Jaw/Ear pain from using a headset?
Here's another one of the great mysteries of my life that maybe you guys might have some insight on..
Ive already solved:
Q. Why is one leg shorter than the other one
A: dystonia
Q: Why does my hand spasm and I hold my fork funny
A: dystonia
So in the spirit of figuring stuff out... he's my new Why.. (I haven't asked my doc yet)
Backstory:
I have worked in call centers off and on for 9 years. At every call center where I worked longer than 3 hours, I developed sharp pain on my right ear. The pain would be at the jaw bone and radiate throughout the neck. Ive noticed that the pain was in direct correlation to how much I talked.. Inbound call centers less likely (You are not on the phone 100%) Outbound call centers ALWAYS happened. I quit a few jobs due to the pain and after a while started avoiding call center jobs.
Well I was reminded of this last week, when it returned after a few (3-4) hours using Dragon Naturally Speaking. The pain was horrible.. and then the next two days after that, I had attacks of dysphonia. I need the Dragon, because I am having problems typing due to the hand.
Did some googling and here are some post related to what I am talking about... but so far no answers..
http://www.avforums.com/forums/xbox-360-hardware/881610-headset-ear...
(Xbox gamer complains of similar pain)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070722053735AAJWAXh
(Headset user in India complains of ear pain)
I do not have this pain when I use headsets only to listen... Only when I use them to TALK. On some jobs I refused to use the headsets and just picked up the receiver.
As a note: I also have jaw problems (Locking and clicking) and was diagnosed with TMJ as a teenager but received no treatment for it.
Does anybody have any thoughts or experiences. Could this possibly be related to my dystonia or maybe just something else.
Oh and FYI: My 'dysphonia' (self diagnosed) is a pulling of my tongue muscles and tightening of my throat. My tongue is pulled out at the base of my throat (like I have a lazy tongue) and my throat tightens making it hard to talk and swallow. According to a ENT that spoke at a support group meeting my dysphonia was psychogenic.. but he also said he 'did not know of any correlation between CD and dysphonia.' and that 'the only true type of dysphonia is Spasmodic dysphonia'
All I know is my tongue pulls and I cant talk. Dont care what you call it. just make it stop.
***sidetrack***
any ideas about the headset?
Ive already solved:
Q. Why is one leg shorter than the other one
A: dystonia
Q: Why does my hand spasm and I hold my fork funny
A: dystonia
So in the spirit of figuring stuff out... he's my new Why.. (I haven't asked my doc yet)
Backstory:
I have worked in call centers off and on for 9 years. At every call center where I worked longer than 3 hours, I developed sharp pain on my right ear. The pain would be at the jaw bone and radiate throughout the neck. Ive noticed that the pain was in direct correlation to how much I talked.. Inbound call centers less likely (You are not on the phone 100%) Outbound call centers ALWAYS happened. I quit a few jobs due to the pain and after a while started avoiding call center jobs.
Well I was reminded of this last week, when it returned after a few (3-4) hours using Dragon Naturally Speaking. The pain was horrible.. and then the next two days after that, I had attacks of dysphonia. I need the Dragon, because I am having problems typing due to the hand.
Did some googling and here are some post related to what I am talking about... but so far no answers..
http://www.avforums.com/forums/xbox-360-hardware/881610-headset-ear...
(Xbox gamer complains of similar pain)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070722053735AAJWAXh
(Headset user in India complains of ear pain)
I do not have this pain when I use headsets only to listen... Only when I use them to TALK. On some jobs I refused to use the headsets and just picked up the receiver.
As a note: I also have jaw problems (Locking and clicking) and was diagnosed with TMJ as a teenager but received no treatment for it.
Does anybody have any thoughts or experiences. Could this possibly be related to my dystonia or maybe just something else.
Oh and FYI: My 'dysphonia' (self diagnosed) is a pulling of my tongue muscles and tightening of my throat. My tongue is pulled out at the base of my throat (like I have a lazy tongue) and my throat tightens making it hard to talk and swallow. According to a ENT that spoke at a support group meeting my dysphonia was psychogenic.. but he also said he 'did not know of any correlation between CD and dysphonia.' and that 'the only true type of dysphonia is Spasmodic dysphonia'
All I know is my tongue pulls and I cant talk. Dont care what you call it. just make it stop.
***sidetrack***
any ideas about the headset?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by noelv on -
I was diagnosed with TMJ but it turned out to be jaw dystonia. 100 units of Botox fixed that.
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Permalink Reply by Jenn on
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Noel .. I say that with a smile :P
I am sincerely hoping its not dystonia because I cant handle any more botox.
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Permalink Reply by Trudy on -
Ok Jenn, I'm beginning to think you and I need to meet! First it was the toxic odors and now the head set issue. I worked for a number of years at a few inbound call centers. Prior to these jobs I didn't experience issues with my throat and jaw or at least not to the same degree. At one point my neck / throat were giving me such difficulty my family doctor had me go through a number of tests but to no avail. The poor man was so frustrated at not being able to find me relief. At my last job I became so frustrated with the discomfort of my jaw locking, loss of my voice, swallowing where it feels like the muscles in my neck have locked up...I started using the receiver and ditched the headset. I was lucky enough to accept a lateral position that removed me from the call tree all together and rarely spoke to representatives or vp's. I managed to communicate mostly via email and only called when very necessary. Even now though, 2 years after leaving that job, I try not to use the phone very often because it really takes its toll on my voice and the muscles in my neck will tighten up and be very painful. Usually when that happens the pain will start shooting up, for me, on my left side of my head.
Currently I'm only taking oral medications. I am concerned if I need to find employment in the future I really do not want to end up on the phones again. I can guarantee it will bring those same symptoms back and probably with a vengeance.
I'm assuming that if this does happen my next step may be Botox. Probably not a whole lot of help am I?
When I was working and experiencing the issues, at that time I wasn't yet diagnosed with Dystonia, the best I could do was to try and rest my voice as much as possible and take an anti-inflammatory in the hope it would cut through the pain.
Thank you for bringing this topic up. Although I didn't offer any kernel of wisdom, you did bring to the forefront an experience that I had questioned for myself awhile ago.
Take care,
Trudy
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I am just as happy to hear of someone else with it :P
The klonopin helps with the tongue and throat issue. My last call center job didn't fare well. I ended up quitting after a diagnosis of panic attack and many days sent to work high on muscle relaxers. It just wasn't worth IT.
Do you think these symptoms are a part of your dystonia? You've stayed off the phones..so can you say the oral meds helped? Or your not sure.. What other dystonia symptoms do you have?
My diagnosis is right sided generalized dystonia.. which I think my doc loves.. because when I ask her if its dystonia she can reply.. "of course it is .. you are generalized..."
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