Another Fellow in the Tinnitus Journey

[Federico M.]

Dear all,

first of all, please excuse me for my English, I am not a native speaker. I am writing in the hope of getting some information and support from this community

Straight to the point: since three months, I am experiencing a sort of vibrating sensation in my left ear only when I lie down to rest or sleep. It starts some minutes after I assume horizontal position, and when I wake up in the morning it greets me with a vigorous tone and fades some minutes after getting up for the day. It is not a whistle or a ringing, it is a vibrating, humming sensation, very "physical".
Before onset, I have experienced a mild rigidity of my jaw, and episodes of spontaneous, transient tinnitus, i.e. strong tones lasting ca. 10 seconds. Both are not present anymore, fortunately, and I do not know how much these are related to my actual condition.
I do not honestly know what could have triggered all of this, except the fact that the first episode happened when I slept in a hotel during a travel, where I was tremendously uncomfortable with the pillow. This suggests me some sort of neck or back problem... I would like to empathize that I exclude any sort of noise trauma, I had none.

I went to an ENT, who said that my ear is fine, the audiometric test is fine too, and he commented that my ear is a spectator of the problem, but not the source of it, suggesting some neck problems. But he wasn't very convinced and assertive... I have now scheduled an appointment with a neurologist, let's see if he has more precise answers...

Now I would like to ask you: does anyone have a similar problem? What to you think is the cause of it? And my biggest worry: can it get worse, can it trigger new symptoms? For the moment my condition is steady, but I have a tremendous fear that it can worsen by irritating and damaging my vestibular or cochlear system.

Please excuse me for the long post, I thank you all for the support and wish you all the best and happiness ,
Federico

 

[MrLowBot]

Hello there.


I see that you aren't an active listener (music etc) so no more tiggers of T there.
The sound you hear could fade but it depends on what condition you have and
what the deal is with your jaw. For some people that could be the vector that
made this happen.

Check with a dentist, otherwise i would not really stess it, if you don't have any real
back problems or neck problems then you will be fine (check yourself there to, if you think you might have any of those problems). If it doesn't hurt you then
you will forget about it.

And a ground rule here. Don't stress, i can't say this enough. Do something that
makes you happy and don't see this ear problem as a downfall.

Good luck mate.

 

[glynis]

Welcome to Tinnitus Talk @Federico M. ,
Might be worth seeing your dentist if you have any jaw problem like grinding teeth,clicking or painful jaw,impacted wisdom teeth etc as can be TMJ and cause tinnitus...lots of love glynis

 

[Federico M.]

Dear both,

thank you so much for your advice! So both of you are suggesting to investigate the jaw... I will schedule an appointment with a dentist, then. Just out of curiosity, how can the jaw be involved in tinnitus, is some acoustic nerve compressed by the muscles of the jaw or is the cochlear system which is directly affected? In the latter case, I would be worried about a worsening of the symptoms

Thank you again and all the best,
Federico

 

[glynis]

Your jaw joint is right by your middle ear so any cracking or muscle inflammation can cause tinnitus along with impacted wisdom teeth or poor bite due to worn teeth,removed teeth or dental treatment...lots of love glynis