a half later, I am rarely bothered by the pain, it is still there sometimes, but it’s never enough to really inconvenience me. And it is nothing at all compared to what it used to be. I will forever be indebted to Dr. Tinsley, and I will never forget how she helped me. Thank you Dr. Tinsley, for everything.