Stress, Hearing Problems and TMJ

For anyone out there who has TMJ, or temporal mandibular joint disorder, you know how frustrating the symptoms can be. TMJ is related to head and neck aches, teeth grinding, clenching and jaw soreness or stiffness, as well as hearing problems. Until about 3 months ago, having TMJ had not really affected my life.

In August I noticed that I couldn't hear out of my left ear, so after 3 weeks of hearing issues I went to see my doctor. The doctor removed some wax and told me that I had fluid in my eustachian tubes, which was causing my hearing issues. She kindly prescribed me sudafed and sent me on my merry way. What I didn't know was sudafed has side effects such as increased anxiety and insomnia, which were already problems of mine given I was starting a PhD program at the same time this was all happening. Regardless of side effects, I took sudafed for two weeks until I had purchased the legal limit for a one month period. At that point I called my doctor and she prescribed me Nasonex. I took the Nasonex, side-effect free, for two weeks. At the end of two weeks I had not noticed any improvement so I went to a new doctor on campus who, to my dismay, proclaimed me to be completely healthy. As I was still having hearing loss symptoms, he gave me a referral for an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. Again when I went to the ENT, I was proclaimed to be perfectly normal and healthy. However, what I did learn was that my hearing issues are symptoms of TMJ. I had never heard of TMJ causing hearing problems. The ENT explained to me that TMJ can cause a feeling of fullness in your ears, which people perceive to be hearing loss, however, according to the tests I had just taken, my hearing was completely normal. He also informed me that in adult patients complaining of hearing loss, the most common cause of the problem is TMJ. His recommendation was to get a good dentist.

I still have not gone to a dentist about my TMJ issues, but I have consulted with a very good friend of mine who is a dental hygienist. She suggested that I wear a mouth guard to help with the teeth grinding. (I am not wearing a mouth guard because I don't seem to be grinding my teeth anymore.)

Through all of this I have not found anything that makes my hearing improve, other than running. For me running is a huge stress reliever, AND, when I run I relax my jaw muscles, which gives them a chance to stop being so tense and stop causing jaw pain and headaches.

I had never really stopped to consider the effect of all the stress in my life caused by quitting my job, moving to a new state, and starting a PhD program. I guess I had always thought of myself as stressed out but didn't think about the detrimental effect that stress could be having on my life and my health.

Now that I have pinpointed the cause of my head and neck aches, jaw pain, hearing problems to TMJ and I have linked my TMJ "flare-up" to stress I am making a renewed effort to change some aspects of my life to manage my stress.

A few tips I can offer anyone experiencing the same TMJ symptoms:
1. Do jaw stretches/exercises daily if not twice daily. Click here to check out the stretches that I love.
2. Spend at least 5-10 minutes a day doing breathing exercises in which you breath in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. This seems to help your jaw muscles to relax.
3. Do whatever it is that reduces your stress. For me this means running. I have committed to running 2 or 3 times a week to try to keep my stress in check and to help me stay in shape.

4. Finally be sure to remember to be present in the here and now. You probably won't enjoy every minute of your life, but try really hard to enjoy as much as you can. If you focus on here and now you won't be focusing on what you have to do next or later and it will help you to manage stress and be more productive.