To make a long story "sort of" shorter

Hi all. First of, just want to say I'm so glad to have found this forum. From reading a couple of posts it seems to be filled with caring, hope-giving individuals.

The jaw clenching

I've been saddled with the beast that is tinnitus since June. But it might make more sense to go back a couple of years to where, I believe, it all started. For as long as I can remember I've had mornings where it feels like I've been clenching my teeth during the night. And for at least 6 years (probably more), my jaw occasionally didn't feel quite like it was supposed to. But I was never really in any pain, only the odd headache.

Bike accident numero uno

In 2008 I was involved in a bicycle accident during a race and my mouth took the brunt of the impact on the tar. Half of my one front tooth broke off (right maxillary central incisor) and other one I lost completely (right mandibular central incisor). The top one was capped, but for the bottom one my orthodontist recommended either closing the gap using braces or widening the gap (also using braces) and then performing an implant. We decided on the first option as the maxillofacial surgeon indicated that there did not seem to be enough bone to perform the implant. So in short, my bite is completely misaligned.

Bike accident numero due

Then in 2010 I had another bicycle accident (I know, I know) where I went over the handlebars and landed on my crash helmet. Did the bone and ligament scans and they showed no damage. I wore a neck brace for my sprained my neck muscle. But, right after the actual accident I had tinnitus-like ringing for less than a minute. Also, and this is going to sounds strange, but after the accident it seemed like something in my head became permanently loose, in line with the spine.

The Rammstein episode

Then, forward to March of 2011. I was working on quite a stressful project and listened to Rammstein the whole day at a high-ish volume, but not insanely loud. During the weekend I noticed that some high-pitched sounds started to sound like someone walking with stirrups. This stayed but I either got used to it or it diminished in intensity.

2 June - Chevelle

I went to a Chevelle concert and stood at the back of the Golden Circle section. I wore earplugs for some of the set, but not the whole thing. My ears were ringing when I got into bed, but that's happened before. However, the next day the ringing in my right ear was still there. And it's been there ever since. The sad part: I'm not even a Chevelle fan - a friend of mine wanted someone to tag along.

I managed to habituate the tinnitus without medication after about a month of sleepless nights and anxiety. But some bad choices: a noisy wedding, for example, seemed to make it worse, but at that point I wasn't sure that it really did or that it was just the heightened anxiety bringing it to the forefront. But like I said, I managed to cope with it. However, the ringing seemed to get worse when I'm stressed out at work.

Went to an ENT, the audiogram showed no hearing loss, an MRI scan was negative and the blood tests came up with nothing. So according to him, all the dangerous causes are ruled out.

Present day

A little more than a week ago, after an extremely stressful period at work and a trigger incident where a TV show was played at quite loud volume for about 2 minutes (but not so loud that you need to raise your voice) and someone from work phoning at the start of the long weekend at exactly the same time, I had somewhat of a meltdown. When I woke up that night, the ringing was much worse and sounded more like angry cicadas.

This ringing has been carrying on up till now and it feels like I'm back at square one with the habituation. Was up pretty much the whole of last night after coming off a Xanax prescription that lasted 7 days.

Started on some mindful meditation and Yoga, but at the moment I seem to much of a wreck for it to make a difference. The smallest things get me all worked up, angry and emotional. I can feel my jaw muscles get tight during the daytime, something I also haven't felt before. Not too sure how I'm going to manage back at work in a week's time.

Questions
1) Can I please have some virtual hugs?
2) Does anyone know of a good TMJ doctor in South Africa? Does it even make sense to visit one given the above?
3) Has anyone heard of Bioarmor Hearing Health supplements? My MD mentioned them. Has it worked for anyone? Not too sure how a vitamin supplement is supposed to alleviate tinnitus.

 

Hi Rudolph the supplements that have worked for me to lower my t are magnesium,
B12, niacin. In the beginning I took a lot of zinc,ginkgo etc.

 

What you described with your jaw problems and jaw muscles getting tighter during the day is very similar to my experience. My T changes in volume a lot based on how stressed I am and how much I talk/chew. You have a complicated case but I think it's worth ruling out TMJ disorder. At the very least they may be able to teach you some biofeedback techniques to control your body's response to stress.

 

Hi Karen

Thanks for the hug! I think I'll at least give it a shot. I'm normally quite a bit of a skeptic when it comes to vitamins and supplements, but at this stage I'm willing to try *almost* anything.

 

Thanks Sherri (and for the hug)!

 

Hi Liesel. It's good to know that I'm not the only one experiencing this. Are you also able to change the pitch of your tinnitus by opening your mouth and stretching your jaw in certain ways?

 

Yes, when the tinnitus is especially loud I can clearly hear a pitch change based on how my jaw is oriented.