TMJ and Tinnitus – How Does TMJ Cause Tinnitus?

TMJ and tinnitus are associated with each other because tinnitus is one of the symptoms of TMJ syndrome. TMJ stands for tempero-mandibular joint, which is more commonly known as jaw joint. It is a complex joint lying just in front of the ears. It connects the jaw bone to the base of the skull, and it contains a fibrous disc that separates it into two compartments. This allows other movements such as side to side and forward and backward gliding movements.

Something can definitely go wrong with TMJ, and tinnitus is just one of its effects. A TMJ disorder or dysfunction can be caused by a bad bite where your upper and lower teeth do not close together in a proper way. The jaw joint can be pushed backwards into the ear, which causes pain as a result of the compression of of the very sensitive tissue at the back of the human jaw joint. Your body would usually try to correct the misalignment by pulling the jaw forward. This takes muscle power, and muscles are not made to hold bones in one place for a long period of time. It leads to muscle spasm and affects every other muscle in the area including the muscles inside the inner ear. Consequently, a person can experience ringing in the ears.

Other symptoms of TMJ syndrome include pain in the facial muscles, headache, dizziness, a feeling pain each time you talk, chew, or yawn, swelling of your face and mouth on the affected side, and a trouble in swallowing as a result of the muscle spasms.

If you want to know if your tinnitus is associated to your TMJ, you may clench your teeth, push in hard on the jaw with your palm, and push in on the forehead with your hand hard, and resist with the head. Observe if there are changes in the ringing in your ears. If there are, then the two are correlated.

As TMJ and tinnitus are correlated, the level of tinnitus is reduced as the TMJ function improves with treatment. Treatments are usually undertaken under the supervision of either a physician or a dentist. The treatments include fitting a bite-appliance to change the way the jaw works, which consequently changes the stresses and loads on it. Non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory medicines are also prescribed. These medicines, however, can aggravate tinnitus.