Help me! I can't smell/taste and I have pain.

[Sa13]

I have had ringing in the ears for quite some time. I have pain in my left jaw and ear. Both ears seam "full". When I talk I can hear myself like when you have a cold. I have been diagnosed with TMJ and I am now going to a special physical therapist for TMJ. THis is starting help the jaw pain.  Prior to that I had seen a doctor who gave me a mouth piece to wear to help align my jaw and help the TMJ. Another symptom I have is the loss of smell which in turn gives me a loss of taste. Sometimes I can't smell/taste anything and sometimes I can smell/taste a little bit. I don't know if all of these symtoms are related or not. I also have one tooth on top left and one tooth on lower left that ache quite frequently.
I went to an ENT who said he didn't see anyting and couldn't help me! That was a waste of time and money! My dentist has told me there isn't anything wrong with my teeth. I take one diclofenac ER a day. This is an anti-inflamatory. I would really like to get rid of the ringing in ears, the pain in jaw, the teeth aching and the loss of smell/taste. Any thoughts?

[Mrosew]

I've never had any head trauma etc nothing to cause loss of smell... The only answer I can come up with is its caused by the tmj disorder  

[Mrosew]

I have tmj as well an have a loss of smell too !! It's ruining my life :/ I know how you feel :(

[Lauren de Moreno, MD]

You might require a hearing test as nerve-related hearing loss can present with a sensation of fullness in the ears in the absence of any fluid build-up.  The ringing in the ears may be a sign for this as well.  There are several reasons why you might have a loss of taste/smell.  The most common reason is nasal obstruction which can be determined with an examination.  An ENT can make a full nasal exam with a scope inside of the nose.  However, viral illnesses and head trauma have also been known to cause this problem, and, sometimes, we never can figure out what the exact cause even is.  For the jaw and tooth pain, I would defer back to the dentist.

[airpup]

The TMJ could be the cause of pain in jaw and teeth aching, even possibly the ringing in the ears. TMJ is a disorder that affects the muscles surrounding the jaw and if untreated can cause headaches, muscle pains, ect. I've had both neck and ear pain as a result of clenching my teeth or chewing to frequently and I too have TMJ. Continue your therapy by using the mouth guard as directed and try to keep spacing between your teeth to relax your jaw muscles. In addition, don't chew gum, since this requires chewing, when unnecessary. Let me know how it goes and best of luck moving forward.