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Posted by kassbomb@my-deja.com
In Reply to: What is the link between tinnitus and TMJ? posted by solrac
I am the living proof of the "TMJ"/ tinnitus connection. I use quotes
for "TMJ" because just like tinnitus "TMJ" is really a symptom of
several
different syndromes. For some it is arthritic in origin and is a
condition of the actual joint. For others "TMJ" is actually myofascial
dysfunction--meaning the muscles of mastication have gotten strained or
are working in an unbalanced fashion. Think of another joint as an
illustration--if your leg muscles were so tense that they were pulling
your knee joint out of aligment you would start to have knee problems
BUT the origin of the problem is not a faulty joint structure.IF you
have tinnitus, and IF you
are one of the minority who have it WITHOUT any hearing loss, and IF you
also have "TMJ" ---meaning clicking,limited opening or facial pain(best
to get a real diagnosis) you should consider that it could be related.
My certainly is. Or was--my tinnitus has almost completely resolved with
use of a splint (night guard against clenching and bruxism). I had
tinnitus for 3 years --one ear was like the screech of a slipping
alternator belt, the other ear was a high pitched hum. It was always
worst in the early AM, after sleeping at least 4 hours.I also had
stabbing pains in my ear, constant clicking or popping of my ear, and
temporalis muscles that were so in spasm that they had actual
topography. I am expecting
to be told that that it is a coincidence that the tinnitus resolved with
use a an NTI splint. One problem though--I can get the tinn to redarken
my door any time I want. All I have to do is not wear my NTI splint for
a few night OR to eat a lot of hard or tough food. It comes right back
though not as loud as the old days( I 'm sure it would get as loud if I
persisted overworking the musculature).BTW-- I had many other splints
which were worse than useless--they were flat so all they did was give
me something hard to clench on in my sleep. So I volunteer my head (ha
ha)
to be dissected by any MD/dentist who wants to figure out exactly which
muscles/ligaments relate the masticatory system to the workings of the
ear (probably specifically the ear drum/eustachian tube or even the
hammer/anvil bit)--if they can
some how keep my dissected head (ha) alive they can experiment by
selectively tensing any muscle/ligament and determine exactly which of
them put tension on or distort the delicate mechanism of
the ear.