How Bad Should TMJ Be to Suspect It as a Cause for Tinnitus?

I've had tinnitus in one of my ears for the past 2 months following a stressful period. I have been lurking the forum for the past 2 months and I see TMJ is a common cause.

I wouldn't say I have bad TMJ, my jaw does however crack/click when I open my mouth further than the halfway point on the same side as I have the tinnitus. My jaw has done this for as long as I remember.

Moving my mouth doesn't affect my tinnitus except when I push my bottom jaw far forward which creates a different sound to my normal tinnitus. Yawning also affects it but just opening my mouth to the same point as a yawn doesn't affect it.

Does anyone think this is bad enough to suspect as a potential cause for my tinnitus?

 

@AnxiouslyWaiting
It is possible to have tmj with few symptoms. You can get diagnosed with a dentist who specializes in tmj. Another better option imo is to see an upper cervical chiro. Inexpensive and non invasive. Hope this helps!

 

I have literally all of the symptoms you described and my tinnitus is almost certainly noise related. I doubt it’s the source of your problems but it’s worth speaking with a specialist to see what they think.

 

No with jaw - crack/click, - unless you have pain. Yes with yawning because of quick release of jaw joint. Yes with pushing bottom jaw forward. Don't think that you have primary TMJ, at least from what you mention. If your tinnitus is high pitched, then you probably had/have tight stressed neck muscles where spasms have pressed on your C spine. Have you had neck X Rays? This should tell a lot as to what physical therapy is needed. Forward head bending may be cause.

 

I have spondylosis and straightened lordosis probably due to sedentary lifestyle. Can anything be done about these?

 

Check out Kara77 story 'My journey to silence'

 

Hi @Kriszti !
Have you heard if NUCCA? It's a form of upper cervical chiro. The link below gives a good description & the potential conditions it treats. Very different from a regular chiro but there aren't many of them around. Hope this helps!

https://www.riosspinalcare.ca/nucca/

 

Thanks, I'll check this out, but I live in a very small country in Europe, so I highly doubt that I'll find one here.

 

@Kriszti
Here us the link to a device that does the same thing - it's available in Europe.
https://www.atlasprofilax.ch/en/
Good luck!

 

Yoga. Warm and cool compresses.

It's move important not to do certain things.
Don't sleep on stomach. A mattress more to the firm side with use of one pillow.
Avoid being in the same position for long hours such as having head titled over a keyboard and reading while in bed.
Not to twist neck or body all of a sudden - move feet first from a laying down position or when standing. Avoid lifting head from a dental headrest with twisting neck and holding that position.

A straighten neck is often caused by muscle spasms due to a lot of forward head bending and then with lifting head from a backwards position and holding.

Spondylosis is part of the aging process. Most older people have spondylosis. More so than hypertension blood pressure concerns and age related hearing loss concerns.

 

I don’t really have pain but a lot of crunching and clicking. The last TMJ Dr. wouldn’t order a steroid injection for my left TMJ with a grade 5 internal derangement, but I managed to talk a pain management clinic to do so on 6-9. It may do nothing but I thought it was worth a try. My noise is driving me nuts and it seemed prednisone helped in the past at times.

 

@just1morething

Go for it.

Yesterday, I pushed my jaw a little too far forward and gave myself a spike. I used warm compresses on both neck and jaw and did a lips together routine for about a hour and my tinnitus dropped below baseline for a few hours. If I didn't have so many other painful physical conditions, I would give my jaw and neck more treatment.

 

Ditto for everything @Greg Sacramento said. Also, if you are a side sleeper, do not rotate your hips relative to your torso when sleeping. If you work over a PC, get a standing desk or consider using a lumbar support when sitting down. If you have lost the curve in your neck, you might have lost your lumbar curve as well. Thoracic spine issues like kyphosis can also develop. The thoracic spine can teeter back and forth as well as you lose and restore the curvature in your cervical and lumbar spines. If your thoracic spine is rotated and caught in functional scoliosis, it will jam up and you will lose your flexibility there. Correct the rotation before restoring spinal curvature. Doing the reverse may only worsen your situation.

My chiro is trained in Atlas Orthogonal, NUCCA, and Chiropractic Biophysics. Look up the cervical dennroll. I use it - pretty handy for forward head posture. Consult a chiro trained in Chiropractic Biophysics before using one.

 

What does a cervical dennroll do?? Can you post a link from Amazon so I can check it out.

 

Cervical dennerolls restore proper curvature the cervical spine over time. The denneroll is not available on Amazon. Similar products are but I have never used them. Link to more information - https://idealspine.com/cervical-denneroll/. Usually your chiro provides you one if that person has a Chiropractic Biophysics certification and it is deemed necessary for treatment. Most upper cervical chiropractors know about these even if not properly certified. Some are floating around US eBay which is where I found one cheaper than what it would cost getting it from my chiro. Again, please consult a certified chiropractor before using one.

 

I had TMJ corticosteroid injections today. I forgot to ask what exactly they injected. Very painful (I squirmed a bit) They did both left and right side. I will update at a later time if they helped my tinnitus any.

 

Thanks, I haven’t been able to find a local dentist who specializes in TMJ but I think my chances will be better once COVID restrictions start to loosen up.

The only noise damage I could think of is headphone use but even that wasn’t crazy loud I think.

I haven’t looked into physical causes relating to the neck and back yet but it may explain why the tinnitus surfaced during a period of massive stress. I’ll get to a chiropractor as soon as restrictions lessen here.

 

I seemed to have gotten relief for about 2 days. My Eustachian tubes were opening up a lot better when I awakened. Now I’m back to loud noise again. I’m going to see if I can get referred to a TMJ Dr. at Mayo Rochester.

 

Question. I have diagnosed neck trauma/problems along with forward neck posture. Working to fix that but it's hard and painful.

My jaw has been popping/cracking/crunching for years now, I'd get occasional pain but nothing bothersome. This month my jaw has dislocated and popped back into place three times. It's extremely painful now and talking and chewing makes it worse. I also seem to have some chronic sinus/congestion/ETD problem.

Could this be TMJ to some degree? Not sure if it's causing my tinnitus, just wondering.

 

@just1morething are you in Rochester, Minnesota... Rochester NY, etc???