Tinnitus Pitch and Moving Jaw — Tell Me More

Guys, question. When you move your jaw, your tinnitus will switch pitch right? Does is stay a little different the next few minutes or does it immediately change back to baseline?

 

Immediately to baseline for me

 

Posted on the chat but will here, too, because I'm curious what others say.

When I move my jaw or tighten my neck by moving my head, my tinnitus decreases in volume. It goes back to its normal volume as soon as I return my jaw/head to normal position.

Kind of wish it was the other way around!

 

Mine becomes louder and the pitch is slightly higher when I move my jaw forward. It goes back to baseline as soon as I move my jaw back to its normal position.

 

Mine, in my left ear, will hiss a lot more and when I move my jaw back it will stay so for 1 or 2 min, so strange. Since my onset, 4 months ago, this occurred. I'm so tired, don't know how to continue. T is so high pitched, it hurts, ears feel full.

 

Mine also gets worse and louder and stays that way for at least minutes. Also it sounds life threatening and is super loud.

 

But that is really unique don't you think?

 

There is already 2 of us so I don't think so. But I'm afraid to yawn lately because of it.

 

Mine becomes louder and changes pitch too whenever I turn my head all the way left or right. This also happens when I move my jaw forward. It goes back to baseline immediately though.

 

So is there anyone here (besides me) that has their tinnitus get quieter when they move their head?

I've been laying with my chin basically touching my chest while I read, my tinnitus is quieter like this.

 

Nope, so awesome that you can! Did you go to a chiropractor?

 

Never heard anybody say it before and I read a lot.

 

It's still there, just the volume is turned down from its normal high pitch screech.

I saw a chiropractor for an evaluation but nothing was really out of alignment in my neck. I've also had an MRI, MRA, MRV and CT scan. Everything was okay. One doctor said it has something to do with the nerve's position but it's not something they would be able to attempt to change.

 

@Jantine
Same here. Moving my jaw forward, backward, sideways, pressing palate with a tongue, yawning results increasing both pitch and volume of my T. In addition, after releasing pressure this initial high pitch sound goes away immediately but there's an additional hissing sound slowly diminishing for several minutes. It's hard to say whether I have tmjd. Usually, I don't feel actual pain in the joints (except when I pressing too hard or too long), I can evoke slight cracking sensation when moving jaw.
It's hard to tell whether:
a) I had these symptoms in the same magnitude before T but never fought about it. Increased gain in the brain just makes this and other symptoms more noticeable (this makes sense when considering rationale behind TRT)
b) TMJD is underlying cause of my progressing T and H

ps. I don't know if this is related but when yawning I also experience clicking sounds in both ears which I contribute to the opening of eustachian tubes.

 

@Tinker Bell Sometimes just bad posture or bending of neck will relate to TMJ problems and so nothing will show up with neck examinations.

https://managebackpain.com/tmj-pain/tmj-tinnitus

 

If I were you I would invest in a neck massage. There was a person on Reddit who had that exact same issue, and after the therapist hit a pressure point, it went 90% away.

I doubt it will decrease that much for you but any bit helps.

 

@threefirefour Actually just light figure movements done by someone else for 20 minutes to relax the bundle of nerves behind the ears sometimes works. Movement up and down the sternocleidomastoid muscles gives me a little temporary relief for a hour or two. The high pitch ringing is still there, but the volume will drop a point or two.

 

This is solid advice too.

 

Thanks @Greg Sacramento and @threefirefour for the advice! I have severe hearing loss so I do not expect my tinnitus to resolve but a volume decrease would be very helpful.

 

@Tinker Bell You are right. Hearing loss can be associated with TMJ. This is how I understand it, but I could be wrong:

Hearing could be impacted because nerves near the temporomandibular joint and hearing share the same pathways. When tightening the jaw, some small muscles and bones could tighten in the middle ear.

I tend to think that TMJ tinnitus and hearing loss can also be caused by compression of tissues behind the jaw joint as well. Sore tired muscles from clenching or grinding I don't think helps either. I also have arthritis. I don't have a serious misaligned bite so I don't get cracking and popping.

 

My hearing loss is from a virus, so my jaw is off the hook with that regard.

However, I do have a TMJ nightguard. I notice my T is louder if I neglect to wear the guard.

 

For tinnitus consider some TMJ excersizes. It could help.

What virus caused your hearing loss?

 

I’m not sure. At the time I thought it was just a common, everyday cold. I have had several doctors, a medical researcher, and a pharmacist tell me that even simple viruses can do far more damage than most people realize.

One of my ear specialists told me he often sees patients with sudden hearing loss from viruses, and he’d even had a patient who lost all of her hearing within less than 24 hours from a virus. They did a lot of testing and never determined what virus it was.

So my advice to anyone with tinnitus and hearing loss is protect against loud noises but don’t overlook the risks from viruses too.

 

Thanks. Right now I'm kind of nervous because my doctor said I have Otitis Media and I've had it for a while, with bulging eardrums. I really hope this damage can be completely reversed...

 

I had an ear infection early on, too. Or we thought it was an infection, there was a lot of fluid behind my eardrum. Not enough to cause bulging. The ear specialists said that was part of the virus, there was essentially swelling in my ear blocking the fluid from draining. Have you done an oral steroid yet? It can help if you have any inflammation. But a word of caution: I could barely sleep and was very depressed while on steroids.

 

I haven't. I can't get it because the doctors won't perscribe it to me. I need an ENT to write it up for me.

What were the symptoms of your virus by the way? I have fluid too, and I made another thread an hour ago where I think I might have just got a mass influx of fluid in my right ear. My hearing seems okay. I can hear somewhat well and I understand people well. t has been clogged for the past year and a half with the occasional popping of relief.

 

My symptoms weren’t unlike any other cold I’ve had, until I lost my hearing. It happened simultaneously: I lost my hearing, the loud ringing started, and I had pain in my ear.

I saw your other thread. I do think you have ETD. I didn’t have all the same symptoms, your symptoms seem more aligned with that.

I wish you good luck and improvement!

 

Thanks I really hope for at least a heavy reduction. My tinnitus can be awful sometimes where I can easily hear it outside when it's 70dB and I feel that my hearing is too good for tinnitus to be naturally that loud for me.

 

That is tough. I can always hear my tinnitus over everything, it tends to get louder in response to loud noises and especially in response to certain frequencies. It seems to be the frequencies I’ve lost that bother it most.

Ugh, what an annoying condition. Keep us posted!

 

@Tinker Bell Long term use of a mouth guard that you mentioned and oxygen therapy could help.