Head Back... Mouth Open and Smile

[Kelvin]

A question in the recent Tinnitus Hub survey titled "Investigating Physical Links to Tinnitus" made me think…

The question was "does your tinnitus get louder when you do various jaw / head movements"

One of the provided categories / answers was "when you tilt your head back".
I assume this option was included for a reason?

There is lots on this forum about jaw movements, but the head back thing Is not something I have seen discussed.

So…on a bad day mine hisses much louder when I do that and returns to a quieter state when I relax back to normal position.

As a curious chap I was just wondering if anyone else get this?

I have put it down to the fact that changes happen at the 'hinge' of my jaw when you I do this and maybe a vessel is compressed…but I have no idea really.

Anyone else? Any thoughts what it might be?

Or is this a unique 'special' bonus feature I have.

Hope you are all having at least some peace today X

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@Kelvin Also forward posture. Both back and forward movements of neck can cause more ringing. The posterior neck muscles semispinalis and splenius, plus others can be strained by holding the neck forward or having the neck in a crooked position.

Movement of neck in both directions often associated with whiplash can cause somatic tinnitus. Having the neck forward while having a dental procedure can cause tinnitus.

https://www.necksolutions.com/neck-strain.html

 

[Kelvin]

@Kelvin Also forward posture. Both back and forward movements of neck can cause more ringing. The posterior neck muscles semispinalis and splenius, plus others can be strained by holding the neck forward or having the neck in a crooked position.

Movement of neck in both directions often associated with whiplash can cause somatic tinnitus. Having the neck forward while having a dental procedure can cause tinnitus.

https://www.necksolutions.com/neck-strain.html

Thanks @Greg Sacramento. Very interesting.
I had never had T until I had the ill fated dental filling and have worked with a forward head posture for over 30 years as an architect. I have had a lifetime of neck pain.
I am convinced something about the dental procedure was like the "straw that broke the camels back" and upset the balance.
I am having some chiropractic and massage targeted at neck muscles and have had a small amount of relief.
T sure is one hard nut to crack.

 

[Dana]

If i move my head bacward i get terrible tinnitus, but if i do the same move pressing at the insertion head if the sternocleidomastoid muscle beforehand, i can move my head backward and no additional tinnitus frequency appears, so i think that, at least in my case, the culprit in appearing another frequency at moving head backward is the same SCM, which, with its insertion end, pulls on the mastoid bone, and God knows what happens on the other side of the mastoid (inside the head) when the mastoid is pulled by the SCM.

 

[Kelvin]

If i move my head bacward i get terrible tinnitus, but if i do the same move pressing at the insertion head if the sternocleidomastoid muscle beforehand, i can move my head backward and no additional tinnitus frequency appears, so i think that, at least in my case, the culprit in appearing another frequency at moving head backward is the same SCM, which, with its insertion end, pulls on the mastoid bone, and God knows what happens on the other side of the mastoid (inside the head) when the mastoid is pulled by the SCM.

Wow thanks @Dana...me too...I think I found the correct spot ( thanks Google ) if I press on both sides and hold-it, and then tip back no extra hissing. Wow. Not sure what it means but Wow.

My NIP Chiropractor and her massage therapist ( whom she instructs after an adjustment ) are working hard on the SCM. Seems its a common trouble spot !
She also does some adjustments to some muscles from inside my mouth ( not very comfortable ) she simply says its all tight and 'wooden'. I guess those years with my head bent over a drawing board (and now a computer) had some pay-back.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@Kelvin @Dana In agreement. My problems are way more on my left side. I have my wife light finger touch moving up the sternocleidomastoid muscles behind the ears.

I talk by phone or email to a doctor that can't see me as a patient because his private hospital won't accept my insurance. He's a tinnitus researcher, neuro and author of some of the best professional articles relating to somatic T. It's too bad, because his office is 15-20 minutes from me.

