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Perhaps this is something you've never thought about, or never been told about. It's a topic that has ranked as one of the #1 Questions I receive in clinic.
The answer is YES! Your Jaw issues can be linked to your Ear and/or Auditory issues.
Here's an overview in a clinical nutshell...
Ear symptoms connected to Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMDs) include dizziness and disorientation, tinnitus, stuffiness/blocked ears (aural fullness or eustachian tube dysfunction).
The ear symptoms can be produced by tight jaw muscles, because two little ear muscles share the same motor root as the jaw muscles. They are indeed connected.
Increased resting tension in the jaw muscles causes increased resting tension in the tensor tympani and stapedius muscles, which tighten the ear drum, which can result in the subjective hearing loss that causes TMJ disorder patients to complain they often miss things people say, even though hearing tests show normal hearing levels.
The answer is YES!
Your Jaw issues can be linked to your Ear and/or Auditory issues.
Increased resting tension in the tensor veli palatini muscles, which normally pull open the eustachian tube during swallowing, can prevent the tube from equalizing pressure between the middle ear and the outside air when you go up or down in a plane or over a mountain, making the ear feel blocked or stuffy.
Most of these same ear symptoms can also be produced by fluid pressure from Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) swelling due to inflammation.
Eustachian tube dysfunction i.e. your ears feel ‘full’ or ‘blocked’ can be caused by an inflamed TMJ or sustained increase in resting tonus of the tensor veli palatini muscle. In other words, overactive, sustained tension in this specific area.
The eustachian tubes pass just behind the TMJs, and TMJ inflammation can cause increased fluid pressure that further push a tube closed. After a eustachian tube has been held partly closed by the pressure from TMJ inflammation for long enough, it can become narrow in the area just behind the inflamed TMJ.
Subsequently any swelling of the narrowed eustachian tube from a cold or an allergy can further narrow its lumen until it becomes blocked.
What this means, is that you feel like no matter what you do, you can’t seem to unblock your ears.
What general advice helps to resolve this?
First, eliminate the possibility of pathologies and/or hearing loss with your Audiologist. If identified, hearing loss and pathologies must be treated as these feed into the sensation of 'blocked ears'
Treating your TMJ disorder with your TMJ specialist (splint/guard/other form of management are typically prescribed)
Reducing systemic inflammation
Reducing stress (stress can exacerbate and/or cause TMDs due to teeth grinding or clenching, and stress is also directly linked to systemic inflammation)
Implementing guided Tinnitus Therapy and/or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to manage tinnitus symptoms and psychological distress
The consistent application of all of the above will likely help to alleviate aural fullness with time, however as always, please note this is general advice and the best course of action is to seek a specialist for an individual consultation tailored to you.
In Wellness,
Marie-Chantal Moll-Vignes | BSc (Psy), MClinAud, MAudA (CCP), CBTCert
Clinical Audiologist & Tinnitus Specialist
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