Anyone Believe TMJ/TMD Is the Cause of Their Tinnitus?

[Kara77]

@SleeplessSoul Ill ask her once I get back in from lunch I know for sure she went to a dentist/oral surgeon who specialized in TMJ.

 

[SleeplessSoul]

@Kara77 thank you! Look forward to hearing about it.

 

[Street Spirit]

[QUashlee, post: 95266, member: 7620"]I have not seen a TMJ specialist yet, but I plan to. My T started randomly on a Monday afternoon after I came back from lunch. I had been getting quite regular ringing after lunch before the constant T started (around lunchtime), but in November it never subsided. I panicked and have had the T ever since. I have had TMJ for quite some time before my T started, but maybe with the cold of winter here in Wisconsin (hunching/clenching) on top of TMJ it just did me in. I also had a bad cold about a week or so before, but it was gone when my T started.

Have you had any success with TMJ treatment?[/QUOTE]
I could of written this myself.

 

[Street Spirit]

I thought I should bump this thread back up. I Have TMJ and had an appointment with the best TMJ specialist in Vancouver. He refitted my mouth guard and prescribed a pain killer and a strong muscle relaxant to take before bed to stop me from clenching when I sleep. After only a few days my ears are less foggy my low buzz had improved dramatically. I will see him again in a month and he will do a special hard plastic night guard. He said the soft ones can actually make the problem worse. He will see me 3 times to fine tune the guard. All of this will run me about 800. Considering that I was sent to him to see if I'd benefit from botox injections this is actually pretty good news.

$800 bucks???!!! I was qouted $6000 plus!

My plan is to move West as soon as possible. Who is your dentist?

 

[Street Spirit]

I believe mine is tmj induced. Like Ashlee, mine began the exact same way..My neck can change it as well if the muscles are inflammed. Toradol when given IV, helps alot but that is infrequent unfortunately.

I also have H. Lots of tmj folks have sound sensitivity but I wonder if that is when it becomes more a cns issue or perhaps fibro as it isn't as common...T is, so maybe it's just the t, but I'm starting to feel they are separate things...

if that makes sense. .

 

[carlover]

$800 bucks???!!! I was qouted $6000 plus!

My plan is to move West as soon as possible. Who is your dentist?

I would say as a guess the cheaper treatment is just for a bite plate where your 6k cost is for Braces and everything that goes with that.

The best TMJ Dentist in the UK charges £10,000 and the treatment is 2/3 years 2 being probably 2 and a half. Using Braces.

Whereas a UK neuromuscular dentist will charge £500 for a bite plate and thats basically it,

 

[Street Spirit]

I had tmj for 10 years that steadily got worse. An accident put me over the edge.Tmj can become neurological

 

[Kara77]

@SleeplessSoul So I found out she wore a splint for a year and a half and the ringing slowly went down. She went to an oral surgeon, she didn't have injections or muscle relaxers. Just the splint. She told me to be patient and it takes time for nerves to calm down. I'm on month 3 of wearing a splint, and I have my good and bad days.

 

[SleeplessSoul]

@Kara77 thank you very much for that info. She never had injections or muscle relaxers either?

I have just an NTI splint that I wear on my front teeth at night only so the teeth can't clench.

When you say you are wearing a splint, could you tell me what it's like and what it is supposed to do? Not only is my jaw extremely tight it dis locates every time I chew (it showed on my mri).

My oral surgeon just said he could inject it with hyaluronic acid to create a cushion so it slides more easily but I am not sure that will help a lot.

I don't know if the t is related to the jaw; drs keep saying it is but it's there all the time and if it was jaw related, I would think I would have some days where I wouldn't hear it. (It's a low hum). Not the high pitched t. I have that too but it's in the other ear and not as constant as the thumping hum.

One last thing Kara, does your ear hurt from the tmj? Mine hurts terribly. Thanks so much.

 

[erik]

Many people with T think it might be due to TMJ. I don't believe this to be the case, but that is just my opinion. I just know that over the years, I have read dozens of threads where people spent tons of money on TMJ treatments only to have their T remain. I am not saying your specific T and TMJ are not related or that TMJ is not the cause of your T but I think it is unlikely in most causes of tinnitus. To be fair, I have known a few who believe they improved their tinnitus with treatment but not made it disappear. I would get evaluated and then get a 2nd and 3rd opinion before shelling out the 100s or 1000s of dollars it usually cost. Most of it stems from the TMJ treatments themselves and whether they really work or not or whether dentists just make good money of them with no guarantees of success for the patient.

