Low Pitch Ringing/Hum Went Away After Using a Mouth Guard and Regular Jaw Massage

[Benjaminbb]

The bent/misfiring thing is actually how any audiologist explains hearing damage. The audiologists I spoke to all seem to think tinnitus was actually the vibration of damaged hairs not the brain like other sources say. I tend to agree that there are 5+ Reasons for tinnitus and that vibrating hair is a common one for anyone that intermittent tinnitus that can be interacted with, ie by playing the tone.

Also would say that vibrating hairs are almost definitely due to damage and trauma. That's why given some time those heal. For example someone could be under water and with tinnitus for several weeks after someone claps loudly next to their head. But that repairs with time. The explanation for this is that the hair gets bent due to the air pressure. I think it's a pretty legit idea.

Also another random fact, in regards to our hums stopping from sound, it definitely stops not masked, because it takes half a second to start again afterwards. Sounds like it's turning on and off like a switch.

If it were to be muscle related then I think it would something in the auditory system, like a muscle that attaches to the ear drum. the theory is that can be affect by jaw and neck muscles due to where they meet. And that would also explains why sound cuts it out. It definitely sounds like a vibration like you're saying. Almost like a trembling muscle.

So there are arguments for both, but it's definitely augmented by sound for all the above people. Would love to get to the bottom of it.

 

[Forever hopeful]

I'd agree that what you are saying could be happening, although I'm not certain that hair cells can be bent or damaged, causing misfiring. I'm not saying you are wrong-just that I've not read that.

But what you are saying could be a physical explanation. I for sure agree that when it stops by putting a finger in one's ear, or moving, we are just generating a low frequency sound that is overpowering the hum. The hum is still there, we just can't hear it.

In my case, and hopefully others, the hum has been gone for months, and that is after I've focused on dealing with stress, clenching, massaging, and having a mouth guard.

I want to reiterate that I had the hum mostly everyday for nearly a year, with a few breaks. I was feeling hopeless and now it is completely gone. I don't think, in my case, it is hair cells that are damaged or bent, because it has gone away.

But that doesn't mean what you are saying couldn't be happening to someone else.

I originally had tinnitus due to sound exposure. Loud AC/DC concert. No hearing loss. Tinnitus lasted for 2 years. Then resolved for about 3 years. Now I have a different issue. I have some hearing loss in my left ear. Got tinnitus and it resolved after about a year.

Per my ENT, hair cells can be bent but not broken due damage and can heal over time.

I also have the rumbling when I am congested. Particularly when I have a cold.

 

[Ben Winders]

Question is - since for most of us, driving a car makes the low rumbling very loud for a couple minutes after we shut off the engine, should we stop driving? Should we do everything we can to let the bent hair cells heal?

How I can live without driving a car, is another thing, practically.

 

[Thomas L]

Question is - since for most of us, driving a car makes the low rumbling very loud for a couple minutes after we shut off the engine, should we stop driving? Should we do everything we can to let the bent hair cells heal?

How I can live without driving a car, is another thing, practically.

Obviously I'm no expert but my take on this is to live as normal as possible with this condition. The body tends to be able to adapt and/or heal. I'm not saying I've stopped exploring ways of improving my quality of life but I feel like if we constraint how we live to try and let them heal but see no improvements whatsoever, I'd personally be back to a darker place than I am at now and I really do not want to go back there. It took me a lot of energy to feel a little better every day.

 

[saggy_92]

Hi GDK, I've exact same symptoms. Even my doctor suggested to start wearing the night guard. How much time did it take for you see the improvement after you started using the night guard?
My symptoms
- low humming/vibration sound.
- If I close the ear using finger, the vibration stops.
- When I speak, it also disappear.
- It disappears for few seconds after moving the head and also post exercise.
- While stretching the body, the vibration increases. I am not sure why.

 

[GDK]

Hi GDK, I've exact same symptoms. Even my doctor suggested to start wearing the night guard. How much time did it take for you see the improvement after you started using the night guard?
My symptoms
- low humming/vibration sound.
- If I close the ear using finger, the vibration stops.
- When I speak, it also disappear.
- It disappears for few seconds after moving the head and also post exercise.
- While stretching the body, the vibration increases. I am not sure why.

With heat, massage, and most importantly the mouth guard, I'd say within a week to ten days it was completely gone.

Have not heard it since. And I had it bad. I am so grateful this fixed it.

