The eight cervical nerve and its role in tinnitus

The eight cervical nerve might be a source of input to the auditory system.

The object was to assess the efficacy of infiltration of the eight cervical nerve root for treating tinnitus patients and to find indicators for a successful result.

Retrospective cohort study. Subjects were 79 tinnitus patients visiting our clinic in a three-year period and who were treated with infiltration of the eight cervical nerve root.

Twenty-six percent of the tinnitus patients had a reduction of their tinnitus following an infiltration of the eight cervical nerve root. Most of the successfully treated patients rated the effect of therapy as a moderate reduction of 25% to 50%. Fifty percent of the successful treated patients still had benefit at 6.6 months. In 5% of the patients, their tinnitus was aggravated after the infiltration of the eight cervical nerve roots. Patients with a hearing loss at 500 Hz that exceed the hearing loss at 2 kHZ responded the most to infiltration of the eight cervical nerve.

Infiltration of the eight cervical nerve root reduced the intensity of tinnitus in 26% of the cohort of 79 tinnitus patients with a moderate to good effect. This therapy for tinnitus patients' needs to be considered, especially in those with a hearing loss at 500 Hz that exceed the hearing loss at 2 kHZ.