Somatic Tinnitus

[Mr. Cartman]

@Sjtof @chronicburn @applewine

Also, please have a look at this:
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( Source: http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/question/621728/157520 )

Qestion:

I was injured on the job and after an MRI of the cervical area it was discovered that I had a herniated C5-C6 disc. I developed tinnitus after a few weeks and had severe head aches, neck pain, numbness in my left hand, throbbing pains in my upper arm, and pain in my upper back and shoulder. I underwent surgery after 6 1/2 months of conservative treatment and most of the pain went away. However, the tinnitus is worse, the pain in my upper back has worsened to include the right side and the tingling is back in my left arm. I think I may have a herniated disc in my upper back that was never treated due to the focus being on the herniated cervical disk. I am not able to walk for extended periods due to pain shooting down my hips and legs. I cannot lay flat on my back comfortably either.
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Its at the C5/C6 disk I think im experiencing pain as well..

I also read that injury to this area (I think I pasted it in the TMJ thread) could cause a kind of an "unusual" high pitched T.

A coincidence that all 4 of us had this before the onset of T? Also that Im sometimes able to eliminate my T by elevating my shoulders.. I would think not..

 

[Sjtof]

@Mr. Cartman

Good to hear that the belt does something for you. 4 bucks, geen that's cheap. I'm going to a pharmacy tomorrow which sells them for 40 euros... But they got different kinds.

Anyways I'm doing well, let's say alright. I notice that I don't pay as much attention too it as usual. Poker keeps the focus away haha. Anyways the T is still just fluctuating so much during the day. Still waiting for mri results which I get on Wednesday. Just gotta wait for that and in the meantime I'm sometimes doing some stretches at taking some vitamins and ginkgo, which is recently bought. Oh ye and I'm still wearing the mouth guard.

While typing this I was leaning on my shoulder on the bed. And that triggered the spot where I got these painfull headaches before. So ye I don't want to like yell too soon that it must have something to do with the neck and shoulder for sure. But sounds reasonable. Gonna fire a lot of questions at my ENT next Wednesday. Will see if he passes for my exam..


I doubt it

 

[Mr. Cartman]

@Mr. Cartman

Good to hear that the belt does something for you. 4 bucks, geen that's cheap. I'm going to a pharmacy tomorrow which sells them for 40 euros... But they got different kinds.

Anyways I'm doing well, let's say alright. I notice that I don't pay as much attention too it as usual. Poker keeps the focus away haha. Anyways the T is still just fluctuating so much during the day. Still waiting for mri results which I get on Wednesday. Just gotta wait for that and in the meantime I'm sometimes doing some stretches at taking some vitamins and ginkgo, which is recently bought. Oh ye and I'm still wearing the mouth guard.

While typing this I was leaning on my shoulder on the bed. And that triggered the spot where I got these painfull headaches before. So ye I don't want to like yell too soon that it must have something to do with the neck and shoulder for sure. But sounds reasonable. Gonna fire a lot of questions at my ENT next Wednesday. Will see if he passes for my exam..


I doubt it

Good to hear that you are doing alright!

I hope the belt will work for you! I dont want to yell to soon as well, but it has to be at least something going on around the neck area. Also, while typing this I was lying on my shoulder and it triggered those headaches as well.. I try to avoid lying on my shoulder as its very painful in my head somehow ^^

I dont have much luck with ENTs. It seems like the ENTs I have seen will tell you that you are fine and just deal with it, unless they see 10 elephants walking around in your external ear chewing away on your tympanic membrane..

Please keep me updated though

 

[bwspot]

Just came accross this video - "Remodeling Sensory and Motor Circuits in the Brain: New Insights from Hearing Loss and Tinnitus"

http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=141026

EDIT: This is actually a REALLY GOOD video!

That was very good video.
It kind of tells me that silence can actually be very bad to tinnitus.

 

[Worker]

I am interested in anyone who has somatic tinnitus. I need t understand more about this. My tinnitus changes by body movements, neck movements and teeth and jaw movements.

 

[sandra72]

I am interested in anyone who has somatic tinnitus. I need t understand more about this. My tinnitus changes by body movements, neck movements and teeth and jaw movements.

Same here

 

[Steve]

Bumping the thread as was thinking about it this morning.

Has anybody had any real success with treating somatic tinnitus?

Have any treatments or exercises worked to help it even a little?

