Tinnitus from Concussion

Hi! I'm new here s0 I thought I'd make this thread for those who have developed Tinnitus from a concussion or head injury and hopefully see some success stories too

I suffered a mild concussion on April 19th when I hit the back of my head while out with friends. My ears started ringing a few days following and has remained as a lingering concussion symptom since then. I'm basically at three months now and although it generally has faded a bit, I still experience spikes which kinda freak me out and have yet to truly "achieve" any silence.

I understand the brain is super complex and takes a while to heal so I'm hoping that in time my tinnitus will fade away; but until then I'll try to remain as stress-free as I can!

Anyone else experiencing something similar?

 

Welcome,

Unlike hearing loss, where we have a somewhat reasonable idea of what is damaged (hair cells, synapses, our best guesses), a concussion could lead to damage in a variety of areas and it's hard to pinpoint which one could lead to T. A hearing test could be a good thing to do to get a reading on your hearing, in case something shows up there.

The good news is that you are already seeing a positive trend, so you'll probably be out of the woods soon. Be patient!

Good luck!

 

Went to an audiologist the other week! Everything is completely normal in my ears: no hearing loss, and my nerves are functioning as it should, yet my ears are still ringing. The audiologist said T is "very common" with those who have experienced a concussion and said that it is still possible for it to completely subside within the year. It has continued to fade a bit since I have last posted. It's been just over 4 months now.

 

Good news! There's a good chance it'll just fade away in time.
Good luck!

 

I'd really focus on an anti-inflammatory diet and also pay special attention to your neck/jaw for any tightness. It's very possible that something in your neck/jaw area just isn't happy. Is your T somatic in nature? If you do a chin tuck does it modulate? Or if you crunch your jaw around?

 

I actually find that if i push my jaw forward, it fades to a higher pitch. Then when I put my jaw back to its natural position, the ringing is as it was before. I have been taking fish oil which seems to help for the time being as I continue to recover from my concussion too.

 

First of all tinnitus without hearing loss is uncommon

it's common knowledge in tinnitus communities that audiologist are wrong about hearing loss
(they do not keep up to date with hearing loss research)
http://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/#hiddenloss

Because your tinnitus was caused by head trauma you may be a exception and not have hearing loss.

 

Hope it gets better soon for you, in the meantime positive thoughts to you..

 

Sorry contrast but this is a firm disagree. And far from common agreement. For example we know that over 1/3rd of Americans when randomly selected have internal derangement of the tempormandibular joint and that 50 percent of these people have tinnitus ipsilateral to the affected joint. Right there 1/6 of the entire US population has experienced T for non hearing loss reasons. And that's not even counting the vast number of cervicle and other somatic induced T.

Furthermore, some research which is only available if you attend the conferences but will be submitted for publication in late '18 to early '19 elucidates that it isn't hearing loss but the degree of slope which predicts T onset.

Thus if you have great hearing generally but are missing a very narrow band of frequencies you are much more likely to have tinnitus than someone who has general loss throughput there hearing range which has a minimal slope such as age related high frequency hearing loss.

 

https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-and-tmj
TMD can be linked to hearing loss, even head trauma if you read about central hearing loss.

 

they think they dont have hearing loss after a social event with loud noise because the tinnitus fades but the damage to the cochlear ribbon synapses is still present.

 

This is a tenuous link and one that is surely not accepted by the ENT community. TMJD can cause a perceived sense of diminished hearing but that is not the same as an actual change in hearing. One theory is that TMJD impacts the proper functioning of the eustachian tube causing it to have a Type A sub S tympanogram, the other is that the trigeminal nerve innervates the lateral and medial pterygoids as well as the tensor tympani and tensor veli palatini. This means damage to one can influence the other. These muscles are so often the cause for fullness in the ear. It is thought that a prolonged spasm of tt is the cause of most fullness not inflammation from cellular death (which is why prednisone is so rarely prescribed).

 

Thought I would give an update on my T. It has faded to my left ear only and tends to change a lot throughout the day (louder in the morning, quieter towards night, varies on alcohol consumption and sleep). It's been about 5 months now.

 

Sounds like this didn't rattle you as much as some others on this site. That's good. Staying calm is the secret weapon against T.