With up to 75% of Americans with some sort of TMJ, it seems to me that TMJ is more the norm than not, so in that case -is it really a problem? Only 10% of those people need real treatment. Here is an article from NY Times about TMJ which cautions on costly treatments: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/health/03brod.html?_r=0

 

[Kevin08]

If you have tight, painful jaw muscles, stuffy ears, or have trouble chewing or opening your mouth along with pain in the ear and clicking sounds when you open your mouth, then by all means get evaluated for TMJ. I had all of these symptoms and I have found relief of these symptoms from treatment which has included a decrease in my tinnitus volume. I was told that the inflammation in the jaw can affect your ETs and inner ear. I am astonished at the cost some are being quoted for treatment. I feel that one must break the cycle of tension in the face, jaw and neck muscles. massage, chiro, acupuncture, muscle relaxants; what ever it takes. I'm not sure if one has to go to the extent of having braces or 8 grand worth of treatment. My TMJ specialist told me that a hard plastic splint worn on the lower jaw and adjusted several times over a period of time is a good course of treatment for many. So I guess I'm saying get TMJ treatment if you need it for TMJ symptoms and if your tinnitus is affected for the better consider that a bonus.

 

[Kara77]

@SleeplessSoul I have the nti splint too! And yes, I have horrible ear congestion. TMJ doesn't directly cause T, the fluid from the inflammation and nerves do. I don't think its a cooincidence when I take prednisone it goes completely away and the ear and face pressure is gone. I hope you find relief!

 

[SleeplessSoul]

I had steroid injections a few months ago into the jaw, masseter, trap and scm amd the tinnitus was completely gone the next day.
Of course it came back as soon as I chewed on regular food.

Whether or not the t is cause from my tmj, who knows. But I do have an anterior jaw dislocation on both sides.

Why would those treatments cost so much? My insurance paid for my night guard. And my oral surgeon never once said that t would be cured by my tmj treatments at all.

 

[canyonero]

I do get a loud pop on my T side when I bite down, but I don't have tmj.

 

[Mad maggot]

Thanks very much!

I was on only 30mg, so there might be a chance that a higher dose will help me
That said, I don't know if I have TMJ, but I definitely do have a misaligned lower jaw that won't go back into its normal position by the usual orthodontic treatment. I hope that its not damaged beyond repair (I'm 28).

If your jaw is misaligned you have TMJ. It can cause all kinds of problems. This is a terrible thing for you. I'm sorry your jaw is misaligned. I fell from a second story building, landing on my head on the concrete at six years old so my jaw, neck, back and in fact my skeleton is pretty much a mess. TMJ causes all kinds of problems you might attribute to other things and not realise. People have even been thought to have brain tumours but it was TMJ. I hope you might find someone who can fix your jaw.

 

[Mad maggot]

I have TMJ issues and my ENT doctor said it's possibly playing a role in my T, but wasn't sure as I do have some hearing loss. But I do get jaw pain near my ears....I'm getting a new nightguard (bottom teeth splint) in a few weeks. I'm current using a themal one for the top teeth that has worn down from my clenching during sleep an really not helping very much...this new one should be far better.

I know people who completely lost their hearing in both ears for many years. After fixing theirnTMJ their hearing returned to normal as if it had never left almost overnight. N

 

[walkthroughwalls]

If your jaw is misaligned you have TMJ. It can cause all kinds of problems. This is a terrible thing for you. I'm sorry your jaw is misaligned. I fell from a second story building, landing on my head on the concrete at six years old so my jaw, neck, back and in fact my skeleton is pretty much a mess. TMJ causes all kinds of problems you might attribute to other things and not realise. People have even been thought to have brain tumours but it was TMJ. I hope you might find someone who can fix your jaw.

I'm so sorry to hear that! How are you now?

I have found someone who can fix my jaw, but heavy surgery seems to be the only way. See this topic: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/jaw-bone-surgery-—-yes-or-no.9866/
The source of my tinnitus is unclear, though.

 

[canyonero]

TMJ and T is like the chicken & the egg, which came first. I worked in a large dental practice for 30 years, had many patients wtih TMJ issues, I don't recall any that also had T. My TMJ has gotten sore since
the T, it makes me so tense all the muscles tighten up and my jaw gets sore. But I don't feel the tmj
caused the T, they keep saying it's neurological, so I'm not sure how tmj could cause it. But what ever
works, always willing to entertain any theory if it helps the T

I'm wondering if it's possible that acoustic trauma actually induces the TMD. Sounds far fetched but I did first noticed my jaw clicking right after my acoustic trauma.