Tinnitus and Bruxism

I have been a T sufferer for years. Every day and every night.

I went to the dentist today for the first time in years. As soon as I opened my mouth the dentist said "WOW You really are a big time teeth grinder! I know my teeth and jaw hurts on a daily basis and have dull headaches and horrible T.

Could this really be the cause? Could this be the underlying cause? I didn't know that your jaw and teeth have a direct interaction with hearing, etc. I am getting fitted for a guard to sleep with at night and PRAY that this is the answer!!

 

I hope your guard helps @Greg Miller
T is a symptom of many and varied conditions.
I have no doubt it can be related to the jaw muscles, bones and the blood vessels in the neck.
Its all packed in tight, as the attached diagram shows.
I guess if one part is out of alignment or tense... then of it fires...
Mine started about Two hours after a dental filling, that involved some heavy jaw action, I also think I have always carried tension in my face neck and jaw. Maybe the Dentist just 'broke the camels back' so to speak
Best of luck and let us know how it goes with the guard.

 

Hi Greg,

It could be the cause indeed. How it could be, I am not sure. Maybe the muscles in the jaw send neurological signals when they are tensed for too long. I was grinding my teeth too, but not so much. A guard did nothing for me. A few members of a tinnitus forum in my native language had great improvement in their symptoms (both tinnitus and pain) after some time of using one.

Hope you will find relief with the guard!

 

I was diagnosed with bruxism as well and will be getting a guard/orthotic next month. I'll report back if my tinnitus improves at all.

Does your tinnitus increase if you move your jaw around? Or open mouth wide?

 

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/it-wasnt-tmj-it-was-just-a-misaligned-jaw.3858/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/seems-a-miracle-cure-tmj-splint.11835/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/chewing-biting-jaw-tinnitus-doctor-update.5293/#post-53182

I would go a maxillofacial dentist to see if you need a positioning splint. The mouthpieces at the supermarket don't re-align the jaw. TMJ and misaligned jaw can cause tinnitus.

 

Yep...when its bad, if I open my mouth (as if to yawn) it hissssses like mad.
I guess the yawn activates muscles and blood vessels which are all close by to the hearing system.
Who knows.

If I tense my lower jaw I can almost shut my T down...bit difficult to hold though...and people stare in the supermarket.

God its weird.

Hope you find some peace @RonnieCarzatto

 

Hello Greg without a doubt Bruxism can make T worse,however if the dentist has told you a night guard will sort out your Bruxism I have to tell you it wont. All it will do is instead of grinding on your teeth you will grind on your nightguard which is not a bad thing of course but as for grinding nothing changes......its a deep deep subconscious problem that is very hard to fix.Dont shoot the messenger buddy just Ive been there. Had more guards than hot dinners. Remember one £500 one fitted by a neuromusculardentist.....she didnt believe me one night I bit right through it ,she was adamant I stood on it,NOPE,an elephant could have stood on it and it wouldnt have snapped ,the power of your Jaw is amazing tons of leverage.

 

@Kelvin

You as well. I'm not 100% positive it's causing my tinnitus. My dentist did tell me for awhile I was a "definitive" teeth grinder. And I kept brushing it off, since I couldn't at the time afford a guard or anything. I felt zero pain, and could (and can still) eat anything I wanted. Well, cut to several months later, and with this horrible hissing in my head, I'm looking at any and all options to hopefully alleviate it. In any case, I certainly hope you find your peace as well Kelvin.

 

Chicken or the egg. tinnitus can be caused by bruxism/TMJ. Also, anxiety stemming from tinnitus can cause jaw clenching.

The solution is a holistic one. Reduce stress and anxiety. There's no downside. It should improve both conditions. And, at the very least, maybe make the cause or underlying issue a bit more clear.

 

Hello
I had bruxism for long time without ferling pain or discomfort in my eras. After having an otitis my left ear developed tinnitum a very high level that make my life miserable to a point that I had a spam in my neck, then my right ear start earring a noise like a tv on o electricity, the time past and mu ENT said eas nothing eas lingering of the infection, but every day was worse to a point that I couldn't put my head down ( yoga positions) because i eas earing a noise like zzt and then i start hearing the noise at the ritmo of my heart. I found video in YouTube that explain how to touch your neck and face muscle to find out if the noise chsnge; then I found out it did . I went to a TMJ neuromuscular specialist he pit a guard 24/7 for three months, i did neck therapy TMJ therapy exercises, chiropractor and lasser to relax my neck, massages, the orthopedic put KT tape, I took muscles relaxers for three months. Avoid all hard food, lifting weights heavier that 10 pounds, Etc , And the finally I am doing Acupunture. My ringing is almost gone completely. I can say during the day is almost perfect my night no so quite but tolerable So my process getting back to silence until now is 9 months .

 

A night splint can be quite helpful, perhaps even necessary for some folks.

I have an approach to addressing the head/neck/jaw muscles that has been helpful for many. There is a more guided and complete program that I sell, but this free video alone has been the solution for many, as you will read in the comments on YouTube.

Home Trigger Point Therapy for Tinnitus,...

Of course, breaking the cycle of muscle toxicity is not the end for many people, but it provides a beginning and a tool for future relief.

Anytime I hear someone say that their tinnitus (or headache) comes on or gets worse after sleep, it is almost certainly 1 of 2 things: Postural stress or Mental Stress response. Both are related to the Head, Neck, and/or Jaw muscles and related nerves being irritated through waste product build-up in the muscle.

