Can TMJ Cause Tinnitus?
3:39 · Read the full article
Chapters
- 0:00Your jaw and your tinnitus
- 0:22How can your jaw reach your ears?
- 0:59Is your tinnitus jaw-related?
- 1:31What is clenching it all day?
- 1:55One thing worth being clear about
- 2:08What calms a tight jaw?
- 2:47When is it more than the jaw?
- 3:17Two fingers in front of your ear
Transcript
0:00Your jaw and your tinnitus
Can your jaw really change your tinnitus? For a lot of people it can - and you can feel the reason with two fingers, right in front of your ear. That is the jaw joint, the TMJ, and it is one of the most overlooked things on this whole subject. By the end you will know the signs that say yours has a jaw component, what calms a clenched jaw, and what belongs to a doctor instead.
0:22How can your jaw reach your ears?
It is a question of neighbours. The joint itself sits a finger's width in front of your ear canal. Your ear canal is right behind it. The big chewing muscle runs down your cheek to the jaw. And another one fans out across your temple. All of it runs into the same nerve branches, and those branches report to the part of the brainstem that handles sound. So a jaw clenched all day feeds a constant signal into a system that is already listening. That crossover has a name - somatosensory modulation. Body input, changing how loud a sound feels.
0:59Is your tinnitus jaw-related?
Jaw-driven tinnitus leaves fingerprints, so here are four to check. The sound changes when you open wide. That counts. Your jaw clicks or pops when you chew. That counts too. You wake up with a tight jaw or an ache at your temple. Also counts. But a sound that keeps time with your heartbeat is not a jaw sign at all. If moving your jaw changes the sound, even for a second, your jaw is part of the volume. Which is not the same as saying it started there.
1:31What is clenching it all day?
Mostly nothing dramatic. Your teeth are only meant to touch when you chew or swallow - and for a lot of people they are together all day. A hard email, a long drive, a deadline, and the molars quietly go and stay there. Then there is the night shift: grinding, which most people only hear about from a partner or a dentist.
1:55One thing worth being clear about
So before the routine, one thing worth being clear about. Your jaw is not the cause of your tinnitus. It can be part of the volume. Which is the useful half: a volume control is something you can put your hands on.
2:08What calms a tight jaw?
Small and frequent beats big and occasional, and it has an order. First, the resting position: teeth apart, lips together, the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Then heat - ten to fifteen minutes on the cheek and temple before you move anything. Then eat softer for a couple of weeks. No gum, nothing chewy. And through the day, unglue your molars every half hour. And when you yawn, let your mouth open straight down rather than wide and off to one side. None of that is a treatment, and none of it is quick. It is what people do to take the load off a joint that has been working overtime.
2:47When is it more than the jaw?
Some things are not a jaw problem, and they are worth knowing by heart. Hearing that drops suddenly. A whooshing that keeps time with your pulse. A jaw that locks, or severe pain after a blow to the head. Ear pain, pressure or fluid, especially with a fever. Those are questions for a doctor the same day, not a stretch. And if your jaw clicks and aches most days, ask a dentist trained in orofacial pain, or a physical therapist who works on jaws.
3:17Two fingers in front of your ear
So, back to the two fingers in front of your ear. If the sound moves when your jaw moves, you have found something you can actually work on. Not a cause. A control. So, check it now: are your teeth touching, right at this moment?
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