Does Your Tinnitus Worsen If You Have Neck Pain?

[Hendre Vlad]

So basicly when my T gets worse, my outer ear, and my right part of the neck starts to realy hurt like hell.I have T in my right ear,some doctors say its from noise some say its from the neck pain,i took several treatments but no nothin....some say its the cold of winter that affects my neck and ear then the tinnitus...doctor say the I got an nevralgie(pain caused by the flow of air currents,cold, etc), and thats why it wosen....only time when i can bear it well is when i go to the GYM after the liftup and cardio.... So when is worse to you?

 

[I who love music]

Interesting, Hendre. Mine's worse in the morning after a night a jaw clenching, and of course, loud music. It gets me up and out of bed though!
Is your cardio on a treadmill? That's one thing I cannot do, stomp my feet. It's interesting that different things affect different people.

 

[Hendre Vlad]

Yeah....when i listen to some tipes of music...my T kinda settles a littlle bit down.....and yes..in the morning is the worst....yes...cardio is on a treadmill, yeah depends on the treadmill some have shock absorb and your feet would not hurt so much

 

[Liesel]

I only began to suffer from T around the same time I began experiencing frequent neck and jaw pain. The volume tends to relate pretty well to how much my jaw hurts. I've heard that TMJ issues can cause neck pain, but I dunno. I'm inclined to say I just need to improve my posture since I sit in front of the computer for most of my day!

 

[Hendre Vlad]

WEll my right jaw cracks when i open my mouth wide...but i have this for some times....and havet had tinnitus...and my jaw dosent hurt ...

 

[Liesel]

WEll my right jaw cracks when i open my mouth wide...but i have this for some times....and havet had tinnitus...and my jaw dosent hurt ...

I'd get it checked out. When your jaw cracks like that it means that the soft tissue in the joint isn't moving properly, and might be getting worn down. There's only a very thin padding between the jaw joint and ear. So if your jaw is slamming back into your ear without the proper protection, it can cause ear related symptoms, including tinnitus.

 

[I who love music]

My doctor told me I mutilated that little protective "washer" between the jaw bones. Since I was a kid I've had neck and headaches, grind my teeth at night, have jaw clicking .. and of course, the big T. At night I lay on my back with a small pillow under my neck with my head back to prevent stress on my neck and jaw. If I can stay in this position all night, my tinnitus is always less noticeable in the morning.

 

[avt007]

I have problems with stiff neck muscles, sometomes causing headaches. My T never goes away, but it does vary in intensity, and when my neck is acting up, the T is a bit louder. In other words, the neck problems make the T worse, not the other way around.

 

[applewine]

@Hendre Vlad My tinnitus started when my chronic neck and pain between the shoulder blades and lower right back spread to my jaw/face and temples. I have tinnitus and jaw pain mostly on my right side as well as lower back/hip pain on only the right side.

The muscle pain is on both sides in the shoulder blades and neck. It is less on the left jaw side. The tinnitus is less on the left side too. It is low pitch sound on the left side that gets louder sometimes when I yawn.

On the right side it is hissing sound and other stuff. My vision also shakes when look at things up close and moving my eyes.

I also get cold water sensations in a lot of places on my body and it can feel like bee stings and burning sometimes too. I've been going to doctors of every type and neurologists for seven years and no help. I also have had a history of dizziness and sharp pain in the ear. This is a known referral pattern of trigger points in muscles.

Recently I've been trying to stretch my cleidomastoid muscle. (clavicular division of the SCM muscle complex)

We have been discussing all these problems in this thread:
Alternative Treatments and Research
Tinnitus, TMJ, Headaches, Neck Pain, Facial Pain, etc. - Possible Treatment

 

[jeannie]

i also have neck pain and shoulder pain with my tinnitus, all issues started after a medical procedure 2 years ago. didn't have neck issues on left side but just started yesterday after 2 years to hurt all the way up into ear area around shoulders. jaw crunches on right si when I open mouth,but no pain. neurologist just told me I have fibromyalgia last week. but I also have DDD bulging disc and narrowing in c5 disc, mild ,so docs said no surgery. I have been in PT 4 different times.