I'm going to try and get a massage that has a real focus on the neck area and see if I can make a difference to mine, I know from getting sports massages that I have issues with my neck, it's very tender and the muscles are knotted.

I'm conscious that I get worse after a period of tension / stress or bad posture from being on the laptop too much so I want to address that properly and see what I can do to the tinnitus.

Any experiences will be very helpful in this, it will be nice to pull them all together (along with bits of research) and make a guide to easing somatic tinnitus / preventing associated spikes.

 

[Mark662]

@Steve I have somatic tinnitus. It is a mystery. I have had stiffness in the left side of my face/head for years - the same side I have T.
Many years ago, I went to see the leading expert at that time in the UK on tinnitus, TRT advocate, Jonathan Hazell. One question I posed him was why my tinnitus worsened with jaw opening, temple pushing etc. His reply was because "I was listening for it". Thankfully he is now retired on a comfortable NHS pension.
I can only put it down to muscular tension, anxiety etc.

 

[Steve]

@Steve I have somatic tinnitus. It is a mystery. I have had stiffness in the left side of my face/head for years - the same side I have T.
Many years ago, I went to see the leading expert at that time in the UK on tinnitus, TRT advocate, Jonathan Hazell. One question I posed him was why my tinnitus worsened with jaw opening, temple pushing etc. His reply was because "I was listening for it". Thankfully he is now retired on a comfortable NHS pension.
I can only put it down to muscular tension, anxiety etc.

Have you done anything to address it at all?

I've been aware of the somatic element for a number of years, even convinced that my left ear tinnitus is virtually all somatic related. I have done nothing about it though and I have no idea why, this morning I thought "it seems pretty stupid to be ignoring it" so I'm going to research it as much as I can and try and do something about it.

I can get a lot worse at the gym, I know that my traps are relatively weak as I always kept away from working them because it could result in a headache. I went to a new sports massage therapist recently and they seem pretty good so I'm going to ask about treating those muscles rather than the usual focus on my back (my muscles can get fairly knotted up) and see how it goes.

 

[Mark662]

@Steve I have tried massage by hand, osteopathy, cranial sacral manipulation, Indian head massage and acupuncture. I have also taken cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant, all to no avail. The tmj could be another angle, as sometimes my jaw clicks in my ear, but no increased pain. I did ask the dentist about it but he could not confirm anything was untoward.

I have had T for over 25 years and nothing, apart from a short spell on self prescribed Xanax helped. Stress and anxiety about the condition just makes it persist to my mind and, I believe, for many others too, somatic or otherwise. Kevin Hogan's book Tinnitus - Turning the Volume Down - is the only non scientific literature I have read that appears to explain to some degree the emotional and anxiety elements to this condition.

 

[Christian78]

Hi,
I was diagnosed with tinnitus approximately 2 months ago, of which the explanation was due to loud noise exposure. However, being of 18 years of age, I neither listened to my ipod at an inordinately high volume compared to some people, and only attended loud concerts maybe once or twice per year.
That being said, I've realised that my tinnitus changes volume (gets louder) when i turn my head left or right 90 degrees. Also, when i press against my lower jaw, it gets a little softer, while if i clench my jaw it is higher in pitch.
I'm wondering if you guys get any distinguishable differences in volume and tone when you move your head or jaw?
I just had an idea that maybe my gym sessions or braces may have an influence on my tinnitus?

there is something called atlas correction the first spinal a1 holder of head. when it is misplaced it causes this. 2 ladies in croatian and one in serbia fixed their tinnitus with going to specialist for Atlas correction. you can see http://www.atlasrelax.info/rs-bg/

 

[Asian]

I discovered that when doing one of the neck exercises (moving head backwards and chin parallel to shoulders) my tinnitus pitch changed and it slightly became louder. Does it mean I have somatic T?

Also I agree with the above post . C1 C2 instability in cervical area is the main hidden culprit for many problems including tinnitus. NUCCA chiropractor can be of great help in such a case

 

[mikeshinod]

I had somatic tinnitus for the last 4-5 years and it became worse for the past year. Visit to TMJ dentist and after $1500 spending for dental appliance, my tinnitus and ear problem got worse. I saw osteopath, acupuncturist, and took ginco with no improvement at all. Finally my chiropractor ordered neck x-ray and found my C-2 has rotated to right by 10 degree. He did some treatment and I felt much better.