 

[saggy_92]

Nice. Do you have any jaw pain or any TMJ issue? I had an MRI of TMJ that didn't show anything but my doctor is suspecting the grinding is the main cause of the issue. I hadn't exposed myself to loud noise so this most probably looks like muscle related issue. Also, do you think the neck problem can also cause same symptoms?

Also one thing I've noticed that if I spend my whole days sitting in-front of fan or may be AC, that actually disappear the humming sound for couple of hours even in silent room. The vibration will start again after couple of hours like hm...hm...hm and then it will be like hmmmmmmmmmm I am not sure why. Does it also happen with you?

 

[GDK]

Nice. Do you have any jaw pain or any TMJ issue? I had an MRI of TMJ that didn't show anything but my doctor is suspecting the grinding is the main cause of the issue. I hadn't exposed myself to loud noise so this most probably looks like muscle related issue. Also, do you think the neck problem can also cause same symptoms?

Also one thing I've noticed that if I spend my whole days sitting in-front of fan or may be AC, that actually disappear the humming sound for couple of hours even in silent room. The vibration will start again after couple of hours like hm...hm...hm and then it will be like hmmmmmmmmmm I am not sure why. Does it also happen with you?

I suspect there are many causes, as my original post states. I ruled out about 7 other things until I finally went to the dentist.

Check out the original post of this thread.

You'll see all the things I thought it could be.

 

[Ben Winders]

Nice. Do you have any jaw pain or any TMJ issue? I had an MRI of TMJ that didn't show anything but my doctor is suspecting the grinding is the main cause of the issue. I hadn't exposed myself to loud noise so this most probably looks like muscle related issue. Also, do you think the neck problem can also cause same symptoms?

Also one thing I've noticed that if I spend my whole days sitting in-front of fan or may be AC, that actually disappear the humming sound for couple of hours even in silent room. The vibration will start again after couple of hours like hm...hm...hm and then it will be like hmmmmmmmmmm I am not sure why. Does it also happen with you?

Many people (with low hum tinnitus) have this effect of LONG residual inhibition.

I even emailed about this effect to one of the people that researched residual inhibition with tinnitus sufferers but he said he found it very peculiar that my inhibition could last for a couple hours (after being next to an AC or driving a car or being close to anything else that produces a humming sound).

 

[Pitseleh]

I have 270 Hz tinnitus, which is a low tone.

No residual inhibition affect whatsoever mine.

 

[saggy_92]

Many people (with low hum tinnitus) have this effect of LONG residual inhibition.

I even emailed about this effect to one of the people that researched residual inhibition with tinnitus sufferers but he said he found it very peculiar that my inhibition could last for a couple hours (after being next to an AC or driving a car or being close to anything else that produces a humming sound).

Do you actually feel the vibration physically? I can literally feel that this is happening in middle ear.

 

[saggy_92]

I suspect there are many causes, as my original post states. I ruled out about 7 other things until I finally went to the dentist.

Check out the original post of this thread.

You'll see all the things I thought it could be.

Yes I've possibly checked all the causes. Even I did the MRI of neck, TMJ and brain. Neck MRI showed early spondylosis due to bad posture. Not sure if that is the cause.

Before this low humming started, I had muffled hearing for couple of weeks. Based on the symptoms doctor suspected the ETD but my eardrum and all the reports were normal so I don't think so that was ETD.

I had on and off muffled hearing for couple of months last year but now everything is gone, just left with humming.

 

[Ben Winders]

Do you actually feel the vibration physically? I can literally feel that this is happening in middle ear.

This seems like an easy question but it is a tough one.

Since I also have actual physical fluttering (my tensor tempani fluttering) I can clearly state that my regular hum is not physical, although (here is the important part) because it is so low in frequency (around 80 Hz for me) I think our brain perceives it as actual vibrations. Because it is so deep/low.

Try to play 80 Hz on a MacBook through MacBook speakers ... it won't even produce any sound (barely audible) because it's so low.

Hard to explain ... but no, I don't think my hum is actual vibrations inside my ear, it's just that I perceive it to be.

 

[twa]

Hello everyone!

I felt the need to share my story, which is similar to so many that I've read.

Symptoms:

• Low pitch ringing or hum around 80 Hz in my right ear.
• It would come and go but could last for months at a time 24/7.
• It felt like a vibration or rumbling engine in the distance.
• It was very distressing and stressful.
• Low frequency sounds would mask it.
• If I put my finger in my ear it seemed to go away.
• Earplugs not so effective.
• Mine was somatic. Could make it louder or less loud by moving my head/neck or jaw certain ways.
• I noticed it would sometimes settle down at night. Sometimes I'd wake up at 3:00 am and it would be gone. It was so great I couldn't get back to sleep. I would enjoy the silence. As soon as I woke up in the morning and stood up it would reappear faintly, but then get worse as the day progressed. I couldn't hear it at work or outside usually, but at home in the quiet it would be maddening.

