Grasshopper-Like Tinnitus Sound — From TMJ? Sinusitis? Neck Tension?

I’m new in this forum. I have had tinnitus at least since 2019. I believe that I have had it even earlier but I have ignored it. I remember that I have heard that strange background noise.

Lately I have heard high frequency “grasshopper like” sound. That started nine days ago. I visited the doctor and there was no infection in my ears. It becomes louder when I breathe deeply or open my mouth widely. The new sound bothers me 24/7 nowadays.

What could have caused this new sound? Earlier this year I have had TMJ problems, sinusitis infection and problems with neck tension.

 

Noise.

 

All the above. I have neck tension and TMJ. TMJ is bad. And the worse it got I developed the same noise as you. Try some treatment for TMJ and neck. I finally found something on my phone app that is high-pitched enough to mask it. Sleeping is very tough. I noticed that when I chew on etc. it’s much louder. Sometimes when I move my head to side to side. I’m starting physical therapy for my neck and TMJ and hoping it will help.

 

Same with the TMJ and neck. It’s somatic tinnitus. It’s ear damage. Now we can hear the nerves in our jaw and neck firing. Lucky us!

 

I think once our ears are damaged it starts affecting everything else. Head, neck, jaw etc. At least most of us have the symptoms like that.

 

Exactly. I think a lot of people think they have perfect hearing, and have always taken care of their ears, hence why they don't want to believe their ears are damaged. I think anyone who lives a normal life in our society damages their hearing, just the sound of vehicles passing by can cause damage. The tinnitus or hyperacusis may not set in immediately, and it could very well be triggered by stress or tension, and it could very well be modulated by posture and jaw movements, but it's ultimately ear damage that's the root cause. That's just how I personally see it.

 

I disagree. I don’t think that TMJ is necessarily causing true ear damage in the sense that you have sensory neural hearing loss. It is impacting your hearing because of inflammation and pressure but it’s conductive, not sensorineural. That’s a big difference. Conductive is at least treatable.

 

Exactly. Everyone including me in the beginning wanted to believe it was somatic haha. I think most people have hearing damage and a tiny few actually have somatic.

I have yet to see any TMJ/neck tinnitus folks get cured after fixing their “issue”. We are all chasing tails in the end.

 

I get that but how many folks cure their tinnitus by treating TMJ... just saying.

 

I personally know of two. I’m not saying it’s going to work for me but I personally know of two. I’d be happy with some improvement.

 

That’s awesome I have jaw issues too which causes headaches and it sucks lol. I wish us both recovery.