 

[Kara77]

@Asian @mikeshinod

My T is also a little bit somatic too if I open my jaw wide. My T is all from inflammation. I believe it happened after my wisdom teeth removal. I go to a NUCCA chiro and a massage therapist who works specially with TMJD. After my sessions, my T is virtually gone! But it starts to creep back if I don't keep up with my therapy. It sucks because having allergies creates fluid and my ears echo. If I can keep the congestion and imflammation down, I feel like a normal person again!

 

[click]

I had somatic tinnitus for the last 4-5 years and it became worse for the past year. Visit to TMJ dentist and after $1500 spending for dental appliance, my tinnitus and ear problem got worse. I saw osteopath, acupuncturist, and took ginco with no improvement at all. Finally my chiropractor ordered neck x-ray and found my C-2 has rotated to right by 10 degree. He did some treatment and I felt much better.

@mikeshinod

You felt better ... which is great. Could you give us some detail as to how it affected your tinnitus please? Was the volume lower - did it go away after the chiro treatment? Any detail would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[John G]

I discovered that when doing one of the neck exercises (moving head backwards and chin parallel to shoulders) my tinnitus pitch changed and it slightly became louder. Does it mean I have somatic T?

Also I agree with the above post . C1 C2 instability in cervical area is the main hidden culprit for many problems including tinnitus. NUCCA chiropractor can be of great help in such a case

I was considering going to NUCCA. I have read some people have had success in relieving their T symptoms and some have not. I couldn't justify or afford spending any more money on treatments that may not work.

I like this chiropactor. If I lived near him..I wouldn't mind spending the cash to get an appointment with him.

 

[anthonyd]

http://www.tinnitusresearch.org/en/meetings/files2006/Bjorne-Treatment_of_Somatic_Tinnitus.pdf


Sums mine up nicely, jaw movement, head movement, pressing temple bone changes the tinnitus a lot.

I do have TMJ, arthritis and inflammation though.

I just now discovered that placing my thumbs on each rear upper molar and pressing hard ACTUALLY REDUCED MY TINNITUS LEVEL!!!!! The opposite is true, if I apply pressure with fingers on lower rear molars level increases, just as moving my jaw forward to simulate an underbite. I was so excited! Until now I was only able to make level worse not better albeit for a few seconds. This should point toward a cause...but what?

 

[Jack Thompson]

I heard from a very skilled doctor and chiropractor in LA that TMJ is directly linked to a c-1 issue in the neck, so you can't fix the TMJ unless you fix the c-1 first, skip to 42.14 on the video and you'll hear him say it .

 

[Zach]

I am curious if anyone knows if it means anything if I can make my ringing very loud if I stretch my neck to either side. Like VERY loud. Is this something that can be fixed by a chiropractor?

 

[Florida John]

Ok just read this.

So if its musculatr tension ,are we saying ,no muscular tension no Tinnitus?

Seems to easy or is it very hard to achieve. I would say I my head ,neck ,shoulders full of tension and my TMJ is arthritic and inflamed.I have had my teeth sorted ,25 crowns,2 bridges ,5 that side is sorted.

But my teeth issue I believe has really upset my TMJ.For years through bad dentistry I had no teeth bottom left or top right ,Ialso have bad grinding at night so bad that a £500 nightguard bite plate I had specially made by a neuromuscular dentst,well I bit through it,which is crazy as you would need to have been the worlds strongest man to bend the thing ,the amount of pressure a jaw can give out is amazing.I wake in the morning in ears and area round it allways hurt.

In the new year I am seeing an osteopath who has an interest in TMJ and who is also a cranial osteo.I know the guy from previous and im going to give it a good go,by good go I mean at least 12 sessions.


In the past I have gone places had a couple of sessions and given up ,cost being an issue obviously.Plus in my mind I realised I needed to sort my teeth out if any of this was going to work
This time im going to take it to the point where I will really,really know if this will help.If thats twice a week for 6 months then so be it.
Good luck all,Pete

ever try muscle relaxers or found anything that helped the teeth clenching? solving the teeth clenching could go along way,,,I too clench, and have lots of neck muscle pain,,,,,i think there is a big link to these things

 

[carlover]

Hello Florida ,,,the Teeth Clenching is the key your right but beating it not so easy

 

[GH123]

Just hit my 4th month of tinnitus! And still no diagnosis so I'm still left confused.

