A Case Report of High Cervical Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Otalgia and Tinnitus

Neuromodulation continues to grow in its scope and application in the relief of chronic and debilitating disorders. Both otalgia and tinnitus can be multifactorial in etiology, with diagnostic and treatment challenges. This is a case of spinal cord stimulator placement providing a patient with near total relief of otalgia, total relief of tinnitus, and mild improvement in sensorineural hearing loss. We believe that this is the first report showing benefit of high spinal cord stimulation in tinnitus, and we consider whether there are neuronal connections between upper cervical nerve roots and the auditory pathways.