Hello, and Thank You.

[Grok]

Hi all, I'm new to all of this. Started almost 2 weeks ago when I woke up with a lightheaded feeling and some hearing loss in my right ear. As the day went on I started to notice the tinnitus and distortion in my right ear. a few days after that I noticed that my right cheek felt tight, and a few days after that I noticed tension all over my face and scalp.

After a full week the tinnitus is in both ears and level now changes from hour to hour from a very high pitch that is easily masked by background noise, to a mid level tone that is very difficult to ignore. There's some pulsatile tinnitus thrown in there too. The facial tension comes and goes as does the light headed/dizzy feeling.

My Doctor told me to give it a few weeks as in most cases this kind of thing disappears. Of course, I'm struggling with anxiety through the whole thing. Worried about worst case scenarios that I know are the least likely outcomes, but it's hard to not think about them when everything is hitting at once.

Finding this forum has been helpful, as I can find many people who share similar symptoms, with no serious outcomes or scary diagnosis. If this doesn't go away, I feel I could learn to live with this as long as I know it's not the beginning of some serious health issue.

Anyway, just thought I'd stop in and say hello, and thanks to everyone for sharing their stories.

 

[Lane]

I noticed that my right cheek felt tight, and a few days after that I noticed tension all over my face and scalp.

Hi @Grok -- I just made A POST last night that touches on some of the things you're talking about. In it I describe some of the somewhat "alternative" approaches I'm using. -- All the Best...

I posted the following in another post about 2 months ago...

"One thing I started recently is learning how to do self-acupuncture. I've only just started this past week, but feel it really holds a LOT of potential. I did a number of spots around my right ear/TMJ area, and the following day noticed more relaxation in my entire face than I have in probably years." -- Here's a link: Self-Acupuncture

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Started almost 2 weeks ago when I woke up with a lightheaded feeling and some hearing loss in my right ear. As the day went on I started to notice the tinnitus and distortion in my right ear. a few days after that I noticed that my right cheek felt tight, and a few days after that I noticed tension all over my face and scalp.

After a full week the tinnitus is in both ears and level now changes from hour to hour from a very high pitch that is easily masked by background noise, to a mid level tone that is very difficult to ignore. There's some pulsatile tinnitus thrown in there too. The facial tension comes and goes as does the light headed/dizzy feeling.

Neurobiology of the trigeminal system is possible, but systemics as you note may take a multidisciplinary approach including orofacial pain disorder specialists. I hope that doctor ordered blood work, EKG, ENT and dental counsel and did a complete physical along with questioning any inquired injuries.

 

[Grok]

I hope that doctor ordered blood work, EKG, ENT and dental counsel and did a complete physical along with questioning any inquired injuries.

No tests yet. He wants to wait until the end of May as he expects it will likely go away on its own. This was very early on, before I was having much of the facial tension that I"m now experiencing. He mentioned that the likely course of action will be a hearing test and possible imaging (MRI) if tests warrant it.

 

[Grok]

It's interesting that you bring up the trigeminal system. I do have an impacted unformed enamel/dental deposit in my lower jaw. It is so deeply set that the dental surgeon recommended to leave it in place unless it causes any trouble. Apparently removing it will be quite a tricky procedure.

 

[Bill Bauer]

My Doctor told me to give it a few weeks as in most cases this kind of thing disappears. Of course, I'm struggling with anxiety through the whole thing.

Your doctor is right. Even if it doesn't go away in a few weeks, there is a good chance that after 3 months it might begin to fade and in a year or two you will either get to hear silence again, or at least get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage.

Some tips that you might find to be useful:

I didn't read all the above comments, but did peruse a fair amount of it, and ran across many good points on both sides of the argument. What strikes me is there seems to be an underlying assumption (of course I may be wrong on this) that all brains and neurological systems are created equal. The way I see it, that's simply not the case, so everybody's way of dealing with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis is going to have to be highly individualized.

I read a book many years ago called "Adrenal Syndrome". A lot of the book touched on the residual resiliency of people's adrenal glands as they respond to life's stresses. Very low resiliency often resulted in months/years of chronic debilitating exhaustion following a stressful event(s) in their lives. Very high resiliency indicated essentially the opposite. The author broke this down into some rough numbers:

25% of people have low resiliency, meaning normal life stressors will often send them into some degree of a tailspin.
25% of people have high resiliency, meaning that no matter how severe a stressor comes into their lives, they will be able to cope without becoming debilitated to any degree.
50% of people fall somewhere inbetween.

