I Suspect TMJ: Sensitivity to Certain Loud and Irritating Noises — Where to Get Diagnosis?

It has been a wild ride with my tinnitus. It has been almost a year since it spontaneously started in my right ear (it's now in both but it's a lot worse in the right).

And now all of a sudden I got sensitivity to loud and certain noises. Like, you know the noise your ears make when you yawn? Almost like a muscle clenching noise. I get that when I hear a loud noise or certain irritating noises. It's almost as if my ear is cringing lmao.

Every time I go to a doctor everything checks out. No hearing loss and my ears are perfectly normal at my ripe age of 21.

I swear it's gotta be TMJ issues. I get jaw and neck pain, headaches, my eyes hurt, etc, but my dentist says I'm not an obvious TMJ patient in her eyes so wtf do I do?

I am so tired of it. I think it is also the root of my crippling anxiety as well. My anxiety/panic got somewhat worse when it all started.

Does anyone know who I should go to for a proper TMJ diagnosis?

 

I have a theory about my own symptoms and it sounds similar. I don’t know if this is already an accepted theory or common knowledge but I haven’t been able to find an answer specifically concerning what I believe. Here it is:

I developed tinnitus from breathing exercises. About a 5-7 days later came fullness in the ears. Eventually the fullness slowly got better and then I started to develop what felt like fluid in the middle ear, ETD issues, fluttering in the ears, low level droning and sensitivity to higher pitched/percussive sounds. I have always ground (grinded?) my teeth at night especially during extra stressful periods in my life but never had any TMJ or ear issues. I think though that since developing tinnitus, the stress and possible constant feeling of fight or flight has made the clenching and grinding worse. After the first couple weeks of tinnitus I noticed my jaw was sore especially when waking up. It’s gotten better but still sore and I feel like I now catch myself with strain in my jaw all throughout the day.

Ultimately, my belief is that tinnitus caused TMJD and the TMJD caused the other ear issues I am experiencing. It then becomes a cycle because the more stressed you are and the worse the symptoms, the more you grind and clench, which puts you into an infinite cycle. I am hoping this theory is correct because at least it would give a possible treatment for the other ear issues other than tinnitus. I am thinking to try Botox to see if that will help the symptoms subside a bit.

 

Just to let you know, Botox is known to be ototoxic and in some cases has caused hearing loss in people who have used it for cosmetic reasons. I considered it myself as I also have jaw problems, but opted against it in the end.

 

Thanks for heads up. I figured I would try it at a low dosage and see if it works. From there I can focus my attention to the TMJD if I get some relief. My doctor suggested Naproxen as well for at least a week, but as you probably know, that’s ototoxic as well. We can’t win.

 

You are still very early into your noise injury. I know you want solutions fast (judging from your post history) but I honestly think the best thing you can do at this point in time is just give your body adequate time to see if it heals - at least a year (and you may heal well within that time). Granted, not everyone heals. I'm one of them. But there are many who do and who leave this forum never to be seen again.

Obviously everyone's suffering is different, but I understand you are still able to work in some noisy environments, which is a hell of a lot better than most of us. That tells me your noise injury is probably mild and therefore your chances of recovery are much higher - if you protect it and let your body heal, I honestly think there's a good chance your hyperacusis will go away - tinnitus unlikely, as the pathology there is very different. Anything like botox or Narproxen is too high risk - why take the risk of making things worse when your body may heal on its own?

 

Thanks man. I hope you're right but I'm also at my wits' end. My damage isn't from noise, it's from Wim Hof breathing exercises but I guess it doesn't really matter much. What I'm concerned about is that the stress I have is causing TMJD and in turn making things worse.

With that being said, what I find weird (I'm not sure if this is how hyperacusis works or not) is that only certain sounds agitate me. It's not so much the volume as the frequency and percussiveness that give me nails-on-a-chalkboard like shrill response. I'm wondering if it is sound sensitivity because of TMJD and not really hyperacusis. I'm eager to heal but I also don't want to miss the boat as things become more chronic.

 

Apologies, I knew you got it from WHM but was writing my message in a rush. The point remains the same though.

We do hold a lot of stress in our jaw and I'm one of them. I think TMJ can undoubtedly make things worse and is worth pursuing as a co-factor, but I don't see how Botox or Naproxen are gonna get you there, especially if the underlying cause of your TMJ is stress. The former is a short-term treatment that wears off with time, the other is an ototoxic painkiller. Neither of them make any kind of mechanical correction, although perhaps Botox could take some stress off your jaw, and neither of them treat stress. I just think the risk is too high for Botox - there are horror stories out there. You're better off finding other ways to work on your stress (yoga, deep breathing but without breath holding etc.) and just staying mindful of your clenching. You could also look into getting a night guard or splint in case you clench while you're asleep. Again, controlling your stress will help with this but the night-guard/splint will reduce the weight load on your jaw every night if you are clenching. Also try moving to soft foods. These are all things I plan on doing.

As for not wanting to miss out, if you try to rush this you might end up doing more damage and miss out for the rest of your life. Some people have been on this forum for years. People have lost their careers, marriages and homes, including yours truly. Just take it easy. Explore the least-invasive options first, especially the ones that treat the underlying cause and not just the symptoms.

 

Hi. Did your symptoms get better with the Botox treatment?

 

See a GP and ask them to refer you to an oro-maxillofacial surgeon.