Not Perfect, But Better

Hello everyone,

About a half a year ago, I suddenly got hit with an onset of severe, depression-inducing, painful, high-pitched shrieking tinnitus that knocked me out for months and made me wish I was dead. There was no reprieve. There was no hope. All there was was trying to bear with it and struggle through the day until I could take a sleeping pill and knock myself out for a few hours, but even sleep wasn't a reprieve. My work life suffered. My home life suffered. I was afraid I could never be the father my daughter needed, as I could barely function well enough to sustain myself.

I tried everything - supplements (some found on this board, like NAC, Ginkgo Biloba, Magnesium, etc.), various physical treatments (chiropractor, cranial osteopathy, physical therapy, meditation, psychiatry), and anything else I could attempt in order to get my life back. And nothing seemed to be consistent.

One day, and I don't know why or how, I was just listening to my body and trying to have it direct me to where the problem could be. I realized my jaw was way out of line, and that I was actually holding a lot of tension in my jaw, at the back base of my skull, and actually in the region near my temples. I made a concerted effort to check in on these areas every now and then to assess if they'd re-tightened up, and of course they did. So, I started doing strong massages to these areas, am doing TMJ jaw stretching exercises, and applying topical pharmaceutical compounding creams of Ketoprofen (as an anti-inflammatory for TMJ) and Cyclobenzaprine (as a muscle relaxant).

As of now, I have gone from days being an 11 to days being a 2. I can listen to and write music again. I can talk with my wife and listen to the TV without constantly winching in pain. Sometimes it flares up again, but I know it's because of stress and tensing up the muscles in my head, which have apparently been affecting my ears - it's all connected, but once I made that realization, I can get it to calm down again if I close my eyes and focus on relaxing those muscles.

I know Tinnitus has a lot of possible causes, and everybody's case is different. But for me, cranial tension seems to be the culprit. I'm not cured, it's still there, but NOW I CAN HABITUATE since it's not constantly changing tone or reverberating through my skull. For the first time since this started, I feel hope. And I honestly wish we all could have a eureka moment. Stay strong, and I'll continue to report back.

 

This is off topic from your success, but did you realize noise injuries can also lead to jaw pain?

The preception of TMJ worsens and most people never do enough detective work there hearing damage caused them to perceive jaw pain.

 

Yeah, I think that's an interesting take. Not sure which comes first, chicken or the egg. I do know that when I heard sound I would have a reflex in my jaw that would tighten up, which according to my ENT is a natural defense from loud noises but when done constantly causes pain just light tensing up any muscle constantly would do. The base of my skull is important to relax too, so we should all focus on posture as it can make a huge difference.