- Postural stress means that the neck or jaw are being physically displaced by laying on them wrong. When people wake and go back to sleep again 2 significant things often happen:
1) They change to a more "comfortable" position. This position may be great, or it may give temporary relief or comfort but result in neck or jaw strain over an extended time. This happens a lot with those who wake with back or neck pain also.
2) They start thinking of something. For many people this prevents them from getting back to sleep, but for others, it may be the beginning of a stressful thought process that is processed stressfully throughout the rest of the sleep.

- Mental Stress response means that you are trying to solve stressful problems while you are asleep. Of course, not to mention that we are usually unsuccessful at solving the problems, we are tightening our head/jaw muscles as part of this futile process. Perhaps we do this, because our head/jaw/neck muscles are part of our physical expression/communication. Anyway, if this is the cause, the solution goes back to RELAXING, BEFORE we go to sleep and perhaps, as mentioned, a mouth splint to reduce some of the teeth clenching.

OF COURSE, Relaxing is MUCH easier said than done. I recognize that this is a cycle that feeds itself, but at some point, we must begin to starve the beast-y cycle. Neurologically, we create pathways that make thought processes (including stress) more efficient. It takes time and effort (practice, training) to lay down new pathways and allow the old, highly-developed ones to atrophy. It is a bit easier when you know what you are dealing with.

I hope this is relevant to you and that it helps.

 

Hello Jay
That was the video that helped me to understand my ringing was coming from my neck muscles.

 

When I move the jaw forward or backward, or for the sides my tinnitus changes in tone and intensity. It happens to someone else?

I clarify that I have bruxism, when I open my mouth quickly my jaw locks. besides that I am very contractured.

I never did any treatment for bruxism, and so there are few specialists who treat the problem (except for recommending a sleeping protector).

Is it possible that bruxism makes my tinnitus worse?

 

Yes exactly. I was recently diagnosed with Bruxism too (But from an ENT so IDK if that's a good diagnosis).

 

Hello how are you! thanks for answering! Did you have recommendations about how to improve your anxiety especially during the night so as not to punish your jaw with pressure?

 

Absolutely no idea. Maybe wear a brace but I don't know how to stop it. Hoping getting a tmj brace will help me.

 

Hi there. I think I posted it elsewhere, but I thought this thread might benefit from this video on how to KNOW if YOUR Tinnitus can be improved from good TMJ therapy.

KNOW if YOUR TMJ Tinnitus Can be Improved --...

 

Just to add to this discussion - after a year of almost constant T I worked out that it was related to my teeth grinding and jaw clenching. I tried a standard mouthguard with no result (as others have said, they protect your teeth from damage but don't stop you actually grinding or clenching). I then went to a dentist who fitted me for an NTI mouthguard - a little one that just fits over your front two teeth and that is specially designed to train you out of clenching. And it's not even that expensive - I think just a little over $200, and that included the cost of the visit.

From the first night I wore it I had improvement; I estimate I went from having T about 90% of the time to NOT having it about 70 - 80% of the time. It's not foolproof - I just came off three days of PT which was not good - but it's SO MUCH BETTER THAN BEFORE. Good luck to you all; I know how it feels and it's just awful.

 

Can you have bruxism if you constantly wake up with your mouth hanging wide open?

My dentist keeps saying he thinks I might be a teeth grinder and I never agreed with him due to how I find myself every morning.

 

Does your mouth hurt in the morning? I apparently grind mine, but it doesn't usually hurt more, and the tinnitus is very quiet (mine is made worse by standing). It's always very hard shut though

 

It does not and I haven't had T problems until 10/20/17 when I noticed I had constant T. I do get tense in the area behind my jaw and into my neck somewhat frequently, so I don't know if that's related to the T at all. My T seems to slowly be getting better but reading this makes me think about what my dentist keeps saying.

That said, I DO bite my lip a lot which produces a similar motion. I also tended to chew on one side of my mouth much more than the other due to cavity issues I had for awhile. I still don't know if that is the cause but I just turned 40 this year so maybe my jaw is finally starting to show it's wear-n-tear and that might be what caused my T? Just thinking out loud here basically.

 

Sounds like me. Tmj and tinnitus are very much related. My tmj has been awful lately and so has my tinnitus.

 

My T increases when I clinch my teeth and maybe a little when I open my mouth all the way. I was very stressed before my T started and was clinching my teeth and jaw a lot before it started. I also had an ear fullness and went clean them out with a qtip and have had T ever since. I feel tension in my jaw but don’t really have any pain. I do have hearing loss in that ear but I that can also be from tmj. The loss is at high frequency....my other ear has close to perfect hearing I’m confused to say the least.

Have you noticed any improvement? Did you have hearing loss?

 

No improvement. No hearing loss. Maybe I have this so-called "hidden hearing loss" I read about. I brought this up with my ENT and he said he had never heard of it.

According to 3 audiologists and 1 ENT I have no hearing loss. Whenever I'm in a social setting with lots of people I hear just fine. Who knows.

 

I saw an ent and I do have very mild high frequency hearing loss in only my right ear. Left ear is perfect and I can even hear negative DB in that ear. I have noice sensitity in that ear or both I don’t really know. This is terrible and I’m losing myself. The tinnitus isn’t nothing me as much as it used too but the sound sensitivity is isolating me from other people. I’m really worried this all related to a head injury I had a year ago and a concussion I had in July.