 

[Mark McDill]

I know that chiropractic helps my neck and that can calm my T down a bit.

 

[Miss lavender]

@applewine , I can't believe it but I have most of the same symptoms as you. They are not severe but can be somewhat annoying at times. Is it really related to tinnitus? I do wonder if there is not more to it. I have had several tests and cat scans etc... They say all is normal. Hmmm.

 

[applewine]

@Miss lavender Can you tell me all the symptoms we share in common? I'm most interested in any neurological stymies like the water sensations in the feet or all over the body as well as burning sensations and bee sting sensations.

The pain in the ear and dizziness are much less surprising to be related to tinnitus. This is extremely common for tinnitus that has some connection to myofascial pain in the upper body. Pain in the ear, dizziness etc. are all symptoms of SCM dysfunction. This is very well documented.

What is not well documented is the water sensations all over the body and bee stings and stuff. People can experience that with many neurological conditions though.

 

[jeannie]

i was diagnosed with fibromyalgia mainly have neck and shoulder pain and issues , does anyone know if fibromyalgia would cause tinnitus?

 

[Miss lavender]

@applewine hi again hope you are well today? So let's talk about our similar symptoms. I sometimes get the wet feeling around my temple and just above my eyes and sometimes on my legs. I also get burning sensation in my legs and around my shoulder blades and sometimes I feel like ants are crawling on my feet and hands. Just today I returned from the ear and eye hospital after having a cats an and they say all is normal and nothing to worry about. At one stage I thought that I had MS but that has been ruled out. I do suffer from back and neck pain and sometimes my legs ache I was told and it makes sense that all of this can be related to the symptoms we are having. What do you think?

 

[sandra72]

I'd get it checked out. When your jaw cracks like that it means that the soft tissue in the joint isn't moving properly, and might be getting worn down. There's only a very thin padding between the jaw joint and ear. So if your jaw is slamming back into your ear without the proper protection, it can cause ear related symptoms, including tinnitus.

Hmmm when i open my mouth wide my T reduced a lot, almost gone. Also when i put pressure under mine chin.

 

[applewine]

@Miss lavender I suspect is related somehow, but I don't know. One person suggested once it was just neck strain and that caused the water sensations. The weird thing is that they can be just about anywhere. That points to system central or systemic. Like you I've had an MRI of the brain and upper cervical. The neurologist said the scan was not able to detect the problem.

My neck and back pain are not minor, they are a chronic pain above backrgound pain, but certainly not always extreme. I also have TMJ dysfunction and pain in jaw and temple muscles.

I got water sensations in my feet and legs, but it can be other places too. In the past i even felt rain drops all lover like my face and head.

I was doing a lot of military press when the neck pain started. I was also taking allergy shots, which I stopped. That was 2005/6. Symptoms only increased over the years. 2007 is when the water in the legs started.

For a while a lot of people were talking about lyme disease and I went to one of the "specialists" who said I had it and I tried treatment. I later decided it was not proven diagnosis or treatment. It was after taking the antibiotics that I got the neuropathies all over. My feet even went part numb and burning for 4 weeks about. I had the water in the legs two years before that, but it went away. It came back when I got the antibiotics, but all over. I went to an infectious disease doctor years later and had to beg to get the C6 test (they said it was not available) and it was negative along with the WB test.

I don't think I've ever gotten the wet feeling around my eyes or temples, but I have gotten it in my ears when moving my jaw sometimes.

I worry that exercise might cause the nueorpathies to come back worse again like beet stings, but I'm not sure. It happened twice right after an upper respiratory infection.

 

[applewine]

@Miss lavender Who told you it could be all related? Was it a doctor and what type? Do you also have TMJ dysfunction, pain the jaw muscles anywhere?

