Tinnitus (buzzing in the ear) and Osteopathy

 

Osteopaths often see patients who have health issues that the medical profession can’t always find a cause for. One of these is Tinnitus, a ringing sensation in the ear. I have to admit that this was the first patient I have seen who has come to me for this, so it got me thinking…… 

The ear has two important muscles: the tensor tympani (it attaches to the ear drum, and stabilizes it from the excess vibration caused by loud sounds) and the tensor levi palatini (it attaches to the Eustachian tube, and helps to open and close the tube, thereby equalizing pressure within the inner ear…it is what gives that popping sound when you are on an airplane.

Both of these muscles can become irritated from abnormal or excessive TMJ (jaw) movement, leading to a development of Tinnitus. There are also important embryological connections with the muscles used to open the jaw (lateral pterygoids) and the inner ear itself.

What does all this mean? – Well there are important links between the musculature and neurology of the ear and the jaw (both are made up by the temporal bone for starters!). Using this understanding osteopaths can focus their efforts in improving the function and movement of the jaw and the bones of the skull (of which there are 28!) and this should resolve (or at least reduce) any experience of tinnitus.

This same anatomical and neurological understanding can be applied with people suffering from unexplained vertigo (often caused by a disruption of the inner ear mechanisms) – all of which can be helped by ensuring the efficient movement of the jaw and bones of the skull.