Sudden Unilateral Tinnitus Onset with No Hearing Loss

[loudandhigh]

Hi all! Thanks for reading in advance!

I wanted to introduce myself and seek some advice. I have had tinnitus in my left ear for a while now and it seemed to have come on with no hearing loss. I can only hear it in one ear for the most part (sometimes it can show up in the other ear but this is rare).

After a couple of ENT trips, it was determined that I don't have any noticeable hearing loss and they cleaned my ear wax out but the tinnitus is still there.

I was wondering if anyone had similar issues and could share their story?

Also, does unilateral tinnitus have any success stores?

 

[Joe Cuber]

Hey @loudandhigh, I primarily have unilateral tinnitus. I wanted to ask you whether you can change the volume or pitch of your tinnitus by moving your neck or jaw around. I ask because sometimes unilateral tinnitus is associated to something physical, like jaw or neck issues.

 

[loudandhigh]

Yeah I can, when I clench my jaw, it makes a really loud sound at the pitch of the ringing, but I'm not sure if it's the same feeling. Can tinnitus go away if the physical issue is fixed?

Although, I will also mention that I have been feeling congested as well.

 

[Joe Cuber]

Hi @loudandhigh - When you can change the pitch when you clench your jaw or move your neck, they call it somatic tinnitus. Sometimes somatic tinnitus is caused by something physical and solving for the physical condition could improve your tinnitus. So in your case, the physical condition could be your congestion or maybe your jaw muscles or jaw bone.

If you suspect your jaw, you could see a dentist that specializes in TMJ (that is, a dentist that actually specializes in TMJ rather one that's just familiar with TMJ). There are also doctors that specialize in TMJ. I went to a dentist when my tinnitus first onset, and she found that my right-side jaw muscles were like twice the size of my left side ones (my right side is where my tinnitus is). She taught me how to massage my muscles to reduce their size. It did alleviate some of my tinnitus symptoms as a result. She also could tell that I clench my teeth when I sleep, so she fitted me with a mouth guard.

It's just something to look into. My audiologist who specializes in tinnitus told me that often tinnitus is multifactorial, so solving for one factor doesn't always solve the whole problem. She told me that to set my expectations as I tried to improve things for myself. It can be slow-going looking for possible solutions to improve things, so don't be too disappointed if one thing or another doesn't work out. It does keep you busy at least looking for things.

By the way, another thing I looked closely into is how I slept, like my sleeping position and my pillow. I noticed that on my bad tinnitus days, I tend to also have a stiff neck. So I started to pay attention to how I lie in bed and whether my pillow is at the right height for neutral neck position and whether my pillow was too firm or too soft.

 

[loudandhigh]

Thanks for the advice! I'm getting an MRI after a wait under the ENT's orders and I'm a little scared for that, but in the meantime I will try to follow what you wrote!

By the sound of tinnitus, it is a ringing, like a constant EEEEEE noise, right?

 

[Joe Cuber]

Happy to help @loudandhigh. People's tinnitus can sound quite different person to person. Some people say theirs sound like s constant EEEEE like you're describing. Others have a sound like a hiss. Some have a rumble like an engine. Some have ticking, a heartbeat, or a whooshing.

Mine changes every day. Some days it's like a hiss, some days an electric drill, some days like a squeally pig, some days like a tuning radio, and some days it's completely silent.