Anyone Had Tinnitus Relief with TMJD Treatment?

[Reem]

Hi all!
This is my first post here so please bare with me... please! Also, it's kind of long as I'm giving my history, so I truly appreciate anyone who took the time to read my story. Thank you!!

SO! My tinnitus started around March of this year, I noticed that my nose was extremely stuffy for about 3 weeks, stiff neck and shoulders, ear fullness, popping, then our favorite friend tinnitus decided to stick around for a while. I went to my primary a couple times and she diagnosed me with ETD the first time, gave me Flonase and antihistamines. I did that for 3 weeks with no relief. My jaw started hurting and started to get headaches along with the other symptoms and she diagnosed me with TMJD. I went to see an ENT, had a hearing test done. The audiology results were beyond average, everything is working properly. ENT THINKS maybe I'm at the beginning stages of hearing loss (talk about added stress!)

I'm going to digress a tiny bit and say that I do have a lesion on my brain stem which my neurologist says that it would not cause these specific problems. I was due for my 3rd MRI and the ENT piggybacked it to add a test to check on my nerves for hearing. That was a week ago and I haven't heard back yet.
So I went to see a dentist, which she confirmed tmjd and said my tinnitus is caused from that, she referred me to a TMJ specialists, I saw them about 2 weeks ago and they confirmed it as well.
They (TMJ specialist) said my TMJD is being caused by sleep apnea. I was tested for apnea years ago with results being mild apnea. I had a CT done and my nasal passages are very inflamed, which caused my jaw to accommodate my lack of breathing at night. I have grooves along my tongue that show that my tongue is pushing my jaw up to allow more air. Now this TMJ specialist was not covered by insurance, as I was desperate for answers before waiting to hear back from my insurance. Yesterday I did and I was approved to see a TMJ specialist that's covered by my insurance.

So now that I've given a brief history, i want to know if anyone who's tinnitus was caused by tmjd had relief of their tinnitus or know of someone who does. I read that people mainly post in their crisis but forget to post when things have gotten better. I think Ive habituated very well to it as I have no trouble falling asleep and I don't hear it at all during the day. Just night and morning when things are still quiet. I have more positive days than bad days, but it still sucks.
I miss the silence..

Any positive feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ears Hurt]

Your story sounds similar to mine, I'm in treatment now. I haven't had any improvement yet.

 

[Reem]

How long have you been receiving treatment? And how bad is your TMJD

 

[Ears Hurt]

Just a couple of months so far, but my doctor is moving slow with treatment so he can stay on top of any changes. My TMJ is pretty bad. My MRI shows inflammation. My disk is being flattened to a pancake. It should be the shape of a kidney bean. I was rear ended in a car accident before issues started popping up. I did have acoustic trauma too but that was over a year before my tinnitus started so everyone keeps telling me it's highly unlikely from that... So I'm hoping the jaw repositioning helps with my ear issues. I have pain, ringing, and fullness. Oh and muscle spasms or fluttering/ vibration.

 

[Reem]

Ouch! That sounds like it's going to be a long process but at least you're on the path to healing. When I swallow I have a popping sounds in my right ear, sometimes it's a little and sometimes it's like popping bubble wrap.
I too have pain, my left ear feels full too, and I can hear my breathing and sometimes heart beat on that ear. I can also hear my voice on low pitch on that ear as well. I don't have any vibration of fluttering or muscle spasms. Though when I think about it, yesterday I noticed my neck did a twitch .
I called and made an appointment to see the TMJ specialist May 31st, and physical therapy called me and I set up my first appointment for next week.

 

[Ears Hurt]

Every time I move my jaw I get the popping and crackling sounds. I've also been doing physical therapy for my jaw and my doctor told me to hold off until my jaw is more stable

 

[Reem]

How is the physical therapy going? Is it helping?
I have my first appointment next week with them

 

[Mike L]

That and stress is what I'm assuming is causing mine. Once my new health insurance starts in June I'm going to find a tmj specialist. My dentist seems to be a ding dong about it lol. My jaw started off with pain in the back of my lower jaw and has subsided my T has come down a lot but still there in silence. I get weird eye twitching too. Once in a while I'll get some sound coming from the top of my head like buzzing and my jaw when I close it from being fully open will zig zag all over the place before comepletly closing. Keep us updated and I will do as well once I see a tmj specialist

 

[Ears Hurt]

I get the eye twitching too but it's only my left eye. Most doctors don't even have a clue.

 

[Mike L]

I get the eye twitching too but it's only my left eye. Most doctors don't even have a clue.

My left eye is the one that twitches as well. I will massage my head with the palms of my hand on the side and top of my head and it helps with the eye twitch

 

[Reem]

Wow, I don't have any of that!
Mike, how long have you had TMJD and tinnitus?

 

[Ears Hurt]

Interesting. I'm going to have to try the massage on my scalp and see if that helps me too.

 

[Mike L]

Wow, I don't have any of that!
Mike, how long have you had TMJD and tinnitus?

Since January 2016

 

[Mike L]

And just a little FYI on why I think TMJ is causing my T outside of the jaw pain and bad bite is I was eating some hard pretzels the nugget kind which is a no no if you have tmj and my ears went beserk after eating them. Like so bad it felt like it was coming out my forehead.

