Somatic Tinnitus, Let's Talk About the Symptoms

Many tinnitus sufferers report a somatic influence on their tinnitus.

Somatic tinnitus is a condition in which the sensory system in the body can cause, worsen or influence tinnitus.

This thread is intended to describe the symptoms of somatic tinnitus.

How was the process of somatic tinnitus detection?

 

I think mine is somatic. Noise does not seem to influence it half as much as a day of bad posture seems to do. I once had a spike from eating liquorice, whereas I was totally fine after an evening of clubbing.

Also, I seem to be able to lower the volume by relaxing my shoulder blades, neck and jaw.

I also get vibrations in my head when I smile (which is very strange to me) and there always seems to be this weird kind of 'pressure' in the back of my head. Right where my neck meets my head.

Massaging also seems to lower the volume occasionally, and sitting in a certain bad position gives me fleeting tinnitus attacks.

 

My tones are slightly somatic, I believe. When I yawn or stretch certain muscles in my neck region, my intermittent ringing rises in volume and becomes continuous.
My other tones are also liable to fluctuations, but not through particular movements. The hissing, I seem to be able to keep under control by making sure my jaw is at all time relaxed. That entails no biting the cheek or clenching. I've made it a general rule to make my jaw 'hang'. Courtesy of @Jazzer.
I feel like my Eustachian tube also definitely plays a role, as I can sometimes reduce volume by making my ears pop through my tensor veli palitini muscles.

 

Mellow 7 - I’m proud of you!
It can become a life long habit.
Well done buddy. x

 

I've had tinnitus from syringing for eight years. I received a fair amount of hearing loss in left ear and some in right ear and never did I have silence in either ear. I now have added somatic tinnitus from whiplash (14 months) without much added hearing loss, but there are times when one ear will be almost completely silent up to 10-15 minutes.

 

This thread actually contains two questions.
1) How does a tinnitus sufferer discover somatic influences on his tinnitus?
2) Which somatic "influences" play a role and in what way?

 

my tinnitus was completely noise induced and I hear it when i yawn, or turn my neck.

 

But isn't it illogical that a noise event produces a tinnitus, which becomes noticeable during movement...
How was your tinnitus caused by noise?

 

@Tinniger, read the section Literature Review within this link. Then on right side of article under Recent Activity read the second and third PubMed articles. What @Contrast mentioned can happen.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3129953/

 

The recent activity is YOUR activity at pubmed

 

I know, but I rather visit a nice country pub than PubMed.

 

I'll give you an example: For example, I can make a sound in my tinnitus ear by sucking with my mouth closed.

 

From a case study: Tinnitus volume increases in ear by sucking with mouth closed.
Answer: Jaw is acting like a hydraulic pump by sucking in air with mouth closed. Air goes in and out at the mandibular TMJ fossa joint capsule causing middle ear pressure.

 

@Suzerman - Mine sounds almost identical to yours, especially the tightness/ pain in the pack of the head. If I press on my lower jaw, or upper mandible (from the teeth upward) I can greatly diminish the sound. Seems to be related to neck muscles, sinuses, teeth. When I wake up , it is always worse first thing and usually gets somewhat better during the day, as long as I am more or less calm and inactive. Exercise makes it spike, but overall seems to greatly help it. I ride bicycles a lot and I wonder if the head position is what exacerbates it. Deep tissue, (read painful) massage seems to help, perhaps because my neck muscles are so tense.

Meditation and staying calm are the most reliable thing to manage it.

 

The question is: Why is there a loud hissing sound in my left tinnitus ear when I press on my left jaw? There is no noise in the right ear when I press in the same way on the right.
What exactly is irritated and how does it make a noise?

 

@Tinniger You may have found part of your T problem and it's a same common condition for me and maybe for many that clench, have TMJ, facial, teeth and neck soreness. Neck and facial muscles often also need treatments including the SCMs. To know which other muscles, pressure point examination may be needed. Refer to digastric at bottom of article.

http://www.gustrength.com/muscles:digastric-location-actions-and-trigger-points

 

My loudest ear beeping is actually when I press on the temporal bone. The beeping when turning the head is also based on tension on the temporal muscle-fascia structures.