Wisdom teeth are coming in soon as said by my doctor a while ago but I've had mid and high pitch ringing with some hissing in my ears for 4 months now but I just realised something today, when I push on my jaw my tinnitus changes pitch and gets louder. Any thoughts? When i asked the ent he said no the only thing he did to me was look in my ears and say high freq hearing loss because my normal hearing test was fine.

One quick edit: my t started randomly in Spanish class out of nowhere, my right ear starting ringing loudly and felt pressurized but the ringing stayed and ive had it since then

 

[RonnieCarzatto]

I read a statistic, that 80% of tinnitus sufferers can modulate their T with jaw movements. Apparently this is very common.

 

[linearb]

I read a statistic, that 80% of tinnitus sufferers can modulate their T with jaw movements. Apparently this is very common.

yeah. after signal loss in the auditory nerve, the dorsal cochlear nucleaus makes up for it with signal gain, which it does by cross wiring touch sensing nerves into audio. there's a growing body of work on this.

 

[Leon Griffin]

I've noticed when I bite hard, or extend my jaw forward, my T becomes more pronounced/louder. Some stretching of my neck changes it a little also. I had an injury to my neck about a month ago, and my T started approx. 2 weeks after (along with an outer ear infection). Any thoughts are very welcome, as I'm somewhat mystified. Someone said it might be Somatic in nature

 

[linearb]

I've noticed when I bite hard, or extend my jaw forward, my T becomes more pronounced/louder. Some stretching of my neck changes it a little also. I had an injury to my neck about a month ago, and my T started approx. 2 weeks after (along with an outer ear infection). Any thoughts are very welcome, as I'm somewhat mystified. Someone said it might be Somatic in nature

I'm always suspicious of purely mechanical/muscular causes of tinnitus. I'm not a doctor, but it seems to me that neck and head trauma might cause little blood vessel injuries, etc, which deprive the inner ear of oxygen and cause some tiny amount of hearing damage.

In any case, changes in tinnitus pitch or volume with muscle movements is a normal part of tinnitus, and researchers believe this is because tinnitus results from an auditory signal input loss to a part of the brain (dorsal cochlear nucleus) which then rewires itself to compensate for the loss, by over-expressing touch-sensing nerves. So you start to "hear" your muscles.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

http://www.laser.nu/tlc/Somatosensory-tinnitus-diagnosis-vademecum2.pdf

I'm wondering if this article is bogus.

Many professional articles say even if you improve your TMJ and all the other issues from your jaw to your ears, you will still have somatic tinnitus. There are some articles that say that some with somatic tinnitus also have problems with their neck. Some say that if one can fix their neck problems thru therapy as well as their jaw problems then their somatic T can improve? This make me wonder about trigger point injection treatment. There are also many who developed tinnitus from noise. Some of them can also alter their tinnitus by moving their jaw, head and/or neck.

I really don't know where I'm going with this post.

 

[brummygirl]

@Steve I was wondering how you are getting on with your massages? Are they helping?

 

[Joel31]

I just found out something very weird while I was moving my head around (stretching neck). Every time I move my head backward, I hear an even louder high pitched ringing. It goes away when I place my neck back in the normal position. I did it a few times, and only just realised.

What on earth is going on here? My neck is and has been very sore for a long time now. Could this be the cause of my T?

Something to do with my insanely sore neck? I mean, this is a very noticeable high pitched ring, that appears, and lessons in coordination when moving my head back, then forward.

Anyone know what's going on here?

 

[Dana]

What on earth is going on here? My neck is and has been very sore for a long time now. Could this be the cause of my T?

Yessssss.

Something to do with my insanely sore neck?

Yesssss.

Anyone know what's going on here

you have somatic tinnitus and you are in the correct thread. Try to relax your neck muscles. To get rid of some of my somatic tinnitus component of my tinnitus years ago I had Botox injections in my masseter muscles, because every time i was biting i had another very loud tone in my years. The procedure gave results and now i do not have tinnitus when i clench my jaws. I am not suggesting you to have Botox injections in your tense neck muscles, I am just giving you an example of how relaxing a muscle can rid you of the tone that the contraction in that muscle causes.
Try to relax your neck muscles with any method you can think of: massage, chiropractor, osteopathy, alternate hot and cold towels on your neck, relieve stress that is causing the sore neck, do not stay in uncomfortable positions, etc.