Forgive the fairly long first post but I'm hoping I can gain some sanity on what I've been experiencing recently that's causing a huge amount of distress.
Around the end of 2014, I suffered a week long panic attack that I couldn't shake and my GP eventually prescribed propranolol and sertraline. (I had one dose of the latter as I didn't really need them and overcome the troubles myself) However I blacked out from standing onto a hard floor and the following days developed a sporadic "hum" in my right ear. The odd sound, or swallowing would set it going but it would stop as quickly as it started. I overall learned to live with this as it wasn't too obtrusive.
Skip to approx a week ago and this incessant "hum" is more frequent, now being triggered by external noise such as a subwoofer or a door closing. The sound is very low frequency (around 75 Hz) but is enough to feel like my whole head is vibrating and if I allow it to continue I'll have a lightheaded dizziness episode. If I leave it to continue, I can no longer make out other sounds as it is fairly loud. My left ear appears fine, my right seems to be the cause of it. Swallowing, listening to bass, doors, typing on a keyboard, male voices etc will all trigger it and sometimes just touching my ear. It feels like it spasms inside and can sometimes trigger this noise. I get the odd shooting pain in both ears but my right is most affected. Feeling like it is full and my head feels like it has increased pressure. I've developed some kind of scratchy click on the right side jaw joint. Overall, I'm experiencing as if my jaw is too big for my head and like something is wanting to push the joints apart.
Thankfully I can get this "hum" to stop; opening my jaw, moving my jaw to the side, making another external noise, talking etc. but it just starts up as easily.
Both ears pop when I swallow but they have done this for as long as I can remember.
Travelling in a car will cause amounts of dizziness where I almost feel nauseous (when its at this point, my ear doesn't actually buzz as easily)
My GP is fairly dismissive of it all, advising I take Sudafed congestion tablets. I've been doing this and zero change.
Has anyone experienced similar? I may not have made much sense as I feel quite out of it.
Yay Faite, I am no dr, but as your symptoms have been continuing for nearly four years I think that they warrant further investigation by an ent consultant. If you were just presenting with T alone maybe not but with everything else combined I too would be concerned. Unfortunately gp's don't know everything and a proper investigation could rule in or out any possible underlying problems. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Yes yours is very similar to mine, mines in my left ear and started from a really awful head cold I had when I was heavily pregnant, I did a post on here few weeks Back about my T, go read it as it’s a bit lengthy, it’s title is low frequency hum
I had osteopath treatment last week and has helped a little to calm it down, I too suffer from anxiety and panic attacks and clench my jaw, which my right side does pop a little and I get aches in both sides.
I have to have sound in my left ear most of the time, to switch my vibrating hum off, but sometimes if a plane goes over or a car door slam, it will make it start off, (but only when I’m in doors, the same sounds, if I’m outside don’t effect it) shaking my head makes the hum shake as well.
It flares up and then calms down, I’ve kust had a 14 week constant flare up, that was the worse it’s ever been!!! The osteopath treatment I had last week has calmed it down thank god!
I do feel that stress is a main factor in mine, along with what ever is going on in my ear
I've pisted my story before on here but posting again because of the similarities to your symptoms. Sorry the post is so long but if there's anything here that might help you then it's worth it.
My tinnitus kicked in around May 2018. Not sure what the trigger was but seemed to develop after I got my ear stringed. It was also during a particularly prolonged stressful period in my life. I'd also had visual disturbance for 3 months prior to my T diagnosis but had not linked the two. I had several appointments with an eye consultant who said my eyes are fine. Symptoms seemed to come and go but I just put up with it until I developed T. My T was intolerable. Low frequency sounds from external noise were amplified 100 fold and resonated loudly in my right ear. This is called hyperacusis. I often felt pressure in my head and a feeling like having a really bad head cold, like a 'brain fog' and being bunged up but it wasn't a cold. I had tension in my jaw and every time I swallowed my ears would pop and when I walked briskly or ran, my right ear would click constantly. I eventually saw an ENT consultant who felt both my visual problems and my T were related and were actually due to 'chronic migraine' which he said can cause a range of symptoms such as headaches, visual disturbance, noise intolerance, hearing disturbance, brain fog - like grogginess and feeling lightheaded and detached. My anxiety with trying to cope with these symptoms had caused me to start clenching my jaw and the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) muscles which sit close to the finer muscles that control movement in the inner ear began to affect my hearing and was the cause of my hyperacusis. I had these symptoms to varying degrees all of the time for around 6 months. I never had any previous history of migraine. Some of my symptoms therefore were side effects from my anxiety with having T but turns out my T and the majority of my other symptoms were side effects of having constant electrical activity going on in the brain due to constant migraine. I also had physical symptoms such as stiffness and clicking in my neck which the consultant thought could be the root cause of my migraines. I went to see a physiotherapist who did some soft tissue massage and joint manipulation on my neck and back and jaw. I've also cut out some known migraine triggers from my diet such as caffeine, artificial sweeteners and alcohol and chocolate. The results were incredible and I've had almost instant relief from all of my symptoms including T. I've been 99% free of symptoms now for about 3 months. I am confident that if I can keep my migraines under control which I do through regular physio (every 4- 6 weeks) and stress relieving techniques then I will remain symptom free.
Regards. S
in reply to
Hi Steve, having read your description it is pretty much similar to mine. I am constantly feeling detached and its difficult to function. I do have incredibly tight neck muscles and I believe I've started to do what you did and clench my jaw because I'm afraid of the noise happening again (not that doing this makes any difference).
I never thought to connect vision with this. I am short sighted, wear glasses 24/7 and am sensitive to flickering screens.
I'll go the ENT route to cover all bases but think I'll check out physiotherapy too. What are the stress relieving techniques that are working for you?
in reply to
Hi Faite, I think the things that are working best for me are the physiotherapy /chiropractor first and foremost, secondly the dietary changes and keeping hydrated (just water as everything else has artificial sweeteners), and thirdly relaxation techniques- nothing sophisticated just taking 5 minutes out for mindfulness when I feel headache or fogginess coming on, gently massaging temples and jaw, and doing neck stretches. Also limiting the length of time spent phone browsing as prolonged use can trigger headache symptoms. By all means see your ENT consultant but I'd recommend getting started with physio straight away. You need someone to get hands on and manipulate joints as well as deep tissue massage.
Sounds like your jaw has possibly suffered a derangement of the tmj as you fell this can lead to ear popping hissing and ringing in the ears or the head and can increase and decrease on jaw movement eating, swallowing talking yawning and noise too as the tmj (temporal mandibular joint) is close to the ears ect.
It can settle on its own in time as the inflammation goes down.
The people who specialise in this area jaws joints ect are maxillofacial doctors /surgeons an x Ray or mri should show if there is anything wrong or not.
Hello and welcome to the British Tinnitus Association forum. I see you have already had some helpful responses to your post.
Tinnitus is purely the perception of sound when there's no external sound present. If you are experiencing other sensations/symptoms that generally means something else is going on, and I'd suggest you ask for a specialist referral.
In the meantime, we have some resources that you might like to check out in addition regarding tinnitus management other than our home here:
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Does anyone else have like a MID tone/ frequency T sound ( buzzing, or solid sound)
Earplugs making it worse? Singer
Very low mood and weak.
Tinnitus spiking after car journey
tinnitus and altered hearing (kazoo/robotic)
