Cymy Sue

Hi Lucy,

I had ear problems nearly my whole life. Earaches as a child, fullness, stuffiness, etc. My hearing was always better than excellent. I developed Hyperacusis after my first surgery that got so bad, I couldn't go to "Entertainment", such as movies, theater, etc. and finally to the point, I couldn't watch TV with other people. I continued to have ear pain and other symtoms. Ent's were a waste of time and money. I started seeing a Neuro-otologist about 10 years ago, on & off, due to the Hyperacusis being so bad.
He told me the first time I saw him, it was the TMJD. He said get it fixed and your ear problems will go away. I didn't want to believe that was the only help. My TMJ problems, I thought, were beyond fixing. A few years ago, the Hyperacusis did start to get better, slowly. I could stand a little noise. (I was healing from the surgeries, finally) The other ear symtoms remained.
Right about the time the Hyperacusis was tolerable, I developed a roaring Tinnitus. 23 years after being diagnosed with TMJD, I developed Tinnitus, nasal problems and some other symtoms I had never had. This was 3 years after my last surgery.

I saw 5 Ent's due to nasal problems and the Tinnitus. I got "Learn to live with the Tinnitus", from each one of them, no connection to the TMJD, but found one who would surgically fix the nasal problem.

I checked in with my old friend the Neuro-otologist about the Tinnitus, which was driving me crazy. He said, get something done for the muscle spasms caused by the TMJD and the Tinnitus will get better, if not completely go away. I left totally hopeless. I didn't think anything else could be done for the TMJD. I had been told by surgeons, they couldn't do anything else.
They had also told me for the last 10 years, a splint wouldn't help the mess I was in.

I did get a splint Dec. 2002. It did help most of the symtoms in just 2 or 3 months. I have no noticeable muscle spasms, now. I have no ear symtoms at all anymore, except a little Tinnitus occasionally and it seems to be continually fading. My old friend was right.

If your ear problems are related to the TM joint, they will only be helped by getting the TM joint problems under control. Most Ent's have very little knowledge of the connection of the joint to the ear and will not be able to help you.

Marlene made a post recently. A brief explanation of why this happens. There is a lot of information available connecting these ear symtoms to the TM Joint. They will not get better until the origin of the problem is treated.

I went to a Massage Therapist for the 4 years, prior to getting my splint, trained to work with TMJD patients, and she helped with a lot of the muscle problems. I didn't see a lot of improvement in the facial spasms until I got the appropriate splint.
She didn't make any symtoms worse.

Cymy Sue