Tinnitus With Temporal Headache: Why Does It Happen?

Need the answers to the various questions connected with your temporal headache and tinnitus? Read on to discover them now!

Tinnitus has various forms and come with even more manifestations. There is subjective tinnitus as well as objective tinnitus. Patients with Somatic Tinnitus caused due to head or neck injury or resulting from TMJ report ’screeching’ noise coning from somewhere else while persons suffering from pulsatile tinnitus can hear their own heartbeat. But, when tinnitus is accompanied by headache originating from temporal bone structure within the head that contains the hearing organ, the theme appears to be rather solemn and so needs detailed study and investigation.

Here are some of the factors that are known to cause the condition that are often referred to as temporal headache.

Temporal Headache Tinnitus and the factors involved in it

(A) Stress is no doubt responsible for creating tinnitus as well as headache, especially which is born from temporal bone structure at the skull of homo sapiens that frequently fall victim to this common human trait which is emotionally disruptive and occurs as a result of adverse external stimuli or influences. It not only affects people at the helm of affairs but also the young and aspiring CEO who aims at the chairman’s chair. The recently banished CEO of the bankrupting General Motors of USA is a burning example of stress and its fearful after effects. (B) Continued sleeplessness can give rise to tinnitus and temporal headache too. Top level company executives who are always traveling to keep their multi-national empires running at top speed all the while are those who normally fall pray to this distressing disease condition. Though jet lag seemingly explains away their disturbing sleep pattern, it is eventually the stress that takes the hot seat. Round-the-clock call center operatives who have to tally with the international dateline and time zone and are used to keep sleeping at bay also fall victim to temporal headache tinnitus. (C) Subarachnoid hemorrhage which involves subarachnoid space bleeding inside the brain and is considered life threatening starts with tinnitus plus temporal headache. This may occur spontaneously or can be caused from cerebral aneurysm that becomes ruptured or serious head injury. In either case, the fatality is almost hundred percent. Thank God, this is quite rare, the reported cases being 1 out of 15,000 in the United States as of now. (D) Lumber puncture that involves collection of cerebrospinal fluid from the sac of the lumber also gives rise to tinnitus with temporal headache. However, it occurs after the lapse of several hours (12 hours to be precise) since the process has been completed.

Studies have further shown that a great majority of Americans also suffer from tinnitus with chronic shoulder & neck pain, apart from the usual temporal headache and accompanying discomfort. However, the true picture of tinnitus with temporal headache may reveal many untold stories on the topic. Such as buzzing, ringing and crackling sounds on both ears - actually these are quite common symptoms of tinnitus.

Why Temporal Headache Occurs With Tinnitus

It may sound interesting to students of medicine as well as to the lay public that the popular contention of linking tinnitus and associated problems with stress no longer hold much water now. TMD or Temporomandibular Disorder is also responsible for this troublesome episode more often than not. Studies have further revealed that this headache associated with tinnitus is not the disease but its primary symptom and as soon as TMD is treated, the symptoms will no more reign supreme. However, the TMD is caused by another factor called the TMJ disorder that involves the Temporomandibular Joint of the patient.

In order to clarify the TMD/TMJ issue, the matter may be explained as follows. Although the TMJ or the jaw joint in simple language is located quite near the ear (a matter of few inches) there exist some mechanisms that are also known to bring about ear symptoms. Muscles and tendrils which are directly associated with the ear obtain their nerve impulses from those that are connected to the jaw muscles too. Under the circumstances, a slight wrong interpretation of the signals from one is likely to usher in a change. In simpler language, any deviation in the jaw muscles will create similar deviation in the ear, causing unusual noise in the form of tinnitus. In addition, a fine ligament known as Pinto’s Ligament connects TMJ with middle ear bones which can transfer any stressful event from the TMJ to the mid ear with consequential effects. Termed as ‘Otomandibular Syndrome’ this is currently observed by Harold Arlan, MD, who is the Assistant Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology Surgery at the Medicine College and Dentistry of New Jersey and Rudkers Medical School. Enough of TMD/TMJ episodes for a single session!

Tinnitus with temporal headache can also be caused by ototoxic medications like antibiotics that include erythromycin, aminoglycosides, vancomycin as well as chemotherapy agents, loop diuretics and quinine derivatives. The toxicity inherent in these drugs probably cause irritation within the temporal bone structure in skull, creating ache and related discomfort.

To sum it up, it may be clearly stated that temporal headache is a symptom of tinnitus while tinnitus itself is a symptom of a disease that has many causes. Unless those are systematically searched out and eradicated, the problem can never be solved. And for doing this, the only way left is to go for holistic method of treatment which involves a total change of lifestyle.