How long before tinnitus is considered chronic? Mine was tinnitus and hyperacusis and they were closely linked.
It took me a while to piece it together. I went to an ENT that was more of a hindrance than a help. He sort of mentioned TMJ ( I didn’t know what that was ) and said we’d discuss more and then said I had “idiopathic tinnitus” after my hearing test and literally got up and walked away and I chased him down the hall like “What is TMJ, you said we’d discuss.” and he literally just kept walking and closed a door behind him. I was very annoyed and kept asking the front desk lady and she was like super mean when I said I’d wait to hear more and said he’d call. I called several times. She said “You don’t have TMJ” and that was that. ( spoiler: I had TMJ )
Spoke to like 4 ENT offices in all. One told me to just put up with it and “stop being a baby” which was shocking since I was very calmly telling her my life was falling apart and I was wearing massive ear muffs everywhere and still couldn’t really function. One said I didn’t have ear wax so I didn’t have tinnitus…. One said “You don’t have hyperacusis stop dramatizing” I have no words for my fury for them considering the resolution for me was so, so simple. I was in hell and they made it worse and they took an oath to do no harm.
I was in hell so I Googled it and thought, well, this is my only lead so I’ll follow it. Googled “TMJ specialist” Found a dentist [ For those in the Seattle metro: https://goo.gl/maps/CVH66w2VsNv6Dbnh9 ] and she really FINALLY helped. Explained the axis of asthma / bruxism / TMJ / tinnitus / hyperacusis. I had asthma ( I didn’t know ) and high stress, those were causing grinding ( bruxism, I had no idea I was grinding ) which was causing TMJ disorder which was causing tinnitus which was causing hyperacusis. For me the solution was actually super simple and easy. I got Plackers mouth guards off Amazon. Then a Zoloft script from K Health ( I have no insurance ) and then some botox in my TMJ muscles from the derm I had an ongoing relationship with and that really helped speed things along.
We also moved! We moved from an apartment community that had become infested with cars with modified mufflers that would let their cars run in their driveways at literally all hours for HOURS and there was also a ton of low flying hobby cessna and all that bass-y noise was making me lose my mind. I really genuinely thought I was days away from taking a baseball bat to my neighbor’s car. I have a better understanding of mental health crisis now.
View Reddit by queenannechick – View Source