My Tinnitus Seems to Be Somatic, What Else Can I Do to Improve It?

I noticed recently that when I turn my head hard to the right then my tinnitus intensifies a bit. I tried pushing my jaw forward and my forehead into my hands and it intensifies slightly, but not as much as the head turn with my neck. I tried moving my eyes around but that didn't do anything, heard some people get that. Ever since I've had tinnitus I don't think I've really tried this or noticed this before and assumed I'd just damaged my ear from using loud headphones for so long. My right ear is completely fine.

Quick recap on my tinnitus history: High pitch appeared in my left ear quite loud one night as I was trying to sleep in January 2017, several months later it had reduced a ton and I never thought about it (Had a hearing test and MRI, both fine). A 2 week spike in October and back to peace. June this year a large spike happened possibly due to bad anxiety. Since the spike ended it's been up and down, some days quieter, a few days I'd wake up with a sharp tone that subsided within a few hours. A few days ago I had a very peaceful day but since then it's been a little annoying. From what I can remember the tinnitus I have now seems a bit more piercing than in the past.

I'd like to think that the variation of it is a good sign and it's something I could be managing better but I feel like I'm missing a trick. I'd like to try and get more good days.

Things I already do:
- Neck/Shoulder stretches and Yoga, walking and some general exercises (try to do this daily).
- Diet: I eat fresh and cook, try not to allow too much salt or sugar. Plenty of veg, meats, eggs.
- Supplements: Zinc, B12, D3, K2, Taurine and Magnesium.
- Sound Therapy: I'll mask with a fan and sometimes natural sounds. Sometimes will listen to some brainwaves sounds around the frequency of my tinnitus to be more desensitized to it. I've generally never liked a completely quiet room so I usually have something on or play a game.

I'm thinking I probably need to work on my posture and relaxation of my muscles. I've never actually been for a massage before and want to go soon, was thinking of trying a Thai massage place for a head, neck and shoulders massage.

So is there anything else I could be doing to make improvements? Also if the supplements I've listed don't seem to be making much of a difference, are there any I should perhaps stop taking if I'm already eating a healthy diet?

 

Have you tried NAC?

 

Do you have tense shoulder muscles? Or TMJ? Im pretty sure after months of being scared of noise and everything related that my tinnitus is actually somatic and mostly related to my neck and jaw. I can be in a loud room and it wont do much, yet when i chew a hard candy or whatever my tinnitus goes louder. What kind of helps for me is definitely massaging my neck, shoulders and jaw. Avoid tensing these muscles up as much as I can. Wearing a splint, seeing a jaw physiotherapist. And definitely keeping correct posture. My tinnitus overall is so much worse when my posture is bad. Neck bending over my phone or computer definitely aggravates it.

When I was on holiday I walked with a backpack all day and for some reason my tinnitus was nearly gone some of those days. I still think that was related somehow, because the backpack pushes my shoulders down and keeps them from going upward and tensing up too much.

 

I'll look into NAC but I think I read someone say that NAC is not great for somatic.

I generally do have tense neck and shoulders. Often times I'll think about it and realize how much I'm tensed up. I work at a computer a lot so I probably have my shoulders pushed forward too much. It does seem to be the case that loud environments do not exacerbate by tinnitus but tension and anxiety do. I just did some exercise after I posted and my tinnitus seemed to calm or be less bothersome, I could feel the tone of my tinnitus go with my pulse. I did notice the other day actually that massaging the back of my neck really helped so sometimes I'll massage the areas you said.

I worry about seeing a dentist or something because of this forum haha. Is a jaw physiotherapist different? I should definitely do more to have better posture, makes me wonder if I should see a chiropractor or osteopath.