Appears I Have TMJ Related Tinnitus

My tinnitus began 2 weeks ago suddenly. High pitch, varying frequency, varying volume. Worse with sound and greatly modified by neck and jaw movements. Sometimes in the last week it has actually disappeared for 5-10 minutes but it is usually brought back by movement or loud sounds.

First ENT thought he could see an effusion behind my right ear drum and I spent some time thinking I had ETD, which gradually made me more and more anxious as these symptoms fit less and less.

Finally I spoke to a top ENT surgeon who specialises in the middle and inner ear and he told me that my story sounds more like tinnitus related to muscularskeletal tension. He says he sees people in their 20s (like me) all the time with the same presentation and that it's dude to stress causing chronic neck and jaw tension, bruxism and so on.

So he told me that it usually resolves but to see a dentist and physio for the requisite assessments and treatment.

Today I saw the dentist who sees early TMJ dysfunction on the right, the side I feel is more likely the side of the tinnitus (although it sometimes is hard to tell). She did some jaw movements that modified the tinnitus and said it's likely the cause.

She said that I'll be referred to an oral surgeon to start treatment and gave me some exercises to do. She said usually this improves or cures the tinnitus and other TMJ issues (pain, headaches etc)

Now my question is, when I google TMJ tinnitus I get endless stories of how nothing ever worked for people and they were stuck with the tinnitus. Does anyone know if this is the majority of people or if I should be hopefully things will improve?

Also any specific advice for treatments relating to the neck that the ENT suggested are also involved? I am looking for a physio that has some idea because the ones I have spoken to have never heard of tinnitus relating to muscle tension.

 

i also have TMJ related tinnitus. It started in April this year and i had severe jaw and neck pain.
It has greatly improved since the last couple of weeks after having around 7 dry needling sessions done and seeing a chiropractor a couple of times. I also massage my jaw every day, i massage the masseter and lateral ptyregoid (the one alle the way in the back) It's a little hard to reach it but once you massage it you can just feel it's letting go of tension. My T is reduced now and sometimes completly dissapears. My ears are still popping like crazy but i'm also having a cold so i think it has something to do with that.

 

Thanks for your reply Carly!

I find my tinnitus comes and goes, the things that make it worse seem to be noise and movements/tension. I never realised I had a TMJ issue until my X-ray though, before then I thought I just had a bit of an issue with clenching when stressed.

But I do have a long history of neck pains and tension headaches that were really bad the few weeks before this all started.

Did you try a splint or anything?

Do we expect TMJ tinnitus to eventually go away?

 

I tried a splint but i stopped wearing it after a week, it was too uncomfortable and it made the clenching worse in my opinion. How did your T. start? Mine was vert soft in the beginning and than went away alot of times, than after a while it was permanent and louder. Now it's going back down again as the jaw pain and neck pain is going away. They say the ears are the last problem to resolve when it comes to TMJ. I do have a feeling it will away completly but we have to be patient. Is your T also gone when you wake up in the morning? And than when you start moving it's starting up again.

 

@Carlie Jackson Hi Carlie...my T was almost gone this morning and now it's louder since I got up. Is that how yours is? My T started with a concert in May, but I found out I also have TMJ and am on my fist week of wearing the splint. Mine is uncomfortable too, however, I am trying to give it a fair try and if it gets rid of my T I will continue to use it. I am concerned though about it changing my bite as it feels funny when I take it out for a brief period of time. I am curious about the massage techniques you are using. Is there a site that shows how to do them? I find that when I see my massage therapist and he concentrates about a half hour on my TMJ that my T is gone in the am but it does come back that day. I also do my own massage at times and it seems to help reduce it along with taking a motrin to reduce inflammation. It's amazing to wake up in the morning and not hear it! I just wish it would stay gone for good! I wish you well and continues success!

 

The connection between inner ear disorders and TMJ is real and a complete mystery. No one knows how facial nerves interact with the auditory nerve.

Here are four possible categories I listed

1: People who have TMJ that exaggerated in pain after cochlear damage occured
2: People who have TMJ and tinnitus without any cochlear damage outside of the possibility of bone pressing against nerves
3: People who have never had TMJ that experience jaw/facial pain/aches after cochlear damage
4: People who had TMJ following a noise injury and TMJ did not worsen

 

That's great because you may be able to tackle tinnitus by taking care of your TMJ.

 

That's what i'm hoping in my case, i had a visit to my dentist yesterday and we were talking about my TMJ and the tinnitus and he got me to do an exercise with my jaw. The tone and level changed dramatically, from quite high to really low.Problem was i never looked after my teeth, when i was younger, i have no teeth either side towards the back, top and bottom.He says when i chew something, my jaw is constantly pushing forward, not up and down, when i go to bite down together, my bottom teeth are way forward than they should be and it's caused the damage.First step is getting dentures fitted for me, along with exercises, then if it doesn't improve ( which he believes it will ), look at alternative, corrective procedures.