Why Does It Reduce When I Lie Down?

Everytime I lie down for more than a minute my tinnitus reduces by a lot. It varies between 1/3rd and 2/3rds. Any insight as to why it does this, and can I utilize this to reduce my tinnitus overall?

 

You are fortunate. Mine used to get louder upon lying down (and on this forum I learned that I was not alone).

 

Thank you for replying. I know I'm the minority here. I wonder why it gets quieter for me, and louder for everyone else.

 

A modern working hypothesis of tinnitus is that touch-sensing nerve fibers that pass through the TM junction are getting crosswired into audio perception in the dorsal cochlear nucleus. This hypothesis, if correct, more or less explains why many/most people with tinnitus can modulate it to some extent through muscle movements.

I've noted that when my jaw or cervical spine is stressed and sore, the ringing is worse. Laying down takes a lot of weight and pressure off of various structures which are either directly innervated through the TM junction, or are physiologically connected to those structures.

I've long noticed that after laying with good posture for a period of time, the tinnitus is often reduced, until I get up and start moving around again. If there's anything useful to do with that information, I haven't figured it out in the past 10 years.

 

Have you considered maintaining that good posture?

 

Is this hypothesis based on Hebbian theory?

 

Yeah I think about it constantly It turns out that reversing 25 years of bad habits and 15 years of office work is a hard problem.

I think about this a lot more from the point of view of wanting to reduce neck pain and not end up with cervical problems, than tinnitus -- even when my posture is great and relaxed for an extended period, the impact on my tinnitus is pretty modest, and I find that really it's counterproductive to consciously put any thought into the tinnitus at all.

 

Tell me about it. My posture is terrible from being at the computer all day. I have serious forward head posture and I've noticed having a straight back reduces it pretty well.

 

makes sense. How old are you? If I'd figured this stuff out and really worked on it when I was 20 or 25 I probably could have saved myself some pain...

 

I'm 20. Pretty young.

 

My right ear tone (very high pitched, inconsistent) stops if I lay down and turn my head to my left side 30 degrees (how I realized that, I have no idea). No other movement seem to have any effect. Interesting thoughts @linearb , I'm thinking I should hang from a pull up bar and see if that helps!

As far as practical usage @threefirefour, if it stays off for a while when that happens you could periodically lie down. Perhaps an afternoon siesta would be a beneficial addition to your routine?

 

I can tell from the relief on your face in your avatar.