Heat Blanket, TMJ and Fleeting Tinnitus

So... short story: Mild tinnitus, (Very) severe hyperacusis. Very tense muscles in neck and jaw. 99% sure it is noise induced, I have TMJ as well with a clicking jaw, but it has not really bothered me much.

Since 2 weeks I have had jaw pain from sleeping with earmuffs, so now I cannot use them anymore, not even for short periods daytime. My dentist recommended me to put a warm blanket on the area/joint that hurts. I just did, and after 30s I had a loud fleeting tinnitus for 10 s. The new tone is still there but faint...

I am not worried about this fleeting tinnitus, but this is the first time I something that is not noise impact my ears in such a clear way.

Has anybody tried a heat blanket? Any success or recommendations against? @Greg Sacramento , I know you are an expert on TMJ. What is your opinion?

 

@Johan_L -- The nerves in and around the ears may be picking up on pain and inflammatory signals from the TMJ, resulting in changes to hearing, but not hearing loss. I've read about this as a problem for many.

TMJ has some inflammatory processing so heat isn't always the best treatment. Also with a sore neck and jaw, earmuffs induce pressure compression with posture balance changes. Pressure from earmuffs can also cause or increase pressure to jaw joints, muscles and nerves as they are in close proximity to the ears.

Let me view your history and I will get back to you.

Dave and I were talking about this so I will place a tag @Jazzer

 

History recap:
8 years ago: Tinnitus in both ears after night club
4 years ago: Spike after construction work
1 to 4 years ago: Gradual onset of hyperacusis on right ear, increasing after noise exposures. Went from Mild to Moderate.
July 2018: Crazy spike in both ears and extreme hyperacusis. I think Aleve + Noise was culprit.
Sept/Oct: Improvement in hyperacusis. However, after 2 hours at a restaurant it all went back to Extreme hyperacusis.
Nov until Today: Severe hyperacusis... Constant pain in jaw and from sound expousure.

TMJ since 15 years with a clicking jaw. Never cared much about it though.

But since two weeks I cannot use earmuffs from the compression caused by sleeping with them. The last couple months other muscle related ailments have come up such as RSI, back pain and voice fatigue.

 

I remember some of this now. I thought that TMJ weakened structures in your ears as primary. Then loud noise, possible medication or improper posture doesn't help matters. Some get TMJ from intense stress, dental, clenching or in association with the neck. Minus clenching - 87 - 96% of the time the C1 C2 vertebrae is out of proper alignment and/or due to pressure being placed on nerves and other structures affecting the middle ear as a result of TMJ. The C1 C2 can be placed out of proper alignment from neck and lower spine muscle spasms.

All of this can have little initial reaction and noticeability for some time until a bit of arthritis jaw/neck, neck disc space narrowing, pressure to the ears develops. This can be caused from incorrect posture or just aging. Sinus problems later developing can also complicate matters.

For you, TMJ treatment is more important.
One of the best methods proven more recently is self teeth balance - keeping the lower front teeth inline with the upper front non moving teeth.

Great advice about 3/4 down in this link. This series also has articles on cervical and other tinnitus associations. There's other links that are informative for specific issues, but overall this provider has great overall information and treatments. Take a look and we can talk more.

https://trainingandrehabilitation.com/association-tinnitus-neck-tmj/

 

Intersting read! Very knowledgeable author. I just started but will continue tomorow.

A question: I read about C1/C2 alignment. The things is I am doing a Myelogram + CT on Monday where the doctor plans to investigate C5,C6,C7 and L4/L5, since an EMG indicated some nerve root issues there. Should I ask the doctor to include C1/C2 as well while he is at it? Is it possible to see if they are out of alignment on a scan?

 

Yes - With a jaw problem and being somatic C1 C2 scanning would be helpful. A scan over your jaw would also help. The L4 L5 may involve an injury such as falling, lifting something off balance with arms extended or bad posture.

 

Would the radiologist know what to look for? I would have to call him tomorrow and ask about this. Its a pretty invasive procedure so do not want to do it more than once...

 

I would call the radiologist for a C1 and C2 notation. The jaw probably doesn't need exam, unless there's considerable pain.