Headphones trigger

I think that wearing ear buds may possibly be a trigger, or it at least worsens my dizziness. Anyone else noticed this? Has anyone tried wearing on-ear headphones instead?

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Sort of related: one of the things that a colleague of mine thinks triggered his tinnitus is wearing a monophonic headset on one side. I have only got symptoms in the ear for the side I used the headset most. It was an in-ear model.

Apparently in-ear headphones can create a pressure vacuum which can contribute to dizziness and headaches, or they can press on the ear canal. But on-ear headphones can cause headaches if they don’t fit properly or put pressure on your temples or ears. I haven’t tried on-ear ones though.

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I also suspect if they are too loud you might trigger the tympani tensor muscle and if this is triggered too often may end up with a more permanent change in the trigger threshold. As per Wikipedia that syndrome can cause dizziness, neurogenic inflammation …

I haven’t worn earphones since I got this horrible condition. Another avoidance behaviour but I care for the health of my ears a lot now - more than ever. Sounds strange but everything above including a pressure vacuum and loud noise cannot be good for a less than adequate inner ear.

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Before VM i never had music loud. I followed the rule that you should still be able to hear a person next to you speaking at a normal level. But i hope to be able to watch tv shows streaming on my tablet, or youtube videos while wearing headphones.

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I have never been able to wear something on or in my ears.

I’m actually thinking this is a possibility for me. I sometimes have longish gaming sessions that usually involve wearing over ear headphones. I can’t be sure but I think this may correspond with my jaw becoming slightly “stuck” and sometime after it will crack free.

It’s a physical symptom I’ve had since the very beginning.

When my jaw becomes “unstuck” (it’s not actually stuck but it’s as if something is stuck like light glue inside and becomes unstuck causing cracking and sometimes a fluid sensation) I notice a drop in tinnitus but it’s not exactly definite.

Apart from my tinnitus it’s almost the only symptom I have left.

No doctor has ever explained this.

Why would my jaw become “stuck”?

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Maybe you clench your jaw while you play the game? I am not a gamer myself, but I know that if I am on the computer for a long time, my muscles become tense. So maybe the muscles in your jaw become tense?

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Possibly I’m flinching but I’m pretty sure I’m not clenching. But what is it: arthritis? Gout?! It’s not at all painful but might be the source of my tinnitus and the original balance problems. I don’t have any problems with my joints anywhere else. Or is it middle ear?

I have this issue with cracking jaw on one side and the dentist told me it’s likely TMJ, it’s to do with the hinging motion of the lower jaw and generally comes from grinding or clenching. Lots of info about it online :slight_smile:

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Well does that mean TMJ can cause “MAV”?! Because whatever I have, it all started together.

I have wondered that myself, (I also have a ongoing dental infection that’s pretty close to my sinus and have wondered if after my next lot of dental treatment that might help too) as we tend to have more issues with TMJ when under any sort of stress and stress seems to be a common denominator in many peoples stories with MAV.
Or it could just be another piece of a puzzle of things that built up to send our brains into some sort of overdrive, as you’ve said before MAV seems to be a collection of symptoms and vary for some people, maybe there’s various different things going on and all coming under the umbrella of VM/MAV/PPPD.

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