I explored many causes.

At first I thought it may be ETD. I went on corticosteroids, but they didn't help. Maybe made it worse.

I had a hearing test. Some high frequency loss, but that would be expected at my age of early 50s. No detectable low pitch frequency loss.

I went to physiotherapy as I suspected tension and stress in my neck maybe a cause. Nope.

I went to an ENT, who said basically I had to live with it. I suggested an MRI. At first he dismissed the idea but then said what the heck, let's rule out something serious. The MRI did not discover anything serious.

I thought maybe it was Meniere's disease and cut down on salt. Drank a ton of water. No effect.

I suspected food allergies but got tested and that wasn't it.

Finally I went to the dentist to see if I was clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth.
He said I was clearly grinding and subconsciously clenching throughout the day. He said my jaw movement to the right was limited even though I didn't notice. My low pitch ringing was on the right.

He suggested a professional mouth guard for nights, and to regularly massage my jaw muscles.

I had the guard made and wear it every night. I massage my jaw muscles with my hand while driving or whenever I think about it.

I haven't heard the hum in 3 weeks and fundamentally believe it's jaw related.

The dentist said the muscles in the jaw can sometimes clench and irritate nerves close to the ear.

I am telling you, go see your dentist. My life is back to normal, and the silence is wonderful. I was a nervous wreck thinking I'd have to live like this for the rest of my life. Funny enough, I have a science background and yet the last thing I suspected was actually the cause.

@GDK, can you tell me the type of mouth guard you wear?

Two dentists have wanted me to have a hard plastic mouth guard, but I'd rather have a soft plastic one like used for athletics.

 

[GDK]

@GDK, can you tell me the type of mouth guard you wear?

Two dentists have wanted me to have a hard plastic mouth guard, but I'd rather have a soft plastic one like used for athletics.

It's a custom fit. Made of a fairly hard plastic, but not too hard.

They took a mould of my top teeth, and then it was custom made.

The mould fits tightly on my top teeth.

 

[Benjaminbb]

It's a custom fit. Made of a fairly hard plastic, but not too hard.

They took a mould of my top teeth, and then it was custom made.

The mould fits tightly on my top teeth.

How are you doing now GDK?

 

[GDK]

How are you doing now GDK?

Still hum free. I wear the guard every night.

Has anyone else had any success with a mouth guard preventing the hum in their ear(s)?

 

[Benjaminbb]

Still hum free. I wear the guard every night.

Has anyone else had any success with a mouth guard preventing the hum in their ear(s)?

Amazing. Not yet. Mine has been starting on the other side now as well as being more constant (besides noise interruptions) on the side it was on too - so might look into this.

Seems strange to have it on both sides unless I'm experiencing some kind of cochlear hydrops, like mineares which damages low frequency part of the cochlear. There's gotta be a cause for our unique type of tinnitus.

GDK, yours interacted with noise like most of us correct? I.e. cuts outs or is triggered by noise.

EDIT:

Actually, I just re-read your first post, your dot points are exactly how I would describe mine these days too.

Even been starting to have pain on the bad days which I actually associate with hyperacusis. However, the pain can be there for hours even without sound exposure.

Also like you mentioned I've been having dramatically different good days and bad days where more volume is required to mute it etc.

Sounds like you've already looked into a lot of what I've been thinking.

I think I'll look into the jaw for sure.

I'm also with @Ben Winders that there's a chance for a lot of us that it could simply be low frequency hearing loss - which would be sad.

However, there are very few causes of low frequency loss besides:

• Meniere's (which would be accompanied vertigo)
• Cochlear hydrops which is basically Meniere's of the cochlea and can resolve over a few years and which is also detectable on MRI
• Infection - which would show far more of a cookie shape than just a single low dip at 80 Hz
• Damage from noise - possible but wouldn't we see a ton of other frequencies damaged first?

Either way I'll get a extended hearing test done and let you know. @Ben Winders, have you looked into doing that yet? What are your thoughts regarding why you expect there to be a dip down there before other obvious and easily damaged frequencies?

