Anyone Believe TMJ/TMD Is the Cause of Their Tinnitus?

my neuromuscular dentist believes my tinnitus comes from my tmj/tmd. I have been wearing an orthotic since August and can't say that I think it really helps...what I have found to help is neck and head massages, and physical therapy for tmj (intraoral therapy), and cold laser on my jaws. Not 100% convinced my tinnitus is from tmj just wondering if anyone else out there has tmj and tinnitus?

 

I had TMJ arthroscopic surgery in August I still have T but thee are good and bad days ......prior to surgery there was only bad ones so not sure if it's the surgery or if it's just time and my brain some days accepts T and in return I percieve it as a good day.

 

Hi Carlos! Thanks so much for replying. If you don't mind me asking what is arthroscopic surgery for tmj?

 

It's like having your knee scoped but it's your jaw instead they go in and remove scar issue and inject ant-inflammatory meds .....if you have limited mouth opening its the TMJ joints that need to be lavaged
Google tmj arthroscopic surgery

 

see...I have felt that inflammation around my tmj and Eustachian tubes is causing my tinnitus because while I was prescribed prednisone for etd in September tinnitus pretty much went away one day after finishing he prescription the T came back. Also when my physical therapist for tmj (she does the intraoral therapy on jaw muscles) uses the cold laser wand on my jaw muscles the tinnitus is pretty much gone for an hour or so. Does your doctor think the tmj is the cause of your tinnitus?

 

He wouldn't say just that it could be the reason .... T is so tough to diagnos I just figured I needed the surgery so I went for it and hoped it would help my T also.....

 

Yup. Me.
I always say loud music caused my T but I'm sure my clicking popping and shifting and cramping jaw has something to do with it. Years ago my dentist helped me with a night time bite guard. Til my dog ate it. The dentist warned me not to leave it out on the night stand - dogs are crazy about them.

 

Did you eat your dog then? I heard they taste just like chicken. I have a TMJ appliance, but doubt TMD is the cause of my noise. Could be tight neck muscles causing noise in your ears?http://www.noisehelp.com/hissing-in-my-ear.html

 

I have TMJD but I'm not convinced it's the source of my tinnitus. My doctor either but we are trying at least to fix it. To be honest I stopped wearing the splint so much as my tinnitus was improving on it's own but I will start it again soon.

It's hard to tell if the two are related but at the very least you can fix the TMJD without making the tinnitus worse so why not give it a try if cash isn't too tight.

For me, my jaw has clicked and popped for as long as I can remember. As have my ears. Never gave it much thought until tinnitus that was stable for 14 years went up several notches following an illness and some medicine. So in my case I can't correlate the two but in my mind I want to believe that perhaps there was a cumulative effect and if I work on my TMJ then perhaps the tinnitus will go down a notch or two... and we all know that even a slight relief is worth the world.

 

Me as well! I know TMJ/inflammation causes my ringing. When I take predinsone too it completely goes away. My jaw is swollen is where my tmj is. I've worn a splint for about two months and the ringing has gone down a little. My dentist told me it will take a while to be completely fixed. Here's hoping!

 

I have TMJ issues and my ENT doctor said it's possibly playing a role in my T, but wasn't sure as I do have some hearing loss. But I do get jaw pain near my ears....I'm getting a new nightguard (bottom teeth splint) in a few weeks. I'm current using a themal one for the top teeth that has worn down from my clenching during sleep an really not helping very much...this new one should be far better.

 

Any improvements for those treating their TMJ ? I am going to seek out a TMJ clinic to see if it will help mine. My T has changed a lot over the past three months, recently being a steady white noise with a ring in my left ear only. It does exacerbate after eating so I have a strong feeling it is TMJ related. I am hopeful with TMJ treatment my T will completely go away. Keep me posted on if it is helping!

 

Do you mean it is improved over the past 3 months?

 

My T has changed in tone/pitch quite a bit meaning it started as a humming ring in November, and since then has turned into an eeee ring for some time (electrical), then I had a bit of hyperaccoustis for about a week or two with ringing, then moved to more white noise with very high sharp (dog whistle I caalled it) rings that would come and go. Lately it has settled to a white noise type sound in the day with a ring in my left ear. At night it turns into a ring/constant higher pitch in both ears. My left ear feels quite sore at times which I feel could be my TMJ being sore causing inflammation? I am just trying to come up with ideas as to why this could be occurring before giving up hope.

 

Have you been seen by a specialist for TMJ?