He said that somatic tinnitus is mostly caused from these problems: The temporomandibular joint on the left side mostly pulls on the C1 which can also cause the lower C disc to receive stress. Any arthritis, joint hypertrophy or disc space narrowing with spondylosis will be factored into this. Then where there's loss of normal lordosis/cervical spine pressure on the sternocleidomastoids will take place, but more so if ringing and jaw pressure is on one side. Other muscles that come into play secondary are the trapezius, levator, scapular and suboccipital muscles.

Treatments are light massage, heat, radio frequency - (RFA), and neck exercises and sometimes mouth braces. If there's spine loss of normal lordosis then that should be addressed with use of a cervical collar. The problem with spine exercises is that it could take a year or two before benefits even without arthritis, joint hypertrophy, space narrowing and spondylosis.

He has seen reduction of loudness in clinical trials between 18% and 53% with neck treatments.

 

[Dana]

@Kelvin @Greg Sacramento
In the same idea, i noticed that if i do all the rest of the movements that "modulate" T (opening wide the mouth, or turning my head on sides, etc), but i press that spot behind the ear beforehand, i also get no extra hissing (which is very loud in my case). Anyway, by pressing that spot on the SCM, right behind my earlobe, i block that end of the muscle from getting contracted, so it is the contraction of the insertion end that causes the hissing in the majority of moves that are wellknown for causing an extra frequency.
I am not sure what that contraction does:
- it causes the extra hissing: it pulls on the mastoid and, via some sensors, the contraction is relayed to the tiny muscles in the middle ear and therefore..a hissing, or
- the contraction of that end of the SCM presses on some blood vessel and that hissing is the sound of the bood through that vessel. There are blood vessels that go right through the middle ear, so if blood flow is affected behind the earlobe, blood flow is affected in the middle ear, so what we hear (that hissing, or other sound) may be just the sound of the blood flow through a vessel that is pressed on, and the blood flow gets noisier amd heard by the middle ear, which is so close (around there), or
- that contraction causes the osscicular chain to contract and therefore we hear the sound produced by that movement of the osscicular chain. As we know, an external sound presses on the eardrum, the pressed eardrum causes the osscicular chain to relay the move and press on that window of the inner ear, and any pressure on that window of the inner ear produces a sounds, as it is normal to happen.

If i do those movements without pressing the spot before that, i sometimes notice (not always), that if i remain in one of those positions (head on the side, mouth open wide, head backward or forward, etc, and just listen to that hissing for longer, that hissing gets pulsatile, so the sound may come from an artery (arteries are pulsing), but also from a vein, cause from what i know, if i know correctly, veins have a pulse too (i am not sure about that info).

Anyway, on my list of suspects there is a blood vessel that is affected in its blood flow, or even the position (!!!! possible, IMO), when the last segment of the SCM is too contracted, compared to when the muscle was healthy.

(i have to leave now, so i will stop participating in this thread for a while)

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@kevin @Dana continued... Other treatments that he used in clinical trials with satisfaction, but with less results are: Treatment of the trigeminal, spinal accessory and cervical nerves. Massage of the masseter, temporalis and lateral ptyregoid. Botox or other injections in neck or cheeks. TENS for trapezius. Rotation in the atlanto-occipital joint on the restricted side. Stretching exercises of suboccipital muscles. Treatment for over stimulated amygdala. Prolotherapy. Atlas bone therapy. Loose ligament syndrome therapy.

He mentioned that the lateral pterygoid muscle is usually more tender on the ipsilateral side if there's more single sided tinnitus. The masseter muscle is more at play with bilateral tinnitus as well as there being modulation of the dorsal cochlear nucleus.

I'm still not sure with treatment, it's all confusing and I can't afford to make mistakes. I think I will continue massage on the neck for temporary relief, do spine - loss of normal lordosis exercises and wear a collar after that for maybe one hour.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

This video for the lateral pterygoid muscles is really helping with my jaw. The forehead pressure points lower my headaches for the first time. Please be cautious.