If Tinnitus Always Goes Away During and After Exercise, What Does It Mean?

It's been ~7 weeks, my tinnitus started in the middle of the night.

I've been given the all-clear from multiple doctors, including a top ENT specialist/ professor. No hearing loss, nothing in or around the ears or the sinus. I'm not able to modulate the sounds. Nothing seems to change it (Turmeric, Ginger, Ginkgo, Magnesium, Bioflavonoids, antihistamines, nasal decongestants, Neti pots, etc.) It started in the right ear and in the last week the left ear has also started up. I'd say the right ear is a 2-3/10 during the day and the left ear is a 1/10, and at night both are loud enough to wake me up. Sleeping is... not easy.

The only clues I have are as follows:

1. It started a few days after a period of high stress (holidays with the in-laws).

2. I woke up with bilateral jaw soreness one morning; I believe it was December 30th. Ringing began January 7th. This has never happened to me before.

3. I had started doing some neck exercises the first week of January after dealing with some neck issues in the months prior, though my neck felt fine after those exercises (bodyweight ROM with head hanging off a bench).

4. I had a terrible stomach bug in mid-December that was as bad as the bug I caught in Mexico many years ago. I had stomach pain for 7 days straight and almost went to hospital! Recovered within ~7 days and was back to normal.

5. This is the interesting one: the tinnitus ALWAYS, 100% of the time, goes away during and after exercise for anywhere between 30 minutes and a couple of hours. And it's not just that I don't hear it due to the ambient noise at the gym / street suppressing it; if I block my ears, it's 100% not there at all.

6. It's mostly there, but it does go away. Sometimes even in the evening when it usually shows up louder, it might not appear until much later in the night or in the middle of the night. Last night, for example, I heard almost nothing all night long and slept relatively well.

It's so unpredictable...

Unless, the two aren't mutually exclusive?

 

First, sorry you're dealing with it.

While I struggle with louder tinnitus, any noise that isn't there is disturbing.

How old are you, have you had your hearing checked, and how is your blood pressure?

 

I'm 30. I got my hearing checked: results are normal. Blood pressure is also normal, I take it regularly at home and recently by my family doctor.

 

I don't have an answer, but it's interesting it's the exact opposite for me. Exercise increases my tinnitus intensity for a while, with a very slow return to baseline. But since an hour of cardio exercise lowers my anxiety, I actually feel better despite the temporary louder tinnitus.

 

Pretty weird. I would normally think there was maybe some blood pressure issue that you might want to investigate based on it going away with exercise. The jaw thing could be Bruxism, but if it was only one night, kinda hard to attribute it to that. It could also be a sign that your tinnitus is resolving, and you just may need time.

Unfortunately, as you probably know, the next steps are CT/MRI, which means $ with no guarantee of finding anything of meaning.

Sorry, you're having trouble sleeping. Some here hate white noise generators, but they help me. I recommend the Hatch Baby sound generator on Amazon if you're game.

 

Maybe there is a somatic element? The exercise loosens you up and relaxes a tight muscle impinging on a nerve (trigeminal, etc)?

Shot in the dark.

 

I did a hearing test (perfect hearing), I saw 2 ENTs, my GP, a maxillofacial surgeon, and my dentist (to get a night guard). Everyone seems to think it's temporary and caused by TMJ stress, as evidenced by:

1. My retainer is cracked where my molars contact in the back/right (where the tinnitus started). I have an open bite so there's more pressure in the back molars.

2. I woke up with jaw pain for the first time late December, ringing started a week later (they all think I've been grinding for much longer than that, just that the one night I woke up with pain happened to be a rare, bad night of grinding).

3. My girlfriend heard me grind very loudly for the first time a few days after the ringing started. Apparently she'd heard it a couple of times prior but nothing like what she heard mid-January.

4. All ringing (both ears) goes away after intense exercise. I think this is blood flow to the muscles reducing tension temporarily.

5. Specific jaw movements don't modulate the ringing, but pressing very hard in or around my ear seems to have an effect.

Also, the past 6 days were almost magical. I thought it was on the way out (it was mostly gone during the day AND I barely heard it at night) but it seems to have started up again. I'm telling myself surely it can't be anything too serious (brain related) if this were the case...

 

Exact same for me.

 

My tinnitus is the same. It goes away with any sort of exercise (walking, running, cardio), but it’s completely gone after a HIIT session, without fail. Unfortunately, the tinnitus always comes back an hour or two later.

 

Tinnitus is a complex condition that involves the intricate workings of our brain and nerves. It's not something to be dismissed lightly. Many factors, both internal and external, can influence it, making it a unique and challenging experience for each of us.

Exercise can be helpful because the body releases positive chemicals (feel-good energy) into our brain, and it can also flush out any negative (stress) feelings that might exist.

 

You all are the first people I've heard of who had their tinnitus disappear due to exercise. That increases my blood pressure and always accentuates mine. You mentioned jaw and neck issues, which are all connected and can mess with people's tinnitus, especially the jaw. One thing about mine is that it is unpredictable. It will go along at a low volume, then amp up for no reason whatsoever.

Since you're new to tinnitus, the only other thing I might mention is to go easy and slow when it comes to making changes in your diet or exercise. Flying can also be a problem due to the frequent rapid changes in air pressures.

 

Hey @fishbone, what was the cause of your tinnitus? Do you have hearing loss?

 

I'm leaning toward this theory. Exercise helps your brain release GABA, so maybe that calms the tinnitus. It's probably the same for those who find alcohol lowers their tinnitus. It could also be a blood flow thing, but we really don't know.

 

My tinnitus stops for an hour or two after moderate to high-level exercise, and I love it. Then it comes back, and I do not know why. My blood pressure is normal.