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Pulsatile Tinnitus & TMJ
by bduritsch, Sep 12, 2009 11:03AM
Hi. I am male and 23 years old and over the past few months have developed a bunch
of symptoms. In 2004 I was in two car accidents, and since then have had problems
related to the spine. In addition I sit in front of the computer a lot for my job. Lots of back
and neck pain. Tingling and numbness in areas like the arms and hands. In February I woke
up with a feeling of fullness/pressure in my head and high pitched ringing noise. I quickly went
to the ENT doctor and he said it was probably just an infection of some sort and gave me some
steroids for the ear. Those helped a bit to get rid of the feeling of fullness, but the tinnitus and
muffled hearing feeling persisted.
Within the next two months I developed stranger things that happened, I started having
severe jaw dysfunction accompanied by popping and clicking noises. I have always had
a certain amount of popping noise by my ear, but nothing like this. My jaw was hard to
open and in lots of pain. My face started getting neurological pain associated with it and
numbness. I went to many different types of doctors near my house for these
symptoms, (neurologists, orthopedic surgeon, ENT) but none of them could pin down what
was going on with me. I went to a dentist and he diagnosed me with TMJ syndrome. but
never fitted me with any kind of a brace for it.
Basically after failing to get help from going down the normal medical route, I decided to start
seeing a chiropractor who practiced traditional techniques. At first he was really helping me,
in particular on the third day I went to see him. I started feeling a lot of different neurological
things I had never felt in a long time, normal hearing acuity, better sense of smell, less pressure
around my eyes, even sweating more! I could not believe the drastic affect his manipulations
had on me. However, it was only short lived. After continuing treatment with him I started to
getting worse. After several weeks with him of going 3 times a week I decided to leave.
Here's where things get weird. About a week after stopping with him I noticed stranger things
happen. I was walking around at home and all the sudden I heard a "clunk" noise and felt part
of my upper body twisting. My arms felt like they literally had dropped or something. Next thing
I had happen was my tinnitus changed from a continuous sound that was like crickets or chirps
to a sound that was more rhythmical and beating. Because of this I got scared again and went
back to see a different ENT this time who performed a doppler carotid ultrasound test on me.
The results came back pretty much normal he said, except he found a narrowing in my left external
carotid artery near the face. I asked him "Could this be causing my pulsatile tinnitus?" and he
wasn't sure.
Now I have moved out of the area and reside in Florida. I still have all of my symptoms and don't
know what to do. I have a lot of muscle tightness in my upper body and pain. I'm starting with
a massage therapist in a few days to see what she can do. Right now, the main thing I am worried
about though is the pulsatile sound I still get, which has moved to both ears now, but fluctuates
at times. I'm really worried about it.
My question is this: Could that chiropractor have accidently done something wrong to my neck/head
to cause some kind of artery tearing or twisting that has contributed to my condition? He was twisting
my neck each time that I saw him, and like I said at first it really helped me. What are the chances
that I now have problems with blood flow to the head or neck? I'm only 23 and I don't understand this.
Like I mentioned before I have had TMJ problems for a long time now, could that be causing the tinnitus
or maybe blood flow with eustachian tubes? What further testing should be done? I am considering going
to the MayoClinic in Jacksonville now rather then even mess around with going to all new doctors around
my area.
Tests already performed :
Spinal/TMJ X-rays,
many blood tests,
Brain MRI,
Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar MRI,
Doppler Carotid Ultrasound,
EMG,
ENG.
of symptoms. In 2004 I was in two car accidents, and since then have had problems
related to the spine. In addition I sit in front of the computer a lot for my job. Lots of back
and neck pain. Tingling and numbness in areas like the arms and hands. In February I woke
up with a feeling of fullness/pressure in my head and high pitched ringing noise. I quickly went
to the ENT doctor and he said it was probably just an infection of some sort and gave me some
steroids for the ear. Those helped a bit to get rid of the feeling of fullness, but the tinnitus and
muffled hearing feeling persisted.
Within the next two months I developed stranger things that happened, I started having
severe jaw dysfunction accompanied by popping and clicking noises. I have always had
a certain amount of popping noise by my ear, but nothing like this. My jaw was hard to
open and in lots of pain. My face started getting neurological pain associated with it and
numbness. I went to many different types of doctors near my house for these
symptoms, (neurologists, orthopedic surgeon, ENT) but none of them could pin down what
was going on with me. I went to a dentist and he diagnosed me with TMJ syndrome. but
never fitted me with any kind of a brace for it.
Basically after failing to get help from going down the normal medical route, I decided to start
seeing a chiropractor who practiced traditional techniques. At first he was really helping me,
in particular on the third day I went to see him. I started feeling a lot of different neurological
things I had never felt in a long time, normal hearing acuity, better sense of smell, less pressure
around my eyes, even sweating more! I could not believe the drastic affect his manipulations
had on me. However, it was only short lived. After continuing treatment with him I started to
getting worse. After several weeks with him of going 3 times a week I decided to leave.
Here's where things get weird. About a week after stopping with him I noticed stranger things
happen. I was walking around at home and all the sudden I heard a "clunk" noise and felt part
of my upper body twisting. My arms felt like they literally had dropped or something. Next thing
I had happen was my tinnitus changed from a continuous sound that was like crickets or chirps
to a sound that was more rhythmical and beating. Because of this I got scared again and went
back to see a different ENT this time who performed a doppler carotid ultrasound test on me.
The results came back pretty much normal he said, except he found a narrowing in my left external
carotid artery near the face. I asked him "Could this be causing my pulsatile tinnitus?" and he
wasn't sure.
Now I have moved out of the area and reside in Florida. I still have all of my symptoms and don't
know what to do. I have a lot of muscle tightness in my upper body and pain. I'm starting with
a massage therapist in a few days to see what she can do. Right now, the main thing I am worried
about though is the pulsatile sound I still get, which has moved to both ears now, but fluctuates
at times. I'm really worried about it.
My question is this: Could that chiropractor have accidently done something wrong to my neck/head
to cause some kind of artery tearing or twisting that has contributed to my condition? He was twisting
my neck each time that I saw him, and like I said at first it really helped me. What are the chances
that I now have problems with blood flow to the head or neck? I'm only 23 and I don't understand this.
Like I mentioned before I have had TMJ problems for a long time now, could that be causing the tinnitus
or maybe blood flow with eustachian tubes? What further testing should be done? I am considering going
to the MayoClinic in Jacksonville now rather then even mess around with going to all new doctors around
my area.
Tests already performed :
Spinal/TMJ X-rays,
many blood tests,
Brain MRI,
Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar MRI,
Doppler Carotid Ultrasound,
EMG,
ENG.
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