I Can Make My Tinnitus Stop

[SpiritNebula]

I have tinnitus in my right ear four ca. five years now. I have been to many doctors and tried many different treatments (magnesium, iron, physiotherapy, osteopathy, acupuncture). The doctors did not find any anatomic reason for my noise and I have no hearing loss.

Here is a short description of my tinnitus:

• The noise I hear is a rather low-frequency vibration/oscillation. The situation is quite special, in a way that, when I lie flat on my bed it often goes away for some moments (e.g. a few minutes before falling asleep). I can achieve this silence by some form of movement or contraction in my throat or palate (I'm not sure where exactly). This contraction applies or removes pressure ( I can't really say for sure) from my ear, results in a clicking noise, and then the vibration goes away. However when I do this while being in any other position than lying flat, the noise will return very quickly (seconds).

• I experienced that after being in an airplane or to a concert the vibration can be gone for longer periods (hours to a day). For example I went to a concert yesterday and today I can't hear the vibration (I used ear plugs). Last weekend I also attanded some concerts at a festival and the vibration was almost gone for two consecutive days!

Here is some additional information about the whole situation:

• I press my teeth against each other during the night (bruxism) also since many years (about a year longer than I have the noise). For this I got a mouthguard. About a year after receiving the mouthguard the noise started and I have it ever since.
  
• When I refrain from using the mouthguard I get very painful tensions in my face, neck and shoulder regions.
  
• Also the noise does not really get better when not using the mouthguard (longest period withouth the guard was two weeks).
• As you all know, the whole situation is very stressful.
• Therefore I also had to take antidepressants at times.

Has anyone here experienced the same behaviour of the tinnitus?

 

[JohnAdams]

The doctors did not find any anatomic reason for my noise and I have no hearing loss.

Did the doctors count the hair cells in your cochlea?

 

[SpiritNebula]

@JohnAdams No. I didn't know that this is possible. Do you think there is a connection between these hairs and my symptoms?

 

[all to gain]

@JohnAdams No. I didn't know that this is possible. Do you think there is a connection between these hairs and my symptoms?

I think he's joking

I would love to be in your position and be able to hear silence even if for only a few minutes.

 

[SpiritNebula]

But why would you joke about that? Yes I'm sure that it sounds like a nice situation and I didn't inted to sound whiny or to insult someone. But the fact that the sound can stop occasionally is also very irritating because (a) you constantly think about why and how and (b) you are always being given hope that the sound may eventually disappear, but of course it doesn't.

 

[JohnAdams]

@JohnAdams No. I didn't know that this is possible. Do you think there is a connection between these hairs and my symptoms?

Yes.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

I can achieve this silence by some form of movement or contraction in my throat or palate (I'm not sure where exactly). This contraction applies or removes pressure ( I can't really say for sure) from my ear, results in a clicking noise, and then the vibration goes away.

I press my teeth against each other during the night (bruxism) also since many years (about a year longer than I have the noise).

First: You probably have some level of neck trauma from forward extension of neck, which you may not notice.

Second: The main accepted theory:
Extension-flexion of neck to retrodiskal tissues. Slight displacement of the articular disk resulting in direct trauma to the TMJ during cervical hyperextension. It may have been an one time event or a repetitive history. The lateral pterygoid muscle gets pulled in combination of force causing a stretching of the posterior attachment of the disk. This will lead to myospasm and abnormal jaw posture that causes parafunctional activity that results in internal derangement. This is often a cause for clinching teeth. The soft palate is sensitive to this. A mouth guard needs to be thin and not cover wisdom teeth. An upper guard is better.

Examples of causes:
Habit of open mouth - maybe breathing thru month.
Forward extension of neck and jaw. Such as bending over a computer.
Working as a gardener and bending without using proper head posture.
Working on an assembly line.
Lifting heavy objects with not using proper posture.
The mechanism of force on jaw if one smokes.
Talking on a cell phone with neck turned down.
Dental - Not having head relaxed on headrest and having mouth open too long without a break.