Hello!
Thanks to everyone for this wonderful forum. The discussion and information here are invaluable.
I am sharing my story in case it helps anyone or if others have had a similar experience. Apologies in advance for the long introduction.
I am a 51 year old male with no unusual sound exposure in my life. I probably attended a normal number of concerts and spent my 20s in some loud bars, but nothing out of the ordinary.
I first noticed my tinnitus in May 2024. It started as a slight ringing in my left ear. There was no specific event that I can recall that triggered it, no major sound exposure or physical trauma. For the first couple of weeks, it was intermittent, sometimes buzzy, sometimes ringing, and sometimes gone, before it became consistent. I do not think it is particularly loud compared to what some people describe. At its worst, it is a high pitched ringing, sometimes buzzy, and just really annoying. I can mostly tune it out when I am out with friends, but when I am watching TV or in a quiet environment, I sometimes use a masking sound to blunt it a bit.
Eventually, I realized that I could manipulate the pitch and volume of my tinnitus by clenching my jaw, particularly on the left side. Honestly, I now feel like a shortwave radio operator. Slightly stimulating my left jaw muscles feels like tuning through a bunch of frequencies. After doing a lot of Google research, as I am sure many of us have, I came across the term "somatic tinnitus," which seems to describe my experience.
I visited an audiologist to check my hearing. She said it was about normal for my age, with some loss in the upper frequencies, which she considered typical. Since my tinnitus was only in one ear, she did not think it was related to hearing loss.
I also saw an ENT, who more or less said the same thing. He offered to refer me for an MRI but did not think it would reveal anything conclusive. He suspected some jaw inflammation and suggested that over time, I would just "tune it out." He was not particularly helpful or sympathetic.
I brought it up with my dentist, who asked if I was a teeth grinder or jaw clencher at night. I did not think I was, but he recommended a night guard, so I got fitted for one. I tried it for one night and hated it, so I set it aside. I do not think I grind or clench, and I do not have any jaw pain.
One possible correlation I have considered is an issue I had with my jaw before tinnitus started. For years, my left jaw would pop when I chewed or took big bites. It was not painful, but it was jarring. Imagine biting into a big sandwich and hearing a loud pop. I could even open my mouth wide and reproduce the sound. I once asked my dentist about it, and he explained that it was related to TMD. Something about a small disc in the jaw sliding in and out of place. Since it was not painful, he said there was not much to do about it, so I just lived with it.
Here is what is weird. Not long after my tinnitus started, I realized that the jaw popping was completely gone. It was as if the disc had suddenly slid into the correct position. Unfortunately, I was not paying close enough attention at the time to know if these two things were directly related.
But the fact that my jaw popping was on the left side and is now gone, while my tinnitus is now in the left ear, makes me wonder if something got messed up in there. Maybe it is affecting some sensitive structures near my ear and causing the distortion I am experiencing.
I have not exactly given up on finding a solution. While my tinnitus has not really lessened, I have learned to live with it.
In the early weeks and months, I definitely experienced some existential dread. I could not imagine living with this forever, and most of the online advice was either:
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I wanted to put my experience on record somewhere, and this seemed like the best place.
Thanks to everyone who has shared their stories. I have read a lot of them.
Thanks to everyone for this wonderful forum. The discussion and information here are invaluable.
I am sharing my story in case it helps anyone or if others have had a similar experience. Apologies in advance for the long introduction.
I am a 51 year old male with no unusual sound exposure in my life. I probably attended a normal number of concerts and spent my 20s in some loud bars, but nothing out of the ordinary.
I first noticed my tinnitus in May 2024. It started as a slight ringing in my left ear. There was no specific event that I can recall that triggered it, no major sound exposure or physical trauma. For the first couple of weeks, it was intermittent, sometimes buzzy, sometimes ringing, and sometimes gone, before it became consistent. I do not think it is particularly loud compared to what some people describe. At its worst, it is a high pitched ringing, sometimes buzzy, and just really annoying. I can mostly tune it out when I am out with friends, but when I am watching TV or in a quiet environment, I sometimes use a masking sound to blunt it a bit.
Eventually, I realized that I could manipulate the pitch and volume of my tinnitus by clenching my jaw, particularly on the left side. Honestly, I now feel like a shortwave radio operator. Slightly stimulating my left jaw muscles feels like tuning through a bunch of frequencies. After doing a lot of Google research, as I am sure many of us have, I came across the term "somatic tinnitus," which seems to describe my experience.
I visited an audiologist to check my hearing. She said it was about normal for my age, with some loss in the upper frequencies, which she considered typical. Since my tinnitus was only in one ear, she did not think it was related to hearing loss.
I also saw an ENT, who more or less said the same thing. He offered to refer me for an MRI but did not think it would reveal anything conclusive. He suspected some jaw inflammation and suggested that over time, I would just "tune it out." He was not particularly helpful or sympathetic.
I brought it up with my dentist, who asked if I was a teeth grinder or jaw clencher at night. I did not think I was, but he recommended a night guard, so I got fitted for one. I tried it for one night and hated it, so I set it aside. I do not think I grind or clench, and I do not have any jaw pain.
One possible correlation I have considered is an issue I had with my jaw before tinnitus started. For years, my left jaw would pop when I chewed or took big bites. It was not painful, but it was jarring. Imagine biting into a big sandwich and hearing a loud pop. I could even open my mouth wide and reproduce the sound. I once asked my dentist about it, and he explained that it was related to TMD. Something about a small disc in the jaw sliding in and out of place. Since it was not painful, he said there was not much to do about it, so I just lived with it.
Here is what is weird. Not long after my tinnitus started, I realized that the jaw popping was completely gone. It was as if the disc had suddenly slid into the correct position. Unfortunately, I was not paying close enough attention at the time to know if these two things were directly related.
But the fact that my jaw popping was on the left side and is now gone, while my tinnitus is now in the left ear, makes me wonder if something got messed up in there. Maybe it is affecting some sensitive structures near my ear and causing the distortion I am experiencing.
I have not exactly given up on finding a solution. While my tinnitus has not really lessened, I have learned to live with it.
In the early weeks and months, I definitely experienced some existential dread. I could not imagine living with this forever, and most of the online advice was either:
- "OMG, my tinnitus disappeared with this one trick!" or
- "Yeah, you will just have to live with it."
- "Oh, I think it is gone when I do this…"
- "I am not hearing it now. Do not think about it, and maybe it will go away!"
- "Will I never experience peaceful silence again?"
- "Okay, it is kind of quiet now. I can live with this."
- "Ugh, it is loud and persistent while I am trying to watch TV. This is annoying."
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I wanted to put my experience on record somewhere, and this seemed like the best place.
Thanks to everyone who has shared their stories. I have read a lot of them.
