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Mara Nicandro NMT – Holistic Neuromuscular Massage Therapy for Vital Wellness

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Tag: Neck Function

When Tinnitus Changes With Movement, I Pay Attention

Sep 15, 2026

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by

Mara Nicandro

in Structural balance is essential for health!

Tinnitus is often talked about as something happening only in the ear. For many people, the auditory system is central to the picture, and appropriate medical or audiological evaluation should always be the starting point. But some people notice something else. The ringing, buzzing, humming, or other sound changes when they move their jaw, turn…

Shoulders still up at the end of the day? Before y

Shoulders still up at the end of the day? Before you pull them down, take one easy breath in. Do they rise again?

My first Protect Your Neck post showed what passes through the neck. This time, I’m asking what its muscles may still be doing. Mouth breathing, long screen hours, or guarding after an injury can shape that effort over time.

You may notice it during a lift or a Pilates class, or later, when your neck tires and tension returns soon after a massage. One breath is a clue, not the whole answer. A learned pattern can change.

After a series of sessions and home practice, one client told me she felt the difference: moving felt easier.

Protect your neck. Protect your breath. Protect how you move.

Send this to someone whose shoulders are still up at the end of the day.

On Monday, I shared how the neck and shoulder can

On Monday, I shared how the neck and shoulder can participate together. This is what that kind of assessment can look like in a session.

Earlier in the week, a client had experienced a migraine. On the day of her session, another headache was building and her head felt heavy.

She was already using breathing practice and jaw tools, so I did not assume that she simply needed more of the same.

Her trapezius responded well during the movement assessment, so I looked further. The greatest tissue resistance I felt was at the base of her skull, especially through the suboccipital muscles. I also looked at how her jaw, eyes, temples and breathing were participating together.

Those findings guided the hands-on session.

By the end, she said the headache was gone, her head felt lighter and even her voice sounded different. I also noticed that her shoulders rested lower.

Then I gave her a personalized practice based on what her body responded to, so she could support the change between sessions.

In studio, the assessment guides hands-on care. Online, it guides movement resets, self-resisted movement and a practice we can reassess together.

Individual experiences vary.

New here? Start with a Discovery Session, available in studio or online. Returning clients can book TMJ Therapy, Manual Lymphatic Drainage or Continuing Care in studio.

Book through the link in my bio.

Your neck and your shoulder do not function as sep

Your neck and your shoulder do not function as separate parts.

One muscle helps turn and position your head. Another helps move and position your shoulder blade. They receive signals through the same nerve, the spinal accessory nerve, which supplies the SCM and trapezius.

Sharing a nerve does not mean one muscle causes tension in the other. But a neck that keeps working and a shoulder that keeps rising may not be separate stories.

The place that feels tight is important. So is what that area may be helping the rest of the body accomplish.

Save this for the next time one shoulder starts doing more than the other.

Before trying to make both sides match, notice wha

Before trying to make both sides match, notice what your body is already doing.

Turn your head slowly in each direction. Does one direction feel easier? Does one shoulder begin to rise?

Return to center and take three comfortable breaths without trying to change them. Notice whether one shoulder rises sooner or your neck joins the inhale.

Then use one slow round of Align & Breathe™ and repeat both checks.

You are not trying to force your shoulders down or make both sides match. You are giving your body a different input, then checking whether the response changes.

If you try it, I’d love to hear whether anything felt different.

“Keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth” sound

“Keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth” sounds like a simple instruction.

But there’s a difference between the tongue resting comfortably against the palate and actively pressing it there.

Position matters. Function matters too.

Can the tongue find that position comfortably? Can it move from there? Can you breathe comfortably? What are the jaw and neck doing at the same time?

And what if the tongue is doing more because of what’s happening somewhere else?

If getting your tongue to the palate means your jaw clenches, your teeth come together, your neck starts participating or breathing becomes less comfortable, that response gives us information.

The question isn’t only:

“Where should my tongue be?”

It’s also:

“What does my body have to do to get it there?”

That’s why I look at what else changes when we ask the tongue to find that position.

A position can look “right” and still require more effort than we realize.

What you notice matters.

And it gives us somewhere to begin.

Mara Nicandro, NMT
Your Body’s Natural Stack™

Tinnitus is often talked about as something happen

Tinnitus is often talked about as something happening only in the ear. But for some people, the sound can change when they clench their jaw, open their mouth, or move their head and neck.

That change matters.

Research describes this as somatosensory modulation of tinnitus. Sensory information from the jaw and cervical region can interact with auditory processing pathways, which may help explain why movement changes the perception of tinnitus for some people.

It does not mean a tight jaw or neck muscle caused the tinnitus. And it does not mean every case of tinnitus is something I can address.

What it does give me is information.

If the sound changes with movement, I want to see what happens through the jaw, tongue, head and neck. I compare sides. I look at breathing and how the rest of the body organizes around those movements. I’m looking for whether there is a pattern worth addressing, not simply chasing the place where someone feels tension.

That distinction is important because tinnitus has many possible causes. New or sudden tinnitus, pulsatile tinnitus, one-sided symptoms, or sudden hearing changes should be medically evaluated.

If your tinnitus changes when you move your jaw, head or neck, a Discovery Session gives us time to assess whether those patterns may be relevant to what you’re experiencing.

Book a Discovery Session through the link in my bio.

#tinnitus #TMJ #NeuromuscularTherapy #ChicagoWellness #wickerpark

Why is your shoulder always tight? You stretch it

Why is your shoulder always tight?

You stretch it. Massage it. Try to relax it.

But it keeps coming back.

Your body creates stability through relationships. Your ribs, breathing, trunk rotation, and hips all contribute information to how your shoulder organizes movement.
When one area has fewer options, another area may contribute more.

The shoulder may be where you feel the pattern, but it is not always where the story begins.

This is why I look beyond where you feel it and assess the whole movement pattern.

If you are curious what your body is communicating, a Discovery Session can help you understand your own pattern.

Wicker Park, Chicago / Clarendon Hills Tuesdays / Virtual sessions available nationwide

Your jaw tension may not start with your jaw. Whe

Your jaw tension may not start with your jaw.

When you notice clenching, tightness, or tension in one area, it is natural to focus on where you feel it.

But the body does not work in isolated parts.

Your eyes, jaw, tongue, breathing, and movement patterns are constantly communicating as your body adapts to the information it receives.

The question is not only: “Where do I feel tension?”

A better question is: “What pattern has my body been organizing?”

This is why I look beyond the area that feels restricted and consider how the whole system is adapting.

Your body was never random.
It has been adapting all along.

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