 

@Tinniger By pushing on air cells within your temporal bone would mean you got pulsatile tinnitus.

You may have a zygomatic process problem that relates to sinus. It may be Sigmond sinus diverticulum without dehiscence which is treatable or a high-riding jugular bulb which is not a big deal. Facial is the most complicated area of human biology and then when tinnitus is added it's very difficult to figure out what is going on. If infection is involved then it's much easier.

I would get some testing done and then see what facial treatment is best for anything that is found.

 

In my experience, most tinnitus experts do not understand somatic symptoms.
They only want to sell hearing aids, since the origin of all tinnitus is hearing loss, which causes the brain to produce symptom sounds.

 

The interest in reporting somatic symptoms of the tinnitus problem seems low. With so little interest one will probably never find out how and to what extent somatic tinnitus is an independent phenomenon at all. I find that very regrettable...

 

I'm very interested in it, but as others have pointed out, the causes appear to be varied, multiple, and hard to diagnose. Sometimes there just is no simple fix. For me, good massage, neck traction, excercise and sleep allow me to be okay with the alarm in my head.

 

Read somewhere else in the forum:
"I have noticed that the tinnitus gets louder when I yawn, lift my head from the pillow, move my jaw around, or clench my teeth."

Sounds very somatic...

 

An exchange of ideas about details of somatic symptoms seems to be of secondary interest for almost all tinnitus-talkers.

My left ear hisses when I somehow touch/press the left side of the face or the skull, press over the ear, press on the temporomandibular joint, press on my cheek muscles and so on. And the persistent tinnitus is, so to speak, only a part of the "pressing phenomenon". Permanent noises (e.g. a vacuum cleaner in the neighbouring room, which is really no longer loud) do not cover my tinnitus, but seem to "incite" it. A water heater sounds incredibly loud and disgusting in the left ear.

Maybe I have something different than those affected by noise trauma.
Sorry for this desperate mail, but at some point you can't take it anymore....

 

How did you become aware that you can somatically influence your tinnitus?

 

Another symptom: Pressing on my nasal root with my index finger and thumb produces a loud "beep" in the tinnitus ear (left).

 

I'd like to revive this thread.

Perhaps other affected persons may describe their symptoms in more detail.

I only have tinnitus on my left side. I can make a noise in my left ear much louder than the continuous tinnitus by various methods (pressure on the scalp, on the root of the nose, on the cheek, by moving the jaw, by negative pressure in the mouth...).

My persistent tinnitus seems to be only a subset of the noise I can provoke by moving myofascial structures.

 

I have a steady tuning fork sound in my left ear caused by acoustic feedback through a concert sound system. It's a very steady D note. 2 above middle C.

When I yawn or turn over in bed it turns into a glass orchestra. Multiple tones making one chord or another, shifting and changing for up to a minute. I can make it settle quicker with 3 or 4 deep diaphragmatic breaths.

I also have TMJ bruxism with constant hissing that reacts to everything, but sometimes gives way to loud ringing for a few days.

Plus a low frequency hum which stops when I or someone else is speaking.

 

@Mister Muso Jaw bone infection.

 

You reckon that could explain my "glass orchestra" symptoms? I've had two implants fitted in recent years in my top jaw. Should I be asking for x-rays? There was a sinus lift in each case.

I had assumed it was because the acoustic feedback had multiple frequencies which my brain has somehow remembered and plays back especially when triggered by neck/jaw movements somehow.

 

Yes - sinus lift. Jaw bone - and a sinus lift is of same - a dead ringer for your type of sounds. A MRI would be ideal - but if noise factor is a concern - than a cone beam study to see if there's a puncture.

If you can take vitamin C with no side effects, take one tablet for three days and see if T drops by 10%. This will tell a lot.
Do you have other metal in your mouth besides that of implant stems?


I will read your posting history.

I have a doctor's appointment so I will write back later.