 

My dentist fitted me with an upper mouth splint back in November, but I am researching TMJ clinics to see if they can help in any other ways. My dentist is so nice, and said the tinnitus would be the last to go, but I think I need to see an expert about this. I have also done physical therapy, but the PT I was seeing doesn't specializs in TMJ treatments, so I need to seek out a different one. I'm really struggling with the anxiety side of this too, so I need to start taking my Lexapro to help curb this. I'm just beyond frustrated that I have seen just about every doctor, tried so many things, even got an MRI and I can't figure mine out. Mine is not noise induced, so I am going to keep searching until I just can't anymore for my reason. I'm only 23 with no health issues so I am holding out all hope it is TMJ induced and that with treatment it will go away.

Let me know if anyone has any suggestions/hope!

 

So you have not seen a TMJ specialist.
Youre Dentist may be nice but could have caused more harm than good.
How did your T start?
Why do you think or suspect its TMJ related?

 

I have not seen a TMJ specialist yet, but I plan to. My T started randomly on a Monday afternoon after I came back from lunch. I had been getting quite regular ringing after lunch before the constant T started (around lunchtime), but in November it never subsided. I panicked and have had the T ever since. I have had TMJ for quite some time before my T started, but maybe with the cold of winter here in Wisconsin (hunching/clenching) on top of TMJ it just did me in. I also had a bad cold about a week or so before, but it was gone when my T started.

Have you had any success with TMJ treatment?

 

Can TMJ/TMD tinnitus be constant pitch, hence does not change frequency if moving the neck or clenching on teeth? or must a T caused by TMJ/TMD change in volume/frequency with the movement of head/teeth?

 

Who knows? If you suspect TMJ then you should see a DMD who can evaluate your jaw. Let us know.

 

Will. Do will try to get an appointment for next week, have had all hearing tests done upto 16khz with no above 10db, an oae, ABR, an eeg, mri, ct scan, and the ENT said that there are no indication it's related to the ears, and prescribed me xanax which I haven't taken
Hence I guess it's time to investigate the the tmj/tmd route

Is it true that if the source is from the teeth if the dr numbs the nerves there should be change in T?

 

I, too, was prescribed prednisolone, but only for five days. I think it may have lowered the T a little bit, but I'm not sure.

For those whose T disappeared after taking it, for how long did you take it? Could five days have been too short?

 

Hi @walkthroughwalls - Prednisone helped the swelling go down pretty severely on my jaw joints to the point that the T completely disappeared in one of my two ears (and dramatically lowered the volume, but did not reduce it, on the right ear - which was less pronounced all along). I experienced this relief by the second day of taking 50mg of Prednisone, but noticed improvements within the first 24 hours. Once I dropped down to about 30 mg of Prednisone, however, the T started to come back in both ears to t heir original volumes. I suspect that in my case, I need at least 40 mg of Prednisone to counter the inflammation.

Inflammation is also ever-changing. As the TMJ progresses and our joints become more damaged or strained, or can't properly heal, then I suspect that both tone and quality of Tinnitus adjusts and changes on a day-to-day basis. Given all of this, I am looking at wearing my standard night guard more regularly to see if this helps. But as @Jay M indicates, I need to find a TMJ expert to help treat this, because right now, I'm getting mostly anecdotal help with this condition.

If anyone knows any good TMJ experts in the Boston area or South Shore of Massachusetts, please let me know.

 

Thanks very much!

I was on only 30mg, so there might be a chance that a higher dose will help me
That said, I don't know if I have TMJ, but I definitely do have a misaligned lower jaw that won't go back into its normal position by the usual orthodontic treatment. I hope that its not damaged beyond repair (I'm 28).

 

I thought I should bump this thread back up. I Have TMJ and had an appointment with the best TMJ specialist in Vancouver. He refitted my mouth guard and prescribed a pain killer and a strong muscle relaxant to take before bed to stop me from clenching when I sleep. After only a few days my ears are less foggy my low buzz had improved dramatically. I will see him again in a month and he will do a special hard plastic night guard. He said the soft ones can actually make the problem worse. He will see me 3 times to fine tune the guard. All of this will run me about 800. Considering that I was sent to him to see if I'd benefit from botox injections this is actually pretty good news.

 

i think that TMJ contributes to T only if hearing is lost.
Is there anyone here who had perfect hearing up to 18000hz and ringing due to to TMJ?

 

@bwspot Hi! So I work at a bank and one of the tellers had T from TMJ (her jaw misaligned when she had teeth pulled and she also has a very small mouth, like me! It took a full year with TMJ therapy for her T to disappear.. And she has no hearing loss. Her tmj sometimes bothers her but she hasn't had ringing for years.

 

@bwspot
Did she ever describe her T sounds as somatic and or pulsating?
Im interested IF possible how long she began to notice T after her tooth extraction. Was it her wisdom teeth?

 

Hi @Jay M Did you mean the comment for me? I wasn't sure! I know my wisdom teeth removal caused mine but I also have had 10 other teeth extracted I have unusually small mouth/jaw.

 

Kara.

What kind of physical therapy did your co worker have. How did she find someone? Was it a regular pt?