The only other thing that strengthens Ben's theory vs it being a jaw thing is that a lot of us have strong reactivity to sound. When it gets bad it can literally be a footstep on a wooden floor that triggers a 15 second hum, or a car driving down the street is amplified by 20 dB in that ear. Which leads me to believe it's a damaged receptor or some mechanism that is able to create a feedback loop. No other type of reactive tinnitus fades after the sound is removed or is triggered off by sound in this way.

There's also the theory that both jaw and hearing loss are right, and that even with a mild loss it's actually a nerve disruption/pressure that is being amplified by the brain to fill in that frequency. Often with those cases once you remove the physical issue the tinnitus resolves even when the loss stays.

I know many people with loss and no tinnitus for example, let alone a f'ing 30 dB+ sub hum.

 

[Benjaminbb]

I still think mine is damage, caused by an acoustic incident (fan noise from in-ear headphones during a couple of nights trying to get some sleep in a busy city). First time I heard my hum was right after I did that.

15 months since onset I still have daily fleeting tinnitus episodes as well and I have sporadic muscle spasms in my bad ear (MEM like symptoms) and my shrieking tinnitus sometimes gets very loud during the night (with no external trigger as my room is totally silent).

I DO clench (I don't think I grind, according to my girlfriend), but I'm pretty sure the clenching is not the root cause of my humming tinnitus.

If only there was a way to find out if there is actual inflammation (due to clenching/grinding) or is there some some sort of MRI-like imagine technique that shows inflammation?

Hey was your fleeting tinnitus lower in frequency? I've never had low fleeting around 800 Hz-1 kHz until this last year in which I developed the hum.

 

[Ben Winders]

Hey was your fleeting tinnitus lower in frequency? I've never had low fleeting around 800 Hz-1 kHz until this last year in which I developed the hum.

My fleeting episodes are always high pitched... i said before that I also hold open as an option that my low hum is a consequence of high frequency loss... I just damaged something thoroughly in there, a nerve or whatever.

 

[HeavyMantra]

@GDK, can you tell me the type of mouth guard you wear?

Two dentists have wanted me to have a hard plastic mouth guard, but I'd rather have a soft plastic one like used for athletics.

The hard ones last way way longer, but if money isn't an issue go for a soft one.

 

[kelmari]

Hey all, I'm new here.

I'm dealing with this too. I actually developed high pitched tinnitus in my right ear about 1.5 years ago (this could've been due to a couple things like IHH or CSF leak from lumbar puncture). I managed to habituate and it didn't seem loud anymore.

However, in December 2021 I awoke to a blocked left ear where I couldn't hear any external noise, only internal like my voice. I was also extremely sensitive to low sound like escalators, engines, airplanes, etc.

I was told it was middle ear infection or ETD. During that time I had an MRI, antibiotics and anti-dizziness pills. Not long after I woke up to the vibrating/idling truck sound and sensation in my left ear. Initially it would be triggered by things and it disappeared for a few weeks but it returned again after a bout at the gym and hearing many pops/change in pressure.

It's now hanging around like a very unwanted guest and sometimes it can be so loud it feels like I'm going to take a stroke or something. I also sometimes get vibrations in my neck or other parts of my body like chest or limbs.

I suspected Meniere's Disease too but I have a number of things it could be like severe TMD. All I know is that I'm terrified every time I step into a quiet surrounding or as soon as I go to bed because it feels like my head could just fly off with the vibrations.

It's nice to know others are out there with similar and I'm not alone in this really awful experience.

Kel x

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Hi @kelmari, as I mentioned in your introduction thread, a lumbar puncture can cause systemic disorders that can include a variety of conditions with presumed inflammatory and autoimmune path mechanisms.

Consideration of inflammatory/autoimmune disorders may be of therapeutic and prognostic importance. In the absence of disease-specific clinical features, the initial diagnostic workup is broad. I tried in the other thread to discuss what some of path mechanisms of systemic inflammatory disorders may be as to your physical concerns.

If you have not received follow-up after your lumbar puncture, please do. Basic blood tests include inflammatory markers and autoantibodies will be needed along with protein biomarkers and maybe have astrocytes measured by using Glial fibrillary acidic protein.

You mentioned having a lip biopsy and I commented maybe to indicate Sjogren's syndrome which is autoimmune to detect the presence of clusters of inflammatory cells. From having this done, I assumed that you had follow-ups and monitoring and nothing concerning was found other than systemic inflammatory disorder which has taken a non-autoimmune path such as to what you describe including TMJ.