Do you ever get small bee sting sensations that sting or itch? I get those, but they only happen in cycles. For example they won't happen for 6 months or over a year and then suddenly I'll get them again and they will last 2 months tops constantly and go away.

These started when I took antibiotics for a fake kind of lyme disease to try to treat my neck pain etc. I'm working on finding special ways to stretch my neck. I think I'm finding new ways to twist / stretch it that I didn't before. I doubt others would figure this out. I had to see a video on youtube explaining how to stretch the SCM and then jut the jaw forward. I do the jaw sometimes, but I'm also finding that moving the neck back and to one side and then turning to the other gives a good SCM type stretch. Then I also breath in and I feel a path in my mouth area somewhere. Little complicated stuff like that.

I get lots of water sensations all over though. A lot in the feet or legs, but sometimes around the ear.

Of course I also have tinnitus. Constant hissing on the right side and a little low tone on the left.

Another problem I have is right side back/hip pain. I'm starting to think that it is posts related again. A lot of text out there says that the psoas and jaw are related and pain will go either way. I posted a link to an article in the TMJ thread.

I think I found the part of my psoas that hurts. It seem to be near the top on the right side, from the side. This is higher than I had been looking before and therapists were looking. They were always looking down near the belly button. Up higher may also be more likely to be the psoas minor.

 

[Miss lavender]

@applewine , both a gp and an osteopath told me it may be related, but hey what do they know. However I had a deep tissue massage not that long ago and my tinnitus seemed to be relatively low for the following couple of days. Was it simply the placebo affect or did the massage really help? It seems so difficult to determine these things when we are talking about the most unpredictable thing we call Tinnitus. I sometimes get migraines and this really drives my tinnitus to loud levels, thank goodness they are not all that frequent. However before tinnitus I never had to worry about migraines. Such a mystery!

 

[Marls]

Hi Everyone - I've had mild T since August 2014; but I've also had neck and back pain way before the T appeared. The T appeared as 'sudden onset'; my dentist could not correlate any TMJ as a probable cause for Tinnitus. I have noticed a slight increase in the amount of headaches I have; I have stopped taking Aleve having been informed that that can impact on Tinnitus; I will take only Tylenol at its lowest dosage. Stress seems to trigger T but I'm trying to manage with CBT - a slow process but well worth it especially if you find the right therapist that can help guide you, which I have. I'm working my way toward trying meditation as well as deep breathing, counting to 10 and whatever else can help mitigate any and all outside stressors. I can't have any regrets that I didn't take more advantage of the silence that was around me before Tinnitus entered my life - it is what it is. I'm somewhat of a private person but Tinnitus has forced me to integrate more outside of the comfort of my home and family (and good friends); sometimes I find relief in that insofar as the activity around me when I'm at Starbucks, the supermarket or anywhere else helps mask my T. So what I'd say to all is hang in there and reach out to one another - it'll help!

 

[applewine]

@Marls It is funny you mention CBT because that is what my orofacial pain specialist recommended. I don't see how that is going to help fix a physical problem and seems like a way a doctor who has psychological problems with his inability to treat a patient can project that onto the patient.

On second thought after I googled "CBT" I found an honest explination. My dentist refused to tell me what the CBT was for and so did the CBT therapist, so I refused to take it. I suspected it was for "coping" with the problem, but was worried they meant it was to fix a psycological cause of the problem. You clenching? Are you stressed? Shut UP!
https://www.tmjtreatmentsc.com/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-tmj/
What Is CBT?
CBT is a form of psychiatry. Unlike other forms of psychiatry you may be thinking of, CBT isn't focused on discovering the root cause of symptoms by revealing repressed memories and the like. Instead, it's focused on giving people practical tips that help people live a productive life despite limitations. Because of its pragmatic nature, CBT tackles a lot of issues that people don't commonly think of as being psychological, such as chronic pain as well as the psychological manifestations that may come with chronic pain, such as depression.