 

[Reem]

I've also made a homemade heat pack with rice and a unmatched sock. Depending on your microwave, heat it up to a minute, minute half then wrap behind neck.
I noticed when I tried this twice a day, morning and night, it really helped with the tension on my neck and shoulders. It did reduce my T as well. I too also believe my T is caused by my TMJD because a few days ago I decided to eat beef jerky and my jaw got so stiff and literally 5 seconds later my right ear started ringing very loudly. Music or anything couldn't mask it. Luckily it only lasted 10 seconds and went away. Though that night my T was louder than usually as my jaw was still sore from the jerky. Never again!

 

[Poyraz]

I get the eye twitching too but it's only my left eye. Most doctors don't even have a clue.

My left eye is the one that twitches as well. I will massage my head with the palms of my hand on the side and top of my head and it helps with the eye twitch

I also have left eye twitching! I used to think that I'm the only one. And yes, I have troubles with my jaws too. Whenever I swallow I have crackling sound in my boyh ears. When I ask about it to my ENT he said I probably always have had it but just because I started to pay attention to my ears more with the onset of my T I started to realize it. Crap. I'm pretty sure I never had it before. But I really don't know if it is my jaw or ears. So what do you guys think? Should I consider TMJ treatment?

 

[Ears Hurt]

Yes, my doctor told me the same thing. I never had the crackling in my ears either. But doctor told me the same thing. You should explore tmj too

 

[Poyraz]

Yes, my doctor told me the same thing. I never had the crackling in my ears either. But doctor told me the same thing. You should explore tmj too

Thank you for the advice Ears Hurt
I want to ask a question if you don't mind. I went a TMJ specialist in Turkey when my tinnitus first came. He said this could be my wisdom teeth and he wanted to take them out but I have no trouble with them and I read somewhere some people got their Ts from wisdom teeth removal. Do you still have your w/t? I really doubt if I can trust him. I wanted 1.500$ for it!

 

[Ears Hurt]

I had all my wisdom teeth removed 20 years ago, so my wisdom teeth had nothing to do with tinnitus. Jaw alignment yes but teeth themselves no.

 

[Reem]

I still have mine and my dentist and the TMJ specialists I saw did not mention them at all. It won't hurt to see another TMJ specialist.
The one I saw, took photos of my teeth and jaw, did a sound exam of my jaw, I had a CT done, they also took pictures of my posture, I'm actually leaning towards the right. I was with him for 2 hours. He had a treatment ready for me after that but he's expensive so I'm waiting to see the doctor provided by my insurance.

 

[Poyraz]

I still have mine and my dentist and the TMJ specialists I saw did not mention them at all. It won't hurt to see another TMJ specialist.
The one I saw, took photos of my teeth and jaw, did a sound exam of my jaw, I had a CT done, they also took pictures of my posture, I'm actually leaning towards the right. I was with him for 2 hours. He had a treatment ready for me after that but he's expensive so I'm waiting to see the doctor provided by my insurance.

I'm glad you found someone who is willing to help you. I also did CT scans and they said there is nothing wrong with my jaw but it is my wisdom teeth that causes clicking sound in my jaw.. My story is so complicated. I got my T when I was 6 weeks in my benzo withdrawal so I really do not know what is my cause.

 

[Reem]

How bad is your T?

 

[Poyraz]

How bad is your T?

My T is fluctuating so much.

Morning: 8/10
Afternoon: 8/10
Evening: 9/10
Night: 9/10

If I have a spike it is like 10000000/10. Mine is those kind of Ts that you can "feel" it all over your head. It is like electricity going through my brain(mostly the left side). I can describe it hissing, sizzling, crickets, morse code, electical storm. I also have some Pulsatile in my right ear but it is nothing compare to my regular T.

 

[Reem]

Omg I'm so so sorry!
I've read that it can go away. I've read some people have it for a few months and some it went away after a year or two.
Have you seen an ENT ?

 

[Roy E]

My tinnitus also gets worse when moving my neck from side to side and yawning and I also have sleep apnea. I had no idea sleep apnea can cause TMJ, or lead to tinnitus. I'm using an auto CPAP but I'm waking up nightly from panic attacks due to nightly sleep apneas around 3am (I know this from reading the machines data with an app). I really need to go see a TMJ specialist but did not know it might be covered by insurance, thank you for opening my eyes.

Right now I'm treating the tinnitus with Upper Cervical chiropractic and TMS, so will definitely go for TMJ eval but won't start TMJ treatment while doing two other therapies.

If your tinnitus is from TMJ you may also want to see an Upper Cervical chiropractor if TMJ treatment does not help. Upper Cervical Axis chiropractors adjust the top 3 Axis vertebrae, if any or all are out of alignment they can cause TMJ, Meniere's disease, tinnitus, depression, anxiety, sleep apnea and so much more, these docs are not covered by insurance.

Also, you can purchase home handheld InfraRed laser devices similar to treatments available at TMJ centers but way cheaper, around 95 dollars. I think the laser acts as an anti-inflammatory?