Please don't be concerned, just consider more re-examination (if you have not received) as more inflammation meds may be needed.

I would also consider the list of care options that I gave you.

Write back if you wish.

 

[Benjaminbb]

It's a custom fit. Made of a fairly hard plastic, but not too hard.

They took a mould of my top teeth, and then it was custom made.

The mould fits tightly on my top teeth.

Just got mine, surprisingly tight and hard.

Feels more like it's going to increase the contact and consequently tension of my TMJ joint.

Is yours the hard clear plastic? I can see how this would protect teeth but not much more.

 

[Simona]

@GDK
I find your approach to explaining the humming very interesting and after trying countless other therapies I will also see a dentist. I would be interested to know if the dentist was able to determine that you grind your teeth by looking at the wear and tear on your teeth? Or how did he recognise that you needed a mouth guard?

 

[Benjaminbb]

Yes I've possibly checked all the causes. Even I did the MRI of neck, TMJ and brain. Neck MRI showed early spondylosis due to bad posture. Not sure if that is the cause.

Before this low humming started, I had muffled hearing for couple of weeks. Based on the symptoms doctor suspected the ETD but my eardrum and all the reports were normal so I don't think so that was ETD.

I had on and off muffled hearing for couple of months last year but now everything is gone, just left with humming.

Your muffled hearing came on spontaneously with no noise exposure?

 

[Benjaminbb]

@Ben Winders, how's your humming these days? Are you still using that YouTube video at night to get daily inhibition?

Do you have fluctuating volume during the day or is it still triggered by driving etc?

 

[Simona]

I continue to be unsure whether or not I'm clenching my teeth at night or not.

Nevertheless, I had personalized mouth guards made based on my dental impressions, i.e. "simple" mouth guards in different degrees of hardness, which are used in the upper jaw and are intended exclusively to protect the teeth. I wore all the models at night for several weeks. In addition, during this time I underwent special physiotherapy for the jaw.

Unfortunately, I could not observe any improvement. I don't know if it is due to the type of the mouth guard i.e. if the model used by GDK was even more special, as there seem to be many different models. Some have to be made by absolute specialists, based on scans and special measurements, etc. - which can be quite expensive. I am now not sure whether I should pursue this direction at all, since neither the mouth guard, nor the therapy led to an improvement.

What experience have you gained in the meantime?

 

[Marshall]

Only 'flaw' in your story was the fact that audiograms don't test such low frequencies. So in my case I sincerely believe I have a dip at the low frequency that my hum is at, but there is just no way to test for it.

I have a hum in a frequency that I've been tested for and have no hearing loss in.

 

[Frayact]

I've posted this on many other threads, but I also have a loud low-frequency hum. It started from out of the blue in the Summer of 1996. I also have a high-pitched hissing that started a few months earlier, but that rarely bothers me. The humming has gotten so bad over the years that I've considered suicide.

When it first began, I had every medical test known to man performed (MRI's, hearing exams, dental, etc.). I even went to an orthodontist who stuck his fingers in my mouth and squeezed various parts of my soft palate while asking, "Do you still hear the hum?" (I did). But of course, no one could find any abnormalities. In 1999, I reluctantly got on an antidepressant (Effexor XR) as I couldn't cope anymore. Within a few weeks, the humming disappeared. I assumed it was all psychosomatic and not physical. But the silence only lasted about a year before the hum returned one morning. I tried other ADs, but none worked. I eventually got on Lexapro and stayed on that one for almost 15 years

Up until March 27 of 2022, I had been hum-free for nearly four years. But then it returned and sent me into absolute depression hell. As I write this, I've been on a newer AD (Pristiq) for about a month, but I've felt no changes.

I don't grind my teeth, so it's unlikely a mouth guard would be beneficial.

My hum also stops when I shake my head in a sideways motion. Sticking my fingers in my ears or cupping my palm over them creates the seashell effect. But when I remove my fingers, the humming is even louder.

The biggest mystery for me (in addition to what's causing it) is why it will go away for years and then return for no apparent reason. I can have a full life when it's gone, but when it comes back, everything changes. I feel vulnerable, trapped, and full of dread. Trying to sleep at night is nearly impossible. I can also FEEL the hum in addition to hearing it. It's a horrible vibration, the kind you feel when riding on a prop plane.

I suppose it's similar to people who have cancer and manage to beat it after chemo and other treatments - there's always the fear that it will return. With tinnitus, there is no approved treatment. That's where part of the helpless feelings come into play.