Dentist Thought Tinnitus Was from Dental Issues — Tinnitus Remains After Wisdom Tooth Removal

[analilia]

My ear problems first started in October but it was only pain. My ears felt tender and then it felt like I was losing hearing in one ear, then they would feel plugged, and then it was extremely painful to sneeze. The pain went away with ibuprofen but then the tinnitus started.

Doctors told me it was possibly dental since it didn't seem like I had an ear infection. My dentist told me it was probably my wisdom teeth and took them out. It's been almost 2 months from my wisdom teeth surgery but the tinnitus is the same. The pain even came back, when supposedly the teeth were the cause. I don't understand why I had so much outer and internal pain with my ears and doctors couldn't find anything.

What do you recommend I do? Having tinnitus, especially because of an unknown reason has spiked my anxiety and depression. I feel extremely hopeless and it really impacts my day to day life.

PLEASE PLEASE let me know of any recommendations.

 

[Dr. Nagler]

Hello @analilia. Very sorry to hear of your difficulties.

I realize this information comes a bit too late for you - but for those who are considering dental procedures in the hopes that it will relieve their tinnitus, my suggestion is not to do it unless there is a reason other than tinnitus that would require the procedure. And then consider any improvement in tinnitus to be a bonus rather than a reason to undergo the procedure in the first place. In my experience dental procedures done exclusively for tinnitus relief are pretty-much doomed to failure.

Now, as far as what you should do at this point, I cannot tell from your post whether or not you have had a complete evaluation by an ENT (or a neurotologist) and and audiologist. You refer to what "doctors" have told you, but it is important that you see the right doctors!

Of course it may well be that the ENT and audiologist will have nothing to add, but unless you take that very important step for the reasons described in "Message Number One" in the attached "Tinnitus 101 for Newbies" article, you really cannot move ahead.

My next suggestion would be to go through the article in its entirety, and then start working on identifying and mitigating any "Barriers to Habituation" (also attached) that might be at play in your life.

Hope this helps.

Stephen M. Nagler, M.D.

 

[Dr. Nagler]

Addendum -

Sorry, @analilia, I forgot to address your concern about pain in my initial response.

In the absence of any ENT findings to account for the return of your ear pain, one possibility could be an increased sensitivity to all stimuli in and about your ears because of the heightened awareness that typifies the autonomic response to intrusive tinnitus. In other words, your "fight-or-flight" mechanism puts your auditory system on high alert status as it monitors your tinnitus, thereby making you aware of pain that had previously been under your radar. I am not saying that that is definitely what is going on in your case, just that it is one possible explanation.

Stephen M. Nagler, M.D.