@Miss lavender What are you experiencing when you say "migraines"? I prefer not to use that word because it seems to be fairly meaningless.

I have pain in the temporalis muscles, but I never get aches that feel like they are coming from inside my head.

Early on I would get extreme nausea attacks that were very scary and a strange churning sensations like buzzing bees at the base of my skull. Then the dizziness would come. I had to go the ER it was so painful. They gave me a CT scan of my brain, but I think it was just trigger points in my muscles, which I still have.

 

[Marls]

Dear Applewine - There is no simple solution to finding the means by which to reduce and/or cope with the effects of Tinnitus. I'm trying everything I can within reason including CBT which I hope will be helpful in helping me quiet the triggers that seem to enhance the Tinnitus. Some times the T is more annoying than other times and admittedly stress is a big trigger. When I can mask the noise which is milder than most, with TV, music, conversation, deep breathing and the cognitive techniques and behaviors I will learn, I think I'll be on my way. I admit there are times when I feel I am in a race to be ahead of the noise, which at times, I think is winning the race, but then I just have to do what I am learning to reel the noise back in. Good luck with your journey and always be your own advocate!

 

[Bryanw511]

Looks like I'm going to be bringing this thread back from the dead...

@applewine I kept coming across your posts and they all sound very familiar. I've only had T for a couple months, but I think I've narrowed the cause of it down to TMJ issues and/or myofascial pain. My experience has included muscle tension in my head, neck, and shoulders, headaches, TMJ pain and noises, jaw clenching, and some teeth grinding at night. Several months ago (about a month or two before my T started) I also experienced a couple days of pain between my shoulder blades (rhomboid or trapezius). I just wanted to connect with you since we may be fighting the same battle. Have you had any success?

 

[applewine]

@Bryanw511 Hi. I haven't been active here in a long time. I will say that tinnitus isn't a focus for what is going on in my life. It was helpful to connect with other people knowing I wasn't alone. I found people with tinnitus from many causes. Some seemed to be similar cause to mine with myofascial pain.

I've been studying myofascial pain for years. I have the best books, been to many practitioners. I've also been to many TMJ dentists, done tons of research. I would not recommend doing anything with TMJ dentists or myofascial therapists. You may search websites though and educate yourself about the referral patterns, or get the myofascial workbook. That won't fix you if you have a chronic condition with an underlying cause, but it will help you do some minor treatment when things get worse to calm it down a bit. Applying pressure, releasing and using heat are the basic methods of reducing some of the dysfunction of trigger points. Many of the jaw ones I leave alone. I don't try to treat that stuff. I did do thrusting stretches with my jaw early on for the lateral pterygoid which help stretch that out and ever since can move my jaw forward all the way. I could feel that resisting. That is the muscle by the way that sends the final signal to the nervous system that causes the tinnitus sound. Or, at least it is involved.

You may want to get the back knobber tool. I had pain between the shoulder blades and lot and sometimes still do. I have it mostly on my right jaw side and right lower back. That is the side with the hissing tinnitus. On the left side I have a much more quiet tinnitus which is a low pitch sound.

The only thing I'm currently doing related to these health problems is I'm planning on getting the antigen test for Bartonella from Ceres Nanoscience when it comes out. They project the test will be released near the end of 2016. they also have a test for Borrelia and I took that and it was negative. These are antigen tests, which are much better idea than antibody tests. Antibody tests are useful for detecting acute life threatening cases of infection, but in chronic stealth infections antigen testing is a much better approach.

Other than that I can say I'm not really focused on my tinnitus or worrying about it or anything. It was helpful to join here so I could meet others in similar situation and that is what helped it stop bothering me after some time. The other things I've had seems to be neurological. I have water sensations I'll feel, mostly in my legs. I've had that for years and it started around the time of the neck stiffness, which I had a few years before I got the tinnitus and jaw pain, which happened together.