I believe there are some kind of corresponding numbers for a person's brain and neurological resiliency as well, which can greatly affect the ability to cope with tinnitus. (I believe adrenal resiliency also plays a major role in our ability to cope). -- Based on these assumptions, it's pretty easy for me to conclude that what may be overprotection for one person will be underprotection for another, and vice versa.

I think the main point to understand for someone new to tinnitus is that their path forward is going to be a lot of "testing the waters". Generally, IMHO, it's going to take a few weeks or months to get important insights that will help us achieve a healthy balance. In all likelihood, most people are going to learn from experience when their over-protecting or under-protecting.

I've come to believe however, that in those early months, if one is going to err in either direction, it should be toward overprotection. It just seems to me the consequences of underprotection (which could result in permanent injury) in those early times are much more dire than the consequences of overprotection--which as I understand, generally results in temporary setbacks.

Doing a number of things to better support the brain and neurological system and the body's stress response (adrenal glands) is quite high on my list of recommendations I would make to anybody with tinnitus. Doing so might even prevent phonophobia or OCD, etc., as we go through our learning curves -- Just my 2 cents worth.

Relative newbies to tinnitus are likely to find all the information/opinions above quite confusing. So here are a few common-sense rules to follow:

1. The best protection of all is avoidance. Even the best earplugs can't guarantee complete hearing protection so those relatively new to tinnitus are best advised to avoid prolonged loud noise exposure - especially amplified sound at for example live concerts and sports events. This may involve lifestyle changes.

2. When in doubt, use hearing protection. In the many tasks we all do through the week, some will inevitably involve exposure to noise - which may be at higher levels than we at first realise - so using hearing protection for many of these is only sensible.

3. Build quiet into your day. It's not a good idea to be wearing hearing protection all the time - so you need to give your ears a break by ensuring that there will be quieter times during your day when hearing protection isn't necessary.This may involve changing your routine. Use soft masking noise and light music (not using headphones) to avoid "silence" where tinnitus is most noticeable.

4. Don't stress about stress. Tinnitus newbies are forever being told that the thing which makes tinnitus worse is stress. But while it's true that how you are feeling at a particular moment can make tinnitus temporarily louder, it won't have a lasting effect. But prolonged loud noise exposure can make tinnitus permanently louder. So don't stress about stress - but do be concerned about noise.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

[Greg Sacramento]

t's interesting that you bring up the trigeminal system. I do have an impacted unformed enamel/dental deposit in my lower jaw. It is so deeply set that the dental surgeon recommended to leave it in place unless it causes any trouble. Apparently removing it will be quite a tricky procedure.

This could be your problem. From this facial, scalp tension and check tightness can come and go along with a light headed/dizzy feeling, distortion in the ear, somatic and pulsatile tinnitus due to infection deep in the jaw where the trigeminal system becomes aggravated. Tinnitus does not resolve or fade until infection is cleared in which it appears that several meds can easily clear this type of infection. Your dentist is correct in not wanting to remove the deposit.

A laboratory test, called the CTX (C-Telopeptide), measures the rate of bone turnover. Results of 150 to 600 pg/mL (picogram/milliliter) indicate minimal-to-no risk of deposit, but results of less than 100 pg/mL indicate a high risk of infection. The CTX test can be ordered by a dentist or physician and is performed by an outside laboratory, such as Quest Diagnostics or others.

Your situation is discussed in exactness on dental boards with membership for dentists and therapists. Not a dentist.

 

[Grok]

Few months later now and I've had some hearing tests done. Only some very small hearing loss in the upper frequencies was discovered. The ENT and my GP are both unfamiliar with what you've described and have never heard of the test you mentioned. They are chalking it up to me getting a little older and having been in bands during my twenties. They are understandably reluctant to order tests they don't know of or are unable to read.

Unfortunately I no longer have dental coverage but I guess that might be the next best shot at getting someone to refer me for this test.

A laboratory test, called the CTX (C-Telopeptide), measures the rate of bone turnover. Results of 150 to 600 pg/mL (picogram/milliliter) indicate minimal-to-no risk of deposit, but results of less than 100 pg/mL indicate a high risk of infection. The CTX test can be ordered by a dentist or physician and is performed by an outside laboratory, such as Quest Diagnostics or others.

Your situation is discussed in exactness on dental boards with membership for dentists and therapists. Not a dentist.