 

Thanks for the update @moniCT

Just thought I'd mention: -- Besides tinnitus starting as a result of a head concussion, it also often starts as a result of a neck injury, such as whiplash. AND, concussions and neck injuries often occur simultaneously. So if you have even the slightest discomfort going on in your neck, you may want to consider it possibly contributing to or causing your tinnitus. There's some good information on this forum about upper cervical chiropractic helping with tinnitus originating in the neck (somatic tinnitus). -- I'm happy to hear you're gradually improving!

 

Another update! Since my last update my T has faded a bit more, but is still present. It's always at its peak when I first wake up then fades significantly as soon as I get up. I mainly can only notice it now in very quiet rooms; and when I'm at school my dorm rom is sometimes loud enough (I'm at a city school) where I can't hear it at all. My only main complaint currently is using earbuds to listen to music, because T is always more noticeable when our ears are covered/occluded.

Also weird/random I've since had an ear infection in my left ear which caused a huge spike in my T (understandably); but once it was treated it returned to my "baseline."

I really want to keep updating this so that others who have T with a concussion can follow and hopefully benefit from hearing how everything is happening for me.

Seeing my neurologist again for a follow-up appointment this Monday too.

 

http://www.tmjhealth.com/WebPages/TheMysteriousJoint.html

Some possible solutions to help a little more for jaw and overall.

Brush and eat with head balanced over shoulders and not looking down.
Keep tongue to top of mouth.
Keep lips touching together.

Don't let lower jaw hang back.
Lower jaw may need to be practiced extending forward a little so that both the bottom and top front teeth are even. In other words bottom front teeth are inline to top front teeth.​

 

Most audiologist are dead wrong about people not having hearing loss such as "hearing loss outside of normal speech ranges they don't test for" their whole theory on hearing loss is inaccurate based on the latest research in the past few years since it is centric to the human voice range in quiet and not how the ear actually works.

However they are most likely right in your case tinnitus from head trauma is a rare exception where one has tinnitus without hearing loss.

 

@moniCT -- Are you aware that earbuds can be very problematic--to disastrous--for many people with tinnitus? You may want to reconsider using them. -- Best!

 

Are there any updates? My situation is extremely similar to yours

 

Hey, Chase!

So an update on my T: it's still pretty much here but significantly faded since when I first got my concussion about 10 months ago.

I just had a follow-up appointment for my concussion with my neurologist at Yale and he explained that with head injuries most of the reason we get tinnitus is from hyperactive nerves that are still sensitive from the "trauma." He told me sometimes it can take a year to 2 years for it to fade completely. I know this isn't the best thing to hear but honestly I always say things can be much worse. Try to stay positive. Hope this helped.

 

Was wondering how you are doing. Any updates on your condition? I’m now 5 months out from my concussion and the tinnitus is still here, although it varies a lot. Also, how long did it take for yours to consistently stay quieter. I’m freaking out a little because although I have a lot of quiet spells, I still have louder spells as well.

 

Hey again! So it's been a little over a year now since I've had my T, and to be honest it is still present, but worlds quieter than when it started. To consistently stay quieter, I feel like it probably took me around 10 months. Today I do occasionally have spikes, but other than that I really don't pay it too much mind because life is too short and I don't see the point in freaking out over it anymore.
I know a lot of people say that once you have T for a year, you have it for life, but I genuinely just believe mine will continue to fade until one day I realize I no longer have it. I plan on continuing to update this feed and not just abandon it because I want to share as much as I can with everyone here!

 

Hi @moniCT -- I'm really happy to hear things have improved for you, and that you're optimistic they'll continue to improve.

A year ago or so, I ran across a short video segment somewhere (possibly PBS) about a device that was beginning to be used to guage the healing process from a concussion. The device essentially was able to precisely measure eye movements. If while rolling the eyes, there was any kind of hesitation or jerkiness, it meant the concussion had not healed completely.

If the motion was smooth, it indicated the concussion had healed. They said it was more accurate than any other objective measures that have been used to determine how well the brain had recovered. I wouldn't be surprised if this device could also measure brain healing and corresponding decrease in tinnitus. Just thought I'd mention it in case you had an interest in doing a little googling and research on it.

